Strip Center Walkways and Slip Hazards: What Florida Law and the ADA Say

What Florida law and the ADA say about slip hazards on strip center walkways, and why the sidewalks in front of the storefronts are worth cleaning on a schedule, based on the Florida statute, the federal accessibility rules and Sarasota’s rainfall record.

We are a pressure washing company, not lawyers. This is a plain-English summary of public documents, with links. Ask your attorney or insurer how they apply to your property.

The walkway is the part of a strip center everyone uses

Strip center walkways are where slip hazards, Florida law and the ADA meet, because every customer and every tenant employee crosses the same concrete: from the parking lot, over the curb ramp, along the storefront walkway and through the entryway. Under the federal accessibility rules, at least one accessible route must connect accessible parking, public streets and sidewalks, and transit stops to the entrances^[3]. For most strip centers, that route is the storefront walkway.

What the ADA rules say about the surface

The U.S. Access Board’s guide to the ADA Standards says accessible floor and ground surfaces must be “stable, firm, and slip resistant”^[2], and that this applies to interior and exterior accessible routes^[2]. The same guide notes the standards do not set a minimum slip resistance number, because there is no agreed way to measure it^[2].

The standards are design rules. The ongoing duty is in the Department of Justice regulation: a public accommodation must keep required accessible features “in operable working condition”, and short interruptions for maintenance or repairs are allowed^[4]. We are not saying a dirty walkway is an ADA violation. That is a question for a lawyer. We are saying the rules expect the route to stay usable and slip resistant, and growth on concrete works against that.

What Florida’s slip-and-fall statute says

Florida Statute 768.0755 covers slips and falls on a “transitory foreign substance” in a business establishment. The injured person has to prove the business had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition and should have fixed it^[1]. Constructive knowledge can be shown two ways: the condition existed long enough that the business should have known about it, or the condition “occurred with regularity and was therefore foreseeable”^[1].

The statute does not mention algae, mildew or rain. What we can say is practical: a slick film that comes back on the same shaded walkway every rainy season is the opposite of a surprise.

Algae on concrete is slippery, and it grows where it is damp and shaded

University of California IPM says algae and mosses on sidewalks and other hard surfaces make them slippery and unsafe for walking, and that they thrive in damp conditions^[5]. Oregon State University Extension says algae on walkways is a slipping hazard^[6]. In a strip center, the places to watch are the walkways under the overhang, the shaded side of the building, the areas below downspouts, and anywhere a sprinkler hits the sidewalk.

Sarasota’s rain comes in one season

Sarasota-Bradenton’s normal annual rainfall is 49.05 inches, and June through September bring 29.55 of those inches^[7]. That is roughly 60 percent of the year in four months (our arithmetic from the National Weather Service table). Our guide to the rainy season, salt and humidity covers what that does to commercial buildings.

Tenant employees walk it too

OSHA’s walking-working surfaces rule requires employers to keep walking-working surfaces clean, orderly and sanitary, to inspect them “regularly and as necessary”, and to correct hazards before employees use the surface again^[8]. That rule protects employees, not customers, and the duty sits with the employer. Who is responsible for the common-area walkway, the landlord or the tenant, depends on the lease.

A stained walkway, before and after

Before

After

Left: before. Right: after. A concrete walkway we cleaned. The lighter stripe at the top of the before photo had already been cleaned.

What a strip center owner can do

• Walk the property after a rain. Look at the storefront walkways under the overhang, the shaded side, curb ramps and the spots below downspouts.
• Clean before the rainy season and check again during it. Growth returns fastest on surfaces that stay damp and shaded.
• Keep a dated record of when walkways were inspected and cleaned. Ask your attorney or insurer what records they want to see.
• Keep the wash water out of the storm drains. See our wash water guide for what Sarasota and Manatee County rules say.

Storefront walkways, curbs and dumpster pads are the core of our strip center pressure washing in Sarasota and Manatee County. See also our parking lot and garage pressure washing in Sarasota, our commercial pressure washing and the areas we serve.

Sources

1. Florida Statutes s. 768.0755, premises liability for transitory foreign substances in a business establishment
2. U.S. Access Board: Guide to the ADA Standards, Chapter 3, Floor and Ground Surfaces
3. U.S. Access Board: Guide to the ADA Standards, Chapter 4, Accessible Routes
4. 28 CFR 36.211, Maintenance of accessible features (Cornell LII)
5. University of California Statewide IPM: Algae, lichens and mosses
6. Oregon State University Extension: Moss and algae
7. NWS Tampa Bay: Sarasota-Bradenton monthly normals, 1991-2020
8. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.22, Walking-working surfaces, general requirements