§ 150.002.Certificate of Merit

The certificate of merit, and one of the most consequential pre-suit gates in Texas civil practice.

In any action or arbitration proceeding for damages arising out of the provision of professional services, a claimant shall be required to file with the complaint an affidavit of a third-party licensed architect, professional engineer, registered landscape architect, or registered professional land surveyor who is competent to testify, holds the same professional license or registration as the defendant, and practices in the area of practice of the defendant.

The same-license requirement is strict. An engineer’s affidavit does not support a claim against an architect, however qualified the engineer.

Subsection (b) sets what the affidavit must contain, and the standard is specific: for each theory of recovery, the negligence or other action, error, or omission, and the factual basis for each such claim. A general statement that the work fell below standard does not satisfy it. The affiant must be licensed in this state and actively engaged in practice.

Subsection (e) is the sanction: failure to file shall result in dismissal, and this dismissal may be with prejudice. The dismissal is mandatory; only its prejudice is discretionary.

Subsection (c) is the one relief valve, and it is narrow. Where limitations will expire within 10 days of filing and the affidavit could not be prepared because of that constraint, the claimant has 30 days after filing to supplement, extendable by the court on motion for good cause.

Subsection (f) makes an order granting or denying dismissal immediately appealable as an interlocutory order — so the question is resolved before the case proceeds.

Two exclusions. Subsection (g) confirms the section does not extend any limitations or repose period. Subsection (h) exempts suits for the payment of fees, and subsection (i) exempts certain design-build third-party claims on governmental projects.