§ 114.002.Applicability

The applicability section is where most claims fall out.

The subject matter is construction. The contract must be for engineering, architectural or construction services, or for materials related to those services.

An ordinary purchase of goods does not qualify, even though the definitions in Section 114.001 speak of goods or services. This section is the narrower filter, and it controls.

Only a party to the written contract may bring the claim. A subcontractor with no contract with the agency is not within the chapter.

The amount in controversy must be at least $250,000, which keeps small disputes out of the courthouse and inside the administrative process.

The threshold is measured on the claim itself. Penalties, costs, expenses, prejudgment interest and attorney’s fees are excluded from the calculation.

That exclusion prevents inflating a small claim into a qualifying one by adding fees and interest to the demand.

Claims below the line are not extinguished. They go to the Government Code’s contract claim process, which Section 114.012 makes exclusive in the other direction for claims this chapter does cover.

The materials clause reaches suppliers who contract with the agency. A contract for materials related to engineering, architectural or construction services counts, so long as it is with the agency itself.

The threshold reflects what a public works dispute costs to try. Litigation over a construction claim consumes experts, schedules and testing, and the legislature set the entry price where that expense makes sense.