87(R) HB 3595 - Introduced version - Bill Text

	87R7575 AJA-F
	By:  Leach	H.B.  No.  3595

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to residential construction liability.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION  1.    Section 27.001, Property Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec.  27.001.    DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
	(1)    "Action" means a court or judicial proceeding or
	an arbitration.
	(2)    "Appurtenance" means any garage, outbuilding,
	retaining wall, landscaping improvement, or other improvement,
	structure, or recreational facility that is constructed by a
	contractor in connection with the construction of a new residence,
	regardless of whether or not it is attached to or [appurtenant to a
	residence but is not] a part of the dwelling unit.
	(3)    ["Commission" means the Texas Residential
	Construction Commission.
	[(4)]    "Construction defect" [has the meaning assigned
	by Section 401.004 for an action to which Subtitle D, Title 16,
	applies and for any other action] means a matter concerning the
	design, construction, or repair of a new residence, of an
	alteration of or repair or addition to an existing residence, or of
	an appurtenance to a residence, on which a person has a complaint
	against a contractor. The term may include any physical damage to
	the residence, any appurtenance, or the real property on which the
	residence and appurtenance are affixed proximately caused by a
	construction defect.
	(4)  [(5)]    "Contractor":
	(A)    means:
	(i)    a builder [, as defined by Section
	401.003,] contracting with an owner for the construction or repair
	of a new residence, for the repair or alteration of or an addition
	to an existing residence, or for the construction, sale,
	alteration, addition, or repair of an appurtenance to a new or
	existing residence;
	(ii)    any person contracting [with a
	purchaser] for the sale or construction of a new residence
	constructed by or on behalf of that person; or
	(iii)    a person contracting with an owner or
	the developer of a condominium or other housing project for the
	construction of one or more [a] new residences [residence], for an
	alteration of or an addition to an existing residence, for repair of
	a new or existing residence, or for the construction, sale,
	alteration, addition, or repair of an appurtenance to a new or
	existing residence; and
	(B)    includes:
	(i)    an owner, officer, director,
	shareholder, partner, or employee of the contractor; and
	(ii)    a risk retention group registered
	under Chapter 2201 [Article 21.54], Insurance Code, that insures
	all or any part of a contractor's liability for the cost to repair a
	residential construction defect.
	(5)  [(6)]    "Economic damages" means compensatory
	damages for pecuniary loss proximately caused by a construction
	defect. The term does not include exemplary damages, speculative
	damages, or damages for bodily or personal injury, physical pain
	and mental anguish, loss of consortium, disfigurement, physical
	impairment, or loss of companionship and society.
	(6)  [(7)]    "Residence" means the real property and
	improvements for a single-family house, duplex, triplex, or
	quadruplex or a unit and the common elements in a multiunit
	residential structure in which [title to] the individual units are
	sold or leased [is transferred] to the owners or occupants under a
	condominium or cooperative system.
	(7)  [(8)]    "Structural failure" [has the meaning
	assigned by Section 401.002 for an action to which Subtitle D, Title
	16, applies and for any other action] means actual physical damage
	to the load-bearing portion of a residence, such as a foundation or
	framing system [caused by a failure of the load-bearing portion].
	(8)    [(9)    "Third-party inspector" has the meaning
	assigned by Section 401.002.
	[(10)]    "Developer of a condominium" means a declarant,
	as defined by Section 82.003, of a condominium consisting of one or
	more residences.
	SECTION  2.    Section 27.002(b), Property Code, is amended to