In residential construction, the recent legislative amendments to Chapter 27 of the Texas Property Code (the Residential Construction Liability Act or the “RCLA”) have garnered significant attention in the industry, and understandably so as there were many important tweaks for Texas homebuilders made by the Texas Legislature. Often overlooked are the Texas Legislature’s amendments to Chapter 16 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, which shortened the statue of repose on residential construction projects from ten years to six years. Residential homebuilders should take note of these changes to the statute of repose because they could significantly limit your exposure on warranty and construction defect claims moving forward.
Continue Reading Texas Legislature Reduces Statute of Repose for Residential Homebuilders
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So you want to be a public construction contractor in Texas? First you need to know are the rules—and there are a lot of them. There are statutory procurement regimes for different types of public work, different agencies, and different project delivery methods. Different criteria and standards are used to evaluate all of them. 
Every company, no matter the industry, relies on its name and reputation to develop customers and generate revenue. Think about the brands that dominate American culture such as Nike, Wal-Mart, Amazon or McDonald’s, then imagine those businesses without the ability to adequately protect their names, slogans and logos. No doubt the vultures would circle and brand power would most likely become short lived or otherwise diluted to the point of non-existence. The construction industry is not exempt, and the industry leaders benefit from identifiable names and logos, built over years of reputation and brand building. While the tools necessary to protect your company’s brand exist at the state and federal level, many business owners or leaders are unfamiliar with the trademark process and unaware of the consequences of not utilizing those tools. 
One the most litigated or disputed issues in construction is that of the change order. Almost every experienced contractor has dealt with either defending against or pursing change orders relating to additional work, time and costs since owners asking for extra or changed work in the midst of a lump sum project is not an unusual occurrence. But, what happens when the owner thinks that the work is already within the scope of the project and won’t approve a change order to pay more? 
Since arriving in the United States the Coronavirus pandemic has taken a devastating toll on nearly every aspect of our economy. Industries such as construction have faced