88R19289 AJA-D
 
  By: Martinez, Leach, Holland H.B. No. 2007
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2007:
 
  By:  Davis C.S.H.B. No. 2007
 
 
 
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-build firm or a
  design-build team, or an architect, engineer, or other member of a
  design-build firm or design-build team, 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, 2023.