Who Is Responsible For Sidewalk Repair And Maintenance In A City

If you own property that fronts the street, you may assume that the municipality or local government is responsible for maintaining the sidewalk. However, this is non e'er the case.

Who is Actually Responsible for Sidewalk Repair and Maintenance?

Every bit with so many other things, it depends on where you alive. In some jurisdictions, the cityis responsible for sidewalk repair.

However, this is seldom the instance in California. California constabulary allows municipalities to charge property owners, including homeowners, for repairs to the sidewalk outside their property. (In fact, virtually every major U.S. urban center places at leastsome sidewalk repair obligation onto owners).

In other words, you lot need to cheque local ordinances. If yous ain property that fronts the street, make sure to acquire what liability you might have for sidewalk repair. Notation that if you are liable for repair and/or maintenance you may also be liable for a slip and fall injury acquired by poor sidewalk maintenance. Typically, this means you are also responsible for snow removal as needed, although this is non often an issuein southern California.

This can become particularly complicated if multiple property owners share a block. It's important to communicate with your neighbors and ideally work together to ensureall of the sidewalks are properly maintained. The sidewalk is often best maintained equally a unit of measurement. This is to ensure that at that place are no sections that are, abruptly, dangerous, unsightly, or unusable.

(LDS Church building, Aliso Viejo)

Exceptions to Your Responsibility

Well-nigh jurisdictions do include some exceptions, that is situations in which they volition conform and/or pay for repairs. The virtually mutual of these is damage caused past copse planted by the metropolis or harm washed by urban center workers in the course of their duty. If route maintenance is happening or if construction has taken over role of the sidewalk, y'all tin can reasonably await the contractors to clean upwards and repair the harm and may want to get to the urban center or county if they don't.

As an case, in the City of Sacramento, per California Streets & Highway Code 5610 and Sacramento City Code, section 12.32, you are responsible for sidewalk repairs. On the other hand, the city is responsible for the curb, gutters, pedestrian curb ramps, and drains. However, Sacramento does non exempt you from responsibility for harm caused by public trees and roots.

What About Liability for Injuries?

Y'all may exist liable for injuries or damage caused by a fall that results from the sidewalk not being properly maintained. Whether you are or not depends on whether your municipality places a "duty to repair" on yous. If they do not, and then you lot are non liable for injuries unless:

• Y'all take done work to alter the sidewalk for your benefit.
• You've caused impairment to the sidewalk, for example by planting trees that and then encroach on the sidewalk.
• Y'all created a special risk by, for instance, leaving the product out on the sidewalk...even if this was done by a commitment driver.

Comparative negligence can come into play. For example, if your commitment driver leaves a large box on the sidewalk and somebody trips over information technology, a courtroom is probable to rule that while the box should not have been there, the person who tripped bears some responsibility because they should have noticed the box. In this case, liability is assigned by percentage. Any damages yous have to pay are reduced by the amount the courtroom decides the injured party was responsible.

You may face similar liability problems for sidewalks that are on your property. These include those around parking lots or in front of a building that has been set back.

While you are not liable for issues with the sidewalk in front of a neighbor'south property, if they are refusing to cooperate on repairs, you might want to call the city or county and report the problem.

How Should You Go About Sidewalk Repair?

In many jurisdictions, y'all can asking that the city perform the repair, but they will and then transport you the neb. Often, though, this is limited to reactive repairs,not proactive improvements designed to avert bug in the hereafter.

If you are repairing a public sidewalk, first check what the requirements are. Many cities have codes that explicitly state how sidewalk repairs tin be carried out. You lot demand to choose a contractor who is aware of those requirements and experienced at working within them. Proactive repairs or work washed to improve the sidewalk may crave a allow.

Most sidewalks are physical, giving yous a number of repair options. If they are in particularly poor status, you may need to have the concrete replaced. This is generally needed if a section of the sidewalk is sunken, uneven, raised, or broken. This should be fixed as soon as possible, whilst ensuring that you bide by whatever rules. The broken sidewalk is cruddy and opens you up to liability.

However, more modest cracks tend to be a unproblematic repair. The contractor may use concrete grinding and crack filling to patch the fissure. As long equally the repair removes any unevenness, y'all should be fine. With cracked physical slabs, the all-time option is oft to remove and replace the individual slab.

While it might seem unfair that you lot are responsible for public sidewalks, the fact is that in many jurisdictions, including most of California, yous have at least partial responsibility. This also ways you have at least partial liability for whatsoever injuries, also as having to worry about the aesthetic issues caused by damaged sidewalks. For many commercial properties, having a good sidewalk, with proper ADA compliance, helps attract foot traffic and can easily pay for itself.

Contact Us

If you accept sidewalks that need work, contact Empire Parking Lot Services. Nosotros have lots of experience in concrete repair and replacement, likewise every bit specifically repairing and replacing damaged sidewalks. We are familiar with all of the relevant codes and regulations in Southern California and make sure that your sidewalk repair project is done in a style that will keep the urban center happy.

Source: https://www.empirepls.com/blog/sidewalk-repair

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