§ 114.003.Waiver of Immunity to Suit for Certain Claims

The waiver, in one sentence, with three conditions built into it.

The agency must have been authorized by statute or the constitution to enter into the contract. An agreement made without that authority does not trigger the waiver.

The contract must be one subject to this chapter as Sections 114.001 and 114.002 define it.

The claim must be for breach of an express provision. An implied duty, a course of dealing or an implied covenant is not what the waiver reaches.

"Express provision" is the phrase that decides most disputes here. A claim has to be tied to language in the contract, which puts the drafting of the agreement at the center of the case.

The waiver is of immunity to suit, the bar that prevents a court from hearing the case at all.

Everything else in the chapter conditions it. The damages cap in Section 114.004, the enforceability of contractual dispute procedures in Section 114.005, the venue rule in Section 114.010 and the payment limits in Section 114.011 all apply.

The authority requirement points back to the agency’s own enabling law. An agency contracts only where a statute or the constitution allows it, and a contract outside that authority does not carry the waiver.

The express-provision limit is a drafting instruction. A contractor’s protection on a public project comes from what the contract says, because an obligation the parties left implicit is an obligation this chapter will not enforce.