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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