Third Coast Services, LLC and SpawGlass Civil Construction, Inc. v. Felicitas Castaneda, Individually and as Representative of the Estate of Pedro Castaneda, Deceased, Irving Castaneda, Evelyn Castaneda, and Lizzie Castaneda

Summary

The Supreme Court of Texas held that Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 97.002 does not require a contractor to have a direct contractual relationship with the Texas Department of Transportation. The Court concluded that SpawGlass Civil Construction, Inc. and Third Coast Services, LLC performed construction work for TxDOT and that traffic-signal work constituted construction of a highway under the statute. The Court reversed and remanded for consideration of whether the contractors conclusively established their compliance with contract documents material to the accident-causing condition.

Holdings

1. Section 97.002 does not require a contractor to contract directly with or be hired by TxDOT; the court of appeals erred by engrafting a contractual-privity requirement onto the statutory text.
2. The contractors performed their work "for" TxDOT because their work concerned frontage roads for which TxDOT would ultimately bear responsibility for operation and maintenance, even though the contractors were hired by the County and SpawGlass.
3. The contractors' work installing traffic signals for the future TxDOT frontage roads constituted construction or repair of a highway under section 97.002.
4. The Supreme Court did not decide whether the contractors conclusively established compliance with contract documents material to the alleged defect; that fact-intensive issue was remanded to the court of appeals for consideration in the first instance.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 97.002 requires a contractor to have contractual privity with or be hired directly by TxDOT.
2. Whether the contractors' work was performed "for" TxDOT within the meaning of section 97.002.
3. Whether the construction or installation of traffic signals constituted construction or repair of a highway, road, or street under section 97.002.
4. Whether the contractors conclusively established compliance with contract documents material to the condition or defect that proximately caused the alleged injury and death.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded