By: Martinez (Senate Sponsor - Lucio) H.B. No. 3162
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 14, 2021;
May 18, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on State
Affairs; May 21, 2021, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 21, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a certificate of merit in certain actions against
certain licensed or registered professionals.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 150.002, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection
(i) to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (i), in [In] any action
or arbitration proceeding for damages arising out of the provision
of professional services by a licensed or registered professional,
a claimant shall be required to file with the complaint an affidavit
of a third-party licensed architect, licensed professional
engineer, registered landscape architect, or registered
professional land surveyor who:
(1) is competent to testify;
(2) holds the same professional license or
registration as the defendant; and
(3) practices in the area of practice of the defendant
and offers testimony based on the person's:
(A) knowledge;
(B) skill;
(C) experience;
(D) education;
(E) training; and
(F) practice.
(i) A third-party plaintiff that is a design-builder or
design-build firm is not required to file an affidavit described by
Subsection (a) in connection with filing a third-party claim or
cross-claim against a licensed or registered professional if the
action or arbitration proceeding arises out of a design-build
project in which a governmental entity contracts with a single
entity to provide both design and construction services for the
construction, expansion, extension, rehabilitation, alteration, or
repair of a facility, a building or associated structure, a civil
works project, or a highway project.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an action commenced on or after the effective date of this Act.
An action commenced before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law as it existed immediately before the effective
date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
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