By: King of Zavala H.B. No. 2995
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to staff leasing services licenseholders as persons who
may obtain a mechanic's lien on real property or perfect a claim
against a statutory payment bond.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 53.001, Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 53.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Contract price" means the cost to the owner for
any part of construction or repair performed under an original
contract.
(2) "Improvement" includes:
(A) abutting sidewalks and streets and utilities
in or on those sidewalks and streets;
(B) clearing, grubbing, draining, or fencing of
land;
(C) wells, cisterns, tanks, reservoirs, or
artificial lakes or pools made for supplying or storing water;
(D) pumps, siphons, and windmills or other
machinery or apparatuses used for raising water for stock, domestic
use, or irrigation; and
(E) planting orchard trees, grubbing out
orchards and replacing trees, and pruning of orchard trees.
(3) "Labor" means labor used in the direct prosecution
of the work.
(4) "Material" means all or part of:
(A) the material, machinery, fixtures, or tools
incorporated into the work, consumed in the direct prosecution of
the work, or ordered and delivered for incorporation or
consumption;
(B) rent at a reasonable rate and actual running
repairs at a reasonable cost for construction equipment used or
reasonably required and delivered for use in the direct prosecution
of the work at the site of the construction or repair; or
(C) power, water, fuel, and lubricants consumed
or ordered and delivered for consumption in the direct prosecution
of the work.
(5) "Mechanic's lien" means the lien provided by this
chapter.
(6) "Original contract" means an agreement to which an
owner is a party either directly or by implication of law.
(7) "Original contractor" means a person contracting
with an owner either directly or through the owner's agent.
(8) "Residence" means a single-family house, duplex,
triplex, or quadruplex or a unit in a multiunit structure used for
residential purposes that is:
(A) owned by one or more adult persons; and
(B) used or intended to be used as a dwelling by
one of the owners.
(9) "Residential construction contract" means a
contract between an owner and a contractor in which the contractor
agrees to construct or repair the owner's residence, including
improvements appurtenant to the residence.
(10) "Residential construction project" means a
project for the construction or repair of a new or existing
residence, including improvements appurtenant to the residence, as
provided by a residential construction contract.
(11) "Retainage" means an amount representing part of
a contract payment that is not required to be paid to the claimant
within the month following the month in which labor is performed,
material is furnished, or specially fabricated material is
delivered. The term does not include retainage under Subchapter E.
(12) "Specially fabricated material" means material
fabricated for use as a component of the construction or repair so
as to be reasonably unsuitable for use elsewhere.
(13) "Subcontractor" means a person who has furnished
labor or materials to fulfill an obligation to an original
contractor or to a subcontractor to perform all or part of the work
required by an original contract. The term includes a staff leasing
services company holding a license under Chapter 91, Labor Code,
whose employees perform labor to fulfill an obligation to an
original contractor or to a subcontractor.
(14) "Work" means any part of construction or repair
performed under an original contract.
(15) "Completion" of an original contract means the
actual completion of the work, including any extras or change
orders reasonably required or contemplated under the original
contract, other than warranty work or replacement or repair of the
work performed under the contract.
SECTION 2. Section 2253.001, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2253.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Governmental entity" means a governmental or
quasi-governmental authority authorized by state law to make a
public work contract, including:
(A) the state, a county, or a municipality;
(B) a department, board, or agency of the state,
a county, or a municipality; and
(C) a school district or a subdivision of a
school district.
(2) "Payment bond beneficiary" means a person for
whose protection and use this chapter requires a payment bond.
(3) "Prime contractor" means a person, firm, or
corporation that makes a public work contract with a governmental
entity.
(4) "Public work contract" means a contract for
constructing, altering, or repairing a public building or carrying
out or completing any public work.
(5) "Public work labor" means labor used directly to
carry out a public work.
(6) "Public work material" means:
(A) material used, or ordered and delivered for
use, directly to carry out a public work;
(B) specially fabricated material;
(C) reasonable rental and actual running repair
costs for construction equipment used, or reasonably required and
delivered for use, directly to carry out work at the project site;
or
(D) power, water, fuel, and lubricants used, or
ordered and delivered for use, directly to carry out a public work.
(7) "Retainage" means the part of the payments under a
public work contract that are not required to be paid within the
month after the month in which the public work labor is performed or
public work material is delivered under the contract.
(8) "Specially fabricated material" means material
ordered by a prime contractor or subcontractor that is:
(A) specially fabricated for use in a public
work; and
(B) reasonably unsuitable for another use.
(9) "Subcontractor" means a person, firm, or
corporation that provides public work labor or material to fulfill
an obligation to a prime contractor or to a subcontractor for the
performance and installation of any of the work required by a public
work contract. The term includes a staff leasing services company
holding a license under Chapter 91, Labor Code, whose employees
perform public work labor to fulfill an obligation to a prime
contractor or to a subcontractor.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005, and
applies only to labor performed under or by virtue of a contract
entered into on or after that date. Labor performed under or by
virtue of a contract entered into before that date is governeed by
the law in effect immediately before that date, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.