Sec. 27.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Action" means a court or judicial proceeding or an arbitration.

(2) "Appurtenance" means any structure or recreational facility that is 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.

(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 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 for the construction of a new 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 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.

(6) "Economic damages" means compensatory damages for pecuniary loss proximately caused by a construction defect. The term does not include exemplary damages or damages for physical pain and mental anguish, loss of consortium, disfigurement, physical impairment, or loss of companionship and society.

(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 is transferred to the owners under a condominium or cooperative system.

(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 caused by a failure of the load-bearing portion.

(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.

Added by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1072, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 797, Sec. 1, 2 eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 189, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 458, Sec. 2.01, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Amended by:

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 750 (H.B. 3147), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007.