We granted review to decide under what circumstances, if any, a store owner may be liable for injuries to a business invitee from a dangerous condition on its premises where the evidence fails to show how long the dangerous condition existed prior to the injury. The cases require that an owner must have actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition before incurring liability. (Hatfield v. Levy Brothers (1941) 18 Cal.2d 798, 806 (Hatfield); Girvetz v. Boys' Market, Inc. (1949) 91 Cal.App.2d 827, 829 (Girvetz).) The plaintiff has the burden to prove the owner had actual or constructive notice of the defect in sufficient time to correct it. (Louie v. Hagstrom's Food Stores (1947) 81 Cal.App.2d 601, 606 (Louie).) The question here is: If the plaintiff has no evidence of the source of the dangerous condition or the length of time it existed, may the plaintiff rely solely on the owner's failure to inspect the premises within a reasonable period of time in order to establish an inference that the defective condition existed long enough for a reasonable person exercising ordinary care to have discovered it? We conclude that evidence of the owner's failure to inspect the premises within a reasonable period of time is sufficient to allow an inference that the condition was on the floor long enough to give the owner the opportunity to discover and remedy it. (See Bridgman v. Safeway Stores, Inc. (1960) 53 Cal.2d 443 (Bridgman).) *fn1
