Statute of Limitations for Premises Liability / Slip and Fall in California

6 min read

Published April 8, 2026 • By DocketMath Team

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws change frequently — verify all citations with current official sources.

Overview

Run this scenario in DocketMath using the Statute Of Limitations calculator.

California generally gives you 2 years to file a typical premises liability / slip-and-fall personal injury lawsuit. That deadline is based on California Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) § 335.1. For many common “slipped on a wet floor” cases, the practical issue is simply figuring out when the clock starts.

This page focuses on the statute of limitations (SOL)—the deadline to start your lawsuit in court. It does not cover every procedural step (such as pleading requirements, venue, or how fault is proven). Use this as a deadline planning guide, and consider confirming any case-specific timing facts, because they can affect when the SOL begins to run.

Note: This is a deadline-focused overview. The SOL can be affected by case-specific facts (for example, when the injury was discovered). The baseline rule described below is the starting point.

Limitation period

The general SOL for personal injury in California is 2 years from the date the claim accrues, governed by CCP § 335.1.

What “accrues” typically means in practice

In slip-and-fall / premises liability cases, accrual is often treated as happening when at least one of the following is true:

You were injured (for example, the date you fell), or
You knew or reasonably should have known the injury was serious enough that you needed to take legal action.

California sometimes uses a limited discovery concept in certain contexts, which can matter if symptoms were delayed or the seriousness wasn’t immediately obvious. However, based on the jurisdiction data provided, no claim-type-specific sub-rule was identified. So the general/default period of 2 years is the core SOL rule to use for planning.

Using DocketMath to calculate your deadline

Because SOL deadlines depend on dates, DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator helps you convert the legal rule into a specific filing deadline date.

For premises liability / slip-and-fall in California, the calculator generally applies:

Start date → your best estimate of the accrual date (often the incident date, if supported by facts)
SOL duration → 2 years under CCP § 335.1
Result → the last day to file suit, adjusted according to the calculator’s date rules

To get started, open the primary tool here:
/tools/statute-of-limitations

Key exceptions

California’s default 2-year SOL under CCP § 335.1 can be extended, paused, or otherwise affected in certain situations. Even when the baseline rule is clear, “exception” issues often turn on facts such as accrual, tolling, or whether the defendant is a public entity.

Common categories that can change timing

The categories below describe the types of issues that are commonly discussed in SOL timing in California. They are not a guarantee that any particular person qualifies.

Discovery-related issues: If the injury’s seriousness wasn’t apparent right away, the accrual date may be later than the slip-and-fall date.
Legal disability (tolling): Certain disabilities can toll (pause) the limitations period for eligible persons under California tolling rules.
Minor plaintiffs: If the injured person is a minor, California tolling rules can affect when the SOL begins to run.
Defendant-related complications: Situations involving parties (such as correcting a misidentified defendant) can interact with deadlines through amendment or substitution rules.
Government entities: If the defendant is a public entity (or public authority), separate rules may apply, including administrative deadlines and different timing requirements that can effectively reduce your time to act.

Warning: If your premises liability claim involves a government entity (such as a city, county, or public authority), don’t rely only on CCP § 335.1. Administrative filing deadlines and other time limits can be just as important as, or even stricter than, the court filing SOL.

Practical takeaway for slip-and-fall timing

To help identify your likely accrual date and prepare for SOL calculation, it can be useful to:

record the incident date and circumstances,
document when pain symptoms started and how they progressed,
track medical visits, diagnoses, and any follow-up care,
preserve photos, witness information, and any incident report,
retain relevant surveillance footage information (if available).

These steps don’t replace legal analysis, but they can support the factual timeline you may need for SOL planning and any potential exception review.

Statute citation

CCP § 335.1 — 2-year statute of limitations for personal injury in California.

Based on the jurisdiction data provided, CCP § 335.1 is identified as the general personal injury statute establishing the 2-year default SOL. The source below summarizes this general California personal injury rule:

https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/personal-injury/laws-california.html

Because the brief you provided states that no claim-type-specific sub-rule was found, this article applies the general/default 2-year period to premises liability / slip-and-fall planning.

Use the calculator

Use DocketMath to calculate your potential deadline under the 2-year default rule for California personal injury claims (CCP § 335.1).

Inputs you’ll typically provide

Jurisdiction: California (US-CA)
Start date (critical):
- Most commonly: the date of the slip-and-fall injury (if consistent with accrual facts)
- Sometimes: a later accrual date if symptoms/seriousness were discovered later (only if your facts support that)
Claim type: If the calculator prompts for a category, choose the closest option for premises liability / slip and fall (the underlying rule here remains the general personal injury SOL unless the calculator or your facts indicate otherwise).

How the output changes

With a fixed SOL duration of 2 years:

Changing the start date by one day generally shifts the deadline by one day (because the duration stays the same under CCP § 335.1).
Using a later accrual start date (only if supported by the facts) can extend the deadline accordingly.

When you’re ready to calculate, open the tool:
/tools/statute-of-limitations

If you also want a shortcut to explore the tool page again later, you can return here:
/tools/statute-of-limitations