The Illinois Appellate Court recently flushed out the duties owed by property owners/occupiers and their contractors when it comes to snow and ice removal. First there is no duty imposed upon a property owner to remove snow and ice, so that neighbor who just won’t shovel the snow is in line with Illinois law. However, a property owner can voluntarily undertake this duty and that would include contracting with a third party to remove the snow and ice. If the property owner does that, she owes a duty to a visitor on the property as long as she has notice of an unnatural accumulation of snow or ice. The third party contractor who is charged with the actual removal has a duty of ordinary care and no notice is required. Negligence can be established by showing that the removal of the snow created or aggravated an unnatural accumulation of snow or ice. In the recent case, the plaintiff only had to prove that the contractor negligently plowed the property and that negligence was the proximate cause of her injury—not that the accumulation was unnatural or that it knew or should have known of the unsafe condition or the risk.
Williams v. Sebert Landscape, Co., 1-10-1794 (1st Dist. March 8, 2011).
Back to news
