Texas Business and Commerce Code 59.051 – Limitation On Contractor’s Liability and Responsibility for Certain Defects
(a) A contractor is not responsible for the consequences of design defects in and may not warranty the accuracy, adequacy, sufficiency, or suitability of plans, specifications, or other design documents provided to the contractor by a person other than the contractor’s agents, contractors, fabricators, or suppliers, or its consultants, of any tier.
(b) A contractor must, within a reasonable time of learning of a defect, inaccuracy, inadequacy, or insufficiency in the plans, specifications, or other design documents, disclose in writing to the person with whom the contractor enters into a contract the existence of any known defect in the plans, specifications, or other design documents that is discovered by the contractor, or that reasonably should have been discovered by the contractor using ordinary diligence, before or during construction. In this subsection, ordinary diligence means the observations of the plans, specifications, or other design documents or the improvement to real property that a contractor would make in the reasonable preparation of a bid or fulfillment of its scope of work under normal circumstances. Ordinary diligence does not require that the contractor engage a person licensed or registered under Title 6, Occupations Code, or any other person with specialized skills. A disclosure under this subsection is made in the contractor’s capacity as contractor and not as a licensed professional under Title 6, Occupations Code.
Terms Used In Texas Business and Commerce Code 59.051
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by writing, printing, or other means. See Texas Government Code 312.011
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
(c) A contractor who fails to disclose a defect as required by Subsection (b) may be liable for the consequences of defects that result from the failure to disclose.