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Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.008

ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, INTERIOR DESIGNERS, AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS FURNISHING DESIGN, PLANNING, OR INSPECTION OF CONSTRUCTION OF IMPROVEMENTS

Applied in 45 court decisions — leading case Johnson v. City of Fort Worth (1989)

Most recently applied in Texas Southern University v. Kirksey Architects, Inc. Paradigm Consultants, Inc. Nathelyne Kennedy & Associates, L.P. F/K/A Nathelyne Kennedy & Associates L.P. And Haynes Whaley Associates Inc. Structural Engineering (February 2019)

Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff

How often courts cite this section

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citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), a person must bring suit for damages for a claim listed in Subsection (b) against a registered or licensed architect, engineer, interior designer, or landscape architect in this state, who designs, plans, or inspects the construction of an improvement to real property or equipment attached to real property, not later than 10 years after the substantial completion of the improvement or the beginning of operation of the equipment in an action arising out of a defective or unsafe condition of the real property, the improvement, or the equipment.

(a-1) A governmental entity must bring suit for damages for a claim listed in Subsection (b) against a registered or licensed architect, engineer, interior designer, or landscape architect in this state, who designs, plans, or inspects the construction of an improvement to real property or equipment attached to real property, not later than eight years after the substantial completion of the improvement or the beginning of operation of the equipment in an action arising out of a defective or unsafe condition of the real property, the improvement, or the equipment. This subsection does not apply to a claim arising out of:

(1) a contract entered into by the Texas Department of Transportation;

(2) a project that receives money from the state highway fund or a federal fund designated for highway and mass transit spending; or

(3) a civil works project, as that term is defined under Section 2269.351, Government Code.

(b) This section applies to suit for:

(1) injury, damage, or loss to real or personal property;

(2) personal injury;

(3) wrongful death;

(4) contribution; or

(5) indemnity.

(c) If the claimant presents a written claim for damages, contribution, or indemnity to the architect, engineer, interior designer, or landscape architect within the applicable limitations period, the period is extended for:

(1) two years from the date the claim is presented, for a claim to which Subsection (a) applies; or

(2) one year from the date the claim is presented, for a claim to which Subsection (a-1) applies.

Official source: Texas Constitution and Statutes. Reproduced from public-domain Texas statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.