---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE -- PROCEDURE GENERALLY (Provides that an open and obvious danger or defect is not a complete bar to recovery of damages in personal injury or property damage actions.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE -- PROCEDURE GENERALLY (Provides that an open and obvious danger or defect is not a complete bar to recovery of damages in personal injury or property damage actions.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 5478"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5478 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Craven", "McEntee", "Millea"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2019-02-14"
last_action: "2019-07-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e3fe7c60-2119-4f41-af97-0e048f915f94"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "5f547bbf7a4b376b979a5371f132fc40219c3f5d4986bdb3c93bc45c3e042735"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 5478 (2019) — AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE -- PROCEDURE GENERALLY (Provides that an open and obvious danger or defect is not a complete bar to recovery of damages in personal injury or property damage actions.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **5478 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText19/HouseText19/H5478A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **69–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Craven — primary (person)
- McEntee — primary (person)
- Millea — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-02-14** 02/14/2019 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2019-03-04** 03/04/2019 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/06/2019)
- **2019-03-06** 03/06/2019 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2019-05-31** 05/31/2019 Proposed Substitute
- **2019-05-31** 05/31/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/04/2019)
- **2019-06-04** 06/04/2019 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-10** 06/10/2019 Placed on House Calendar (06/13/2019)
- **2019-06-13** 06/13/2019 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2019-06-18** 06/18/2019 Referred to Senate Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-18** 06/18/2019 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (06/20/2019)
- **2019-06-20** 06/20/2019 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-27** 06/27/2019 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/28/2019)
- **2019-06-28** 06/28/2019 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2019-07-11** 07/11/2019 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-07-15** 07/15/2019 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e3fe7c60-2119-4f41-af97-0e048f915f94`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).