Slipped at Work in Downtown Denver? Here’s Who Else May Be Responsible

You’ve worked in the same downtown Denver building for a decade, and in that time the lobby café closed, the accounting agency on the sixth floor moved out, and the elevators started taking a little longer to arrive on your floor. Most days the building feels quieter. Then one morning you cross the lobby, your foot hits a wet patch of tile with no sign in sight, and you slip and fall hard on your hip.

Falls like that happen in all kinds of buildings, but in a half-empty one, you might not know who is responsible for keeping the space safe.

Do you work in a distressed building?

Downtown Denver has plenty of buildings where that question comes up. According to CBRE figures reported by the Denver Gazette, downtown’s office vacancy rate was 38.6% in the second quarter of 2026, with the Central Business District near 44%. Colorado Public Radio has reported that more than 5 million square feet of downtown office space is considered distressed, meaning the buildings are in foreclosure (when a lender takes over a property after the owner stops making loan payments) or in similar financial trouble, with some selling for as much as 80% below pre-pandemic prices. Many downtown buildings are busy and well kept, but others carry debt that, as the Gazette’s reporting describes, leaves owners unable to afford the improvements needed to attract tenants.

The law expects every building owner to exercise the same reasonable care. A building’s finances shape how a fall claim unfolds: who owns the property this year, who manages it, which records exist, and how quickly evidence disappears. This post walks through each of those pieces.

Who Is Responsible When You Fall in an Office Building

Colorado’s Premises Liability Act, the state law on a property owner’s responsibility for injuries on their property, defines “landowner” broadly. It includes an authorized agent or any person in possession of the property, so a property management company can be responsible alongside the owner.

In a downtown office building, responsibility often spreads across several parties:

• The building owner, who usually controls the common areas: the lobby, hallways, stairwells, elevators, restrooms, and entrances everyone shares
• The property management company that runs the building day to day
• Contractors hired for cleaning, snow removal, elevator service, or repairs, when their work created or missed the hazard
• The tenant that leases the space where you fell, if the hazard was inside its suite
• A separate parking operator, if you fell in a garage the building owner does not manage itself

Which of these parties controlled the spot where you fell determines where a claim goes. Sorting that out is often the first real task in a case, and a slip and fall lawyer can begin to untangle it right away.

What Colorado Law Expects From Building Owners

Anyone who enters an office building for business is an invitee, the legal term for a visitor the owner invited in or expects to be there. That covers the people who work in the building, clients heading to a meeting, and delivery drivers dropping off a package. Under Colorado law, a building owner owes invitees reasonable care about hazards the owner actually knew about or should have known about.

The second half of that standard matters in a half-empty building; an owner who never saw the wet floor can still be responsible if a reasonably careful owner would have found it through regular inspections, cleaning schedules, maintenance logs, or earlier complaints from tenants. Burned-out stairwell lights, a leaking ceiling, a broken door closer, or an icy entrance or sidewalk that sat uncleared for days are the kinds of problems an owner should know about. Failing to meet that standard is negligence, the legal term for carelessness that the law holds someone responsible for.

Hard times for a building do not erase the owner’s duty to keep common areas reasonably safe. Poor lighting and broken locks in stairwells and garages can also lead to assaults, which fall under a related area of law called negligent security.

If You Were Hurt on the Job

Many office falls happen to people who are on the clock. In that situation, workers’ compensation, the state system that pays medical bills and a portion of lost wages for job injuries, is usually the first route, and it generally prevents a lawsuit against your employer. Claims against the building owner, a property manager, or a contractor may still be viable, and Colorado law allows you to pursue both at the same time.

If you win money from the building owner or another third party, the workers’ compensation insurer usually gets to take back part of what it already paid for your medical bills and lost wages. Before you accept a settlement, the insurer may also need to approve it in writing, and signing without that approval can put your benefits at risk. A lawyer who handles both claims can make sure one doesn’t undercut the other.

When the Building Itself Is in Financial Trouble

Distressed buildings add layers to otherwise straightforward fall claims:

• Ownership can change. A building may be sold at a steep discount, taken back by its lender through foreclosure, or placed under a receiver, a person the court appoints to manage the property. The owner on the day you fell may not be the owner when you file.
• Records can thin out. Staff cuts, new management companies, and turnover make inspection logs, work orders, and security footage harder to find, and some footage gets recorded over on a schedule.
• Insurance can still apply. Building owners and managers typically carry liability insurance, and you can often file a claim under that policy even when the owner is short on cash.
• The clock keeps running. A sale or foreclosure does not stop your filing deadline.

Denver has also tightened its rules for neglected buildings. In July 2025, City Council unanimously approved changes that raised the maximum fine for owners of buildings on the city’s ‘neglected and derelict’ building list from $999 to $5,000 per violation, with each day counted separately. The law also requires owners to meet with the city to develop a plan to fix the problems. The ordinance covers commercial buildings, although most of the roughly 300 properties on the list are single-family homes. A building’s city citations and inspection records can be useful evidence in a fall claim—another reason to ask a lawyer to pull them early.

A Recent Change to Colorado’s Damages Limits

Colorado law caps non-economic damages, the part of a claim that covers pain, suffering, and the ways an injury changes your daily life. Under House Bill 24-1472, signed in June 2024, that cap rose to $1.5 million for lawsuits filed on or after January 1, 2025, with inflation adjustments scheduled to begin in 2028. Medical bills and lost wages are economic damages and fall outside that cap.

What to Do If You’re Hurt in an Office Building

• Get medical attention, even if you feel fine at first
• Report the fall to building management or security and ask for a copy of the incident report
• If you were on the job, tell your employer right away, because workers’ compensation has its own reporting rules
• Photograph the hazard and the surrounding area, including lighting and any missing warning signs, using our photo and video checklist as a guide
• Get names and phone numbers for anyone who saw the fall
• Write down the time, location, floor, and what you were carrying while the details are fresh
• Ask building management to keep any security camera footage from that day
• Talk to a lawyer before giving a recorded statement to any insurance company

Why These Slip and Fall Cases Are Harder Than They Look

Building owners and managers carry insurance, and their insurers start building a defense immediately. Expect arguments that the hazard appeared too recently for anyone to find, that a tenant or contractor was responsible, or that you should have seen the problem and avoided it. In a building with changing owners and managers, each party can point at another. Untangling who controlled what, and gathering the records to prove it, is usually the real work of the case.

How Long You Have to File

Colorado generally gives you two years from the date of your injury to file a premises liability claim. If a government agency owns the building, you must provide a written notice of your claim within about six months of the injury. Evidence tends to disappear well before either deadline, so starting early protects your claim.

Frequently Asked Questions

Office Buildings Across Wyoming

Property owners in Wyoming, from downtown Cheyenne to Casper, also owe a duty of reasonable care to keep their buildings safe. Wyoming’s general deadline for personal injury claims is four years, and claims against government entities require you to file a notice of claim within two years and an action within one year of the notice. Our Wyoming personal injury page covers how we handle these cases.

Free Download: What Happens After an Injury?

Not sure what comes next? Our free guide explains what to expect after an injury and the steps to take.

Download What Happens After an Injury.

Hurt in a Colorado or Wyoming Office Building? We Can Help

Whether the building where you were hurt is full, half empty, or in the middle of a sale, a slip and fall lawyer can determine who is responsible and which evidence needs saving before it disappears. Call our Denver office at (303) 796-0555 for a free consultation and see if you have a case, or reach our Wyoming office at (307) 277-6956. There are no fees until we win.

Hurt somewhere other than an office? Our post on rodeo and stock show falls explains how different rules can apply.