This guide is for California owners of trampoline parks, climbing gyms, surf and ski schools, camps, tours, studios and other activity businesses. It covers whether an online waiver counts as signed, how California courts treat releases of liability, what changes when a parent signs for a child, and a 2025 California Supreme Court decision worth knowing about.
This guide is general information about California law, with links to the statutes and cases, so you and your attorney can look into anything that applies to your business.
The short answer. California courts generally enforce clear, explicit releases of ordinary negligence for recreational activities, including releases parents sign for their children, and electronic signatures count the same as ink. A release can't cover gross negligence, and since 2025 it can't excuse violating a statutory duty designed to protect public safety.
Waiver Law in California at a Glance
| Electronic signatures | Valid. California Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (Civil Code 1633.1 et seq.) plus the federal ESIGN Act. |
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| Waivers of negligence | Generally enforced for recreation if clear and explicit, unless the transaction affects the public interest (Tunkl factors, Civil Code 1668). |
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| Parents signing for minors | Courts of Appeal have enforced parent-signed releases of a child's ordinary negligence claims (Hohe, 1990; Aaris, 1998). |
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| Inherent risks | Primary assumption of risk for sports and recreation (Knight v. Jewett, 1992) can bar claims for risks inherent in the activity, with or without a waiver. |
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| Gross negligence and statutory duties | Cannot be released (City of Santa Barbara v. Superior Court, 2007; Civil Code 1668). Nor can violations of a statutory duty designed to protect public safety (Whitehead v. City of Oakland, 2025). |
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Are Electronic Signatures Legal in California?
Yes. California adopted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act in Civil Code 1633.1 through 1633.17. Section 1633.7 says a record or signature "may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form," and that if a law requires a signature, "an electronic signature satisfies the law." The federal ESIGN Act (15 U.S.C. 7001) says the same for transactions in interstate commerce. A waiver signed on a phone, computer or tablet counts as signed, with the same weight as the paper version.
Are Liability Waivers Enforceable in California?
Generally, yes, for recreation. The starting point is Civil Code 1668, enacted in 1872, which makes contracts that exempt anyone "from responsibility for his own fraud, or willful injury to the person or property of another, or violation of law, whether willful or negligent" against the policy of the law.
In Tunkl v. Regents of University of California (1963) 60 Cal.2d 92, the California Supreme Court struck down a hospital admission release and set out the factors that mark a transaction "affecting the public interest": a business suitable for public regulation, a service of great importance and often practical necessity, offered to any member of the public, with a decisive bargaining advantage, a standardized adhesion contract with no option to pay more for protection against negligence, and the customer placed under the provider's control. Releases in that kind of transaction are invalid.
Recreation usually falls on the other side of that line. In Hohe v. San Diego Unified School Dist. (1990) 224 Cal.App.3d 1559, the court said a student who volunteered for a school hypnotism show because it would be "fun" was not denied any essential service, and "No public policy forbids the shifting of that burden." As the Supreme Court later summarized in City of Santa Barbara, California's lower courts have upheld releases of ordinary negligence for gyms and fitness clubs, auto and motorcycle racing, ski resorts, bicycle races, skydiving, horseback riding, white-water rafting and scuba diving.
The wording still matters. Courts require a release to be "clear, explicit and comprehensible in each of its essential details" and, read as a whole, to "clearly notify the prospective releasor" of its effect (quoted in Hohe). The word "negligence" is not a magic word in California, but its absence can hurt. In Hohe, a general "waive all liability" line in forms mostly about nervous disorders and broadcast rights was ambiguous, so the case went back for trial.
Gross Negligence and Statutory Duties
In City of Santa Barbara v. Superior Court (2007) 41 Cal.4th 747, the California Supreme Court held that "an agreement made in the context of sports or recreational programs or services, purporting to release liability for future gross negligence, generally is unenforceable as a matter of public policy." The release in that case still covered ordinary negligence. Gross negligence means "a want of even scant care" or "an extreme departure from the ordinary standard of conduct." Fraud and willful injury are excluded by Civil Code 1668 itself.
The newer development is Whitehead v. City of Oakland (2025) 17 Cal.5th 735. A cyclist on a charity training ride hit a pothole on a city street. The court held that "an agreement to exculpate a party for future violations of a statutory duty designed to protect public safety is against the policy of the law under Civil Code section 1668 and is not enforceable." It applied this to the city's statutory duty to keep roads safe, said it was not deciding whether every statutory violation is covered, and recognized that "parties have the freedom to contract a release of ordinary negligence in certain circumstances." For private businesses, it's a reason to expect that a waiver may not cover a claim that you broke a public-safety statute. How far the rule reaches beyond the facts of Whitehead is still being worked out.
Waivers for Minors in California
California is one of the states where a parent-signed release can bar a child's claim for ordinary negligence. In Hohe, the court said "A parent may contract on behalf of his or her children," and a minor cannot disaffirm a release her parent signed for her. In Aaris v. Las Virgenes Unified School Dist. (1998) 64 Cal.App.4th 1112, involving a high school cheerleader, the court said "It is well established that a parent may execute a release on behalf of his or her child." The Supreme Court in City of Santa Barbara noted that California is among a minority of states enforcing these releases for ordinary negligence, citing Platzer v. Mammoth Mountain Ski Area (2002), a ski school release signed by a parent for an eight-year-old.
The limits above still apply. City of Santa Barbara itself involved a parent-signed release for a child at a city camp, and the court refused to let it cover gross negligence. The parent's signature is the one that counts: Hohe describes an earlier case (Celli, 1972) where a release signed only by a nine-year-old was held invalid.
California Activity Rules
Much of California's recreation law is court-made. Under Knight v. Jewett (1992) 3 Cal.4th 296, in "primary assumption of risk" cases a defendant has no duty to protect a participant from risks inherent in the sport, so those claims can fail with or without a waiver. Where the defendant does owe a duty and is said to have breached it, the release is often what decides the case.
More Than a Release
A signed agreement does other work for California businesses too:
- A record of what each guest was told. A form that describes the activity's risks and your safety rules, with the guest's acknowledgment of each, is evidence of what they were told and agreed to before taking part. How much it matters depends on the facts.
- The parent's consent. For families, the parent's form is both the release California courts have enforced and the record that a parent approved the child's participation.
- Rules, medical information and consent. The form is where guests accept your rules and where you collect health conditions, emergency contacts, consent to emergency treatment and photo consent before anyone takes part.
Points to Raise With Your Attorney
WaiverFile doesn't draft waivers, and the wording of your agreement is a job for you and your attorney. Based on the cases above, these are points worth raising:
- A clear title and plain release language that a layperson can understand. Hohe describes the "clear, explicit and comprehensible" standard.
- Release terms that stand on their own. The court in Hohe faulted a release line placed in forms mostly about other topics.
- Whether the release makes clear the signer is giving up claims for the business's negligence.
- Readable type. One California court rejected a release printed in six-point type on the back of a pit pass.
- For minors, a parent or guardian's signature, not only the child's.
- Any safety statutes or regulations that apply to your operation, given Whitehead.
How WaiverFile Helps California Businesses
Once your agreement is written, WaiverFile makes it easy for every guest to sign it and keeps a complete, easy-to-find record of each one:
- Your agreement, laid out your way. Add the text you and your attorney prepared and use the editor's formatting options (bold, capitals, font size) to lay it out as written, as its own document.
- Acknowledgments where you want them. Add initial boxes inside the agreement text and required checkboxes for the release and each rule you choose.
- A record of what was signed. Each signed waiver stores the signature, the answers, and the date and time, plus the IP address and device for online signing. Add a photo of each signer or their ID if you like.
- Families on one form. A parent or guardian signs for themselves and their children, adding each child by name and date of birth. Minors are flagged at check-in.
- Medical questions. Required questions collect health conditions and emergency contacts. HIPAA features add extra protection for health information.
- Sign anywhere. Guests sign ahead by email, text, QR code or your website, or on a tablet on-site, and the Venue app works offline. Waivers are built into online booking, with each guest's status at check-in.
- Records you can produce. Search any waiver in seconds, email signers a copy, offer forms in multiple languages, or download waivers in bulk as a ZIP file for any date range.
Start from one of our free waiver templates, review it with a California attorney, and set up a free account to start collecting signatures.
Sources and Further Reading
General information, not legal advice. WaiverFile is not a law firm, and this article is not legal advice. Laws change and courts decide each case on its own facts, so have a local attorney review your waiver.
Published November 4, 2026