A man died after walking and missing a step while looking at his phone. The court: property management and the construction company are responsible for 50%, with a compensation of 480,000 yuan.

The homeowner walked along the staircase in the residential compound where construction was taking place while keeping his head down and looking at his phone the whole time. He misstepped and fell down the stairs, and more than half an hour later he was only discovered and taken to the hospital. He ultimately died and rescue efforts were unsuccessful. Grieving family members sued the construction party and the property management company in court. On March 27, the Zhangjiajie Intermediate People’s Court issued a notice on the case, finding that the homeowner himself bore 50% of the responsibility. The property management company was ordered to compensate more than 288,000 yuan, and the construction party was ordered to compensate 192,000 yuan.

Homeowner fatally dies after falling down steps while walking and looking at a phone

On June 30, 2025, after a certain person finished dinner and took a walk within the residential compound, he walked while looking at his phone. A few minutes later, he fell down the staircase of the passageway in the compound. More than half an hour later, he was discovered by other homeowners in the compound. The property management company contacted his family and arranged for him to be taken to the hospital for emergency treatment. In the early hours of the next day, the certain person died after rescue efforts were unsuccessful due to a traumatic brain and head injury.

At the time of the incident, waterproofing work on one exterior wall side was being carried out at that staircase, and scaffolding made of steel pipes had already been set up on site. The family of the certain person believed that the actual constructor, Bie Mou, and the waterproofing company it was affiliated with failed during the construction period to fence off the worksite and set up warning signs, and that the lighting at the stair area where the incident occurred in the residential compound was dim. They believed these were the main reasons the certain person lost his footing and died, and therefore sued Bie Mou, the waterproofing company, and the property management company in court, demanding compensation for all economic losses totaling more than 1.15 million yuan.

The trial court found that after the certain person fell down the steps, his head hit the steel pipes, and that while strolling he did not pay attention to the conditions of the environment around the walking path. He accidentally stepped off and fell from the edge stairway and died. The trial court held that he should bear 40% of the responsibility. It found that Bie Mou and the waterproofing company failed to take safety protection measures at the construction site and failed to set up safety warning signs, and therefore they should jointly bear 40% of the compensation responsibility. The trial court further held that the property management company failed to fulfill its safety supervision responsibilities, bearing 20% of the compensation responsibility. After the judgment of the court of first instance, both the original and the defendant parties were dissatisfied and appealed to the Zhangjiajie Intermediate Court.

The intermediate court held that the homeowner himself should bear half the responsibility

After reviewing the case, the Zhangjiajie Intermediate People’s Court held that as a person with full capacity for civil conduct, the certain person was the first party responsible for his own life safety. He had lived in the residential compound for a long time, so he should have been familiar with the environmental facilities and known that the passageway at the site of the incident had stairs and was under construction, and that there existed a risk of tripping and falling in that area. However, on the night of the incident, when he went out, he kept walking while looking at his phone until the moment he fell down the stairs, still without stopping. This showed that he did not fulfill sufficient duty of attention, leading to his accidental fall down the stairs and death. Therefore, he should bear 50% of the responsibility.

As the property service enterprise for the residential compound, the property management company should promptly identify and eliminate various potential safety hazards in the compound. In this case, the property management company neither promptly covered or enclosed the passageway that had long been unused and had a relatively high hazard level, nor set up reminder or warning signs in that area. It also did not timely replace or repair the damaged lighting facilities. The court found that it failed to fulfill adequate safety assurance service obligations, and should bear 30% of the compensation responsibility.

Regarding the trial court’s finding that after the certain person fell down the steps, his head collided with a steel pipe, after questioning the doctor who provided treatment to the certain person and considering the results of a CT scan, the court considered that the fatal injury of the certain person likely involved contact with a flat, hard surface with a relatively large area. Therefore, the trial court’s finding that the certain person’s head hit a steel pipe based on his fall down the stairs was insufficient and should be corrected.

Although there is no evidence confirming that the certain person’s head hit the steel pipe after he fell down the stairway, Bie Mou, during waterproofing construction within the residential area, failed to cover or enclose the construction area in question, and failed to set up reminder or warning signs. This aggravated an already dangerous and complex situation in the stair-passage area in question. Bie Mou also failed to fulfill safety construction responsibilities, so there is also some fault for the occurrence of the death outcome of the certain person, and it should bear 20% of the compensation responsibility. The waterproofing company allowed a natural person without construction qualifications, Bie Mou, to be affiliated under its name and carry out actual construction, and it should bear joint compensation responsibility with Bie Mou.

Ultimately, the intermediate court found that the family of the certain person should be compensated for total economic losses of more than 960,000 yuan. After subtracting the portion to be borne by the certain person himself, the intermediate court changed the judgment, ordering the property management company to compensate the family 288,000 yuan, and ordering Bie Mou and the waterproofing company to compensate 192,000 yuan.

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