Broad form indemnities are common in Texas construction contracts, even though indemnifying someone for their own negligence is a tough pill to swallow. 

In 2011, Texas passed a law limiting such clauses in construction contracts.  Since then, Texas courts have analyzed the statute only a handful of times.

The Rule

In a nutshell, the statute

Many construction contracts contain some version of a “differing site conditions” clause. AIA’s A201 general conditions, as well as in the EJCDC equivalent, contains a changed site condition clause. It also appears in most state DOT specifications and federal government construction contracts. Generally, this provision provides for a change order (subject to procedural compliance) when