Texas Construction Forensics& Construction Management Law

Statutes of Limitation & Repose

Texas construction claims sit under two separate deadlines that run independently of one another: the general statute of limitations that applies to the type of claim being brought, and a construction-specific statute of repose that caps liability outright regardless of when a defect is discovered.

• Statute of limitations: four years for breach of contract, breach of warranty, fraud and Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) claims; two years for negligence claims. These are the general Texas limitations periods, not a construction-specific rule. The Residential Construction Liability Act (below) does not extend them.
• Statute of repose: Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.009 bars most construction claims ten years after substantial completion, regardless of discovery. House Bill 2024 (effective June 9, 2023) created a real exception: for a detached one- or two-family dwelling or a townhouse of no more than three stories, the repose period shortens to six years if the builder provided a qualifying written warranty (minimum one year for workmanship and materials, two years for plumbing/electrical/HVAC systems, six years for major structural components). Commercial and multifamily projects outside that narrow exception keep the full ten-year period.

Because HB 2024 only shortens the repose period when a specific written warranty was actually provided, confirming whether a qualifying warranty exists (and its exact contract date relative to the June 9, 2023 effective date) is one of the first things worth establishing on a Texas residential matter. Getting this wrong in either direction can materially misstate how much time a claim actually has.

The Residential Construction Liability Act (RCLA)

Chapter 27 of the Texas Property Code sets out a mandatory pre-litigation process for residential construction defect claims. It's a procedural gate, not a substantive time extension. The underlying statutes of limitation and repose above keep running throughout. The current process, as amended by House Bill 2022:

• 60-day written notice (§27.004(a)): the claimant must send the contractor written notice by certified mail, describing the alleged defects in reasonable detail, at least 60 days before filing suit.
• 35-day inspection window (§27.004(a)–(b)): on request, the contractor gets a reasonable opportunity to inspect (up to three separate inspections) within 35 days of receiving notice.
• 60-day settlement offer window (§27.004(b)): the contractor then has up to 60 days from receiving notice to make a written offer of settlement or repair.

For attorneys and insurers, the practical effect is that a forensic evaluation on a Texas residential matter needs to be ready well before suit is filed. The 60-day notice period is exactly the window in which a contractor's inspection rights are exercised, so a forensic report that isn't ready to support that notice can put a claimant at a real procedural disadvantage.

PCC's forensic intake on RCLA matters is timed to have findings ready before the 60-day notice goes out, not after, so the pre-suit process works in the claimant's favor rather than against it.

Contractor Regulation

Texas has no statewide general contractor license, a genuinely distinctive structure worth understanding on its own terms. There's no state board covering general contracting itself, unlike the trade-specific licenses described below.

• State-level trade licenses only: the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) licenses electrical and HVAC/refrigeration contractors, and the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners licenses plumbers. General contracting outside those specific trades carries no state license requirement at all.
• Municipal-level regulation only: oversight of general contractors happens entirely at the city or county level and varies significantly. Some cities require contractor registration before permits are issued, others require permits with no separate registration step.
• Practical effect on a forensic matter: "was this contractor licensed" isn't a single statewide yes/no question in Texas. It depends on the specific trade involved and the specific city or county where the work took place.

Because there's no single statewide registry to check, confirming a contractor's actual regulatory status on a Texas matter means identifying the correct jurisdiction and trade classification first, then checking the applicable municipal or state-trade-board record.

Site Safety & OSHA Jurisdiction

Texas has no OSHA-approved State Plan for private-sector employers. Construction site safety on Texas private-sector job sites falls under federal OSHA jurisdiction directly, enforced under 29 CFR Part 1926 (Construction Industry Standards) through OSHA's Dallas and Houston area offices. State and local government construction workers are covered separately by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation, not by OSHA. A forensic investigation touching an active Texas job site typically needs to account for federal OSHA requirements alongside local building codes and the standard of care in effect at the time of construction.