Senate Bill 687

SB 687 extended to registered professional land surveyors or licensed state land surveyors (as defined by Texas Occupations Code Section 1071.002) certain provisions of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code (TCPRC) and Texas Local Government Code (TLGC) that were previously only applicable to architects and engineers. Generally, these provisions relate to contractual defense and indemnity obligations, contractual limitations of liability, and the professional standard of care, as discussed in more detail below.

As revised by SB 687, TCPRC Chapter 130 will now, in part: (1) prohibit contractors from agreeing to indemnify or hold harmless architects, engineers, and land surveyors from liability in construction contracts for damages resulting from defects in or design-professional negligence arising out of design documents; (2) prohibit architects, engineers, and land surveyors from agreeing to indemnify or hold harmless owners from liability for damages resulting from the owner’s negligence (except in single or multifamily residential contracts); (3) prohibit architects, engineers, and land surveyors in contracts for design services related to improvements to real property (except design-build contracts) from agreeing to defend any party against a claim based on an owner’s (or anyone over whom the owner exercises control) negligence, fault, or breach of contract (except claims of negligent hiring of a design professional); (4) permit architects, engineers, and land surveyors to contractually agree to reimburse an owner’s reasonable attorneys’ fees in proportion to their liability; (5) permit owners to contractually require architects, engineers, and land surveyors to name them as additional insureds on applicable insurance policies, if allowed under the policy; (6) define the standard of care applicable to architects, engineers, and land surveyors required for inclusion in construction contracts for design services; (7) permit certain owners (or other persons for whom a construction contract is being performed) and architects, engineers, and land surveyors to contractually agree to limit liability; and (8) permit architects, engineers, and land surveyors to be indemnified from liability for negligent acts (other than those described in Chapter 130) and for the negligence of contractors, subcontractors, or anyone for whose acts such parties may be liable.

SB 687 also extended the applicability of similar provisions in Section 271.904 of the TLGC to land surveyors, which provisions are currently only applicable to architects and engineers. Now, Section 271.904 prohibits architects, engineers, and land surveyors from contractually agreeing to: (1) indemnify or hold harmless a governmental agency (as defined by TLGC Section 271.003) against liability for damages, except to the extent of the indemnitor’s negligence, intentional tort, intellectual property infringement, or failure to pay a subcontractor or supplier; or (2) defend any party against a claim based on a governmental agency’s (or anyone over whom the agency exercises control) negligence, fault, or breach of contract. And, similar to the above-referenced TCPRC provisions, Section 271.904 now allows governmental agencies to require architects, engineers, and land surveyors to reimburse the agency’s reasonable attorneys’ fees in proportion to the design professional’s liability and name the agency as an additional insured on an applicable general liability policy. It also now defines the standard of care applicable to architects, engineers, and land surveyors required for inclusion in contracts with governmental agencies for design services, and makes clear that such agencies are permitted to include contractual provisions in contracts with such design professionals that relate to the scope, fees, and schedule of a project.

These revisions are intended to extend to land surveyors existing protections for architects and engineers against liability for the actions of others. They apply to a “contract or covenant or promise in, in connection with, or collateral to a construction contract entered into on or after” September 1, 2025. If such “covenants or promises” are made prior to, but incorporated in, a contract that is executed on or after September 1, 2025, it follows that those covenants or promises may be subject to the above changes. Construction industry members and their counsel should pay close attention to the terms and timing of contracts involving land surveyors during this time of transition.