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The Texas Supreme Court in Los Compadres Pescadores, LLC v. Juan Valdez, et al., recently explored what constitutes a dangerous condition to an improvement to property that caused a construction work-site injury. The Court also addressed the types of evidence it found conclusive in holding a property owner vicariously liable for the acts of a 1099 independent contractor. Los Compadres Pescadores, the property owner, planned to build a 4-unit condominium building on South Padre Island. A high-voltage powerline ran about 24 feet above the back property line through an easement.  It was undisput

Bills are anticipated to be filed in the current Texas Legislative Session to reduce the statute of repose.  In general, the statute of repose in Texas for design professionals and contractors is 10 years from the date of substantial completion.  There are means of extending the repose period even further. The bills introduced in the last Legislative Session and anticipated to be filed in the current one aim to reduce the period to 7 years or less.  But, what does it mean and why does it matter? 1.    Limitations v. Repose Claims against design professionals and contractors relating to co

When winter storms created a state of emergency in all of Texas’ 254 counties, causing the lights, water, and heat to go out when they were needed the most, many Texans began looking for someone to blame.  The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has become the favorite scapegoat of the moment. In the days since Texas began to thaw out, several lawsuits have been filed against ERCOT, ranging from class-actions to a wrongful death suit regarding an 11-year old boy who died of hypothermia in his own home. With the spotlight on ERCOT more than ever, questions have been raised about th

The premise is simple–infrastructure should be “resilient”. The practice is more difficult.  Since Hurricane Sandy, a significant amount of research has been conducted on designing and constructing “resilient” infrastructure.  Almost all of the research has focused on increased surface temperatures of the earth and associated increased risks of flooding and catastrophic rain events, such as Hurricane Harvey.  Little attention has been paid to increased probability of extreme cold weather events precipitated by disruptions in Artic weather patterns. But as the Texas Valentine�

The Texas Legislature is underway and heading towards May 31, 2021, when the Regular Session will end.  We are also fast approaching the deadline by which bills and resolutions, other than local and emergency bills, must be filed which is March 12, 2021.  Here are three pending pieces of legislation which may be of particular interest to members of the construction industry. 1. Contractor Liability SB 219 – Civil Liability and Responsibility for the Consequences of Defects in Plans, Specifications, or Related Documents for Construction and Repair of Real Property Improvements (Companion Bi