<i><b>Sec. 1001.407. OCCUPATIONS CODE, CONSTRUCTION OF CERTAIN PUBLIC WORKS. </B>
The state or a political subdivision of the state may not construct a public work involving engineering in which the public health, welfare, or safety is involved, unless:
(1) the engineering plans, specifications, and estimates have been prepared by an engineer; and
(2) the engineering construction is to be performed under the direct supervision of an engineer.
</I>
A Commissioners Court is exempt for "road maintenance or improvement" work. �1001.053 OCCUPATIONS CODE

In my County, developers are required to construct new roads, in their subdivisions, to County specs, and then convey the new roads to the County. It seems to me that, if the County required developers to give us X amount of money, and then built the new roads to County specs ourselves, the entire project, under �1001.407, would be a "public work," and the construction would have to be performed under "the direct supervision of an engineer."

Of course, we don't build the roads ourselves. We make the developer build the road, and you can bet that they don't have an engineer directly supervisiong the construction of their road. The County imposes, in fact, if not name, an impact fee on the developer, for the construction of the roads necessary to handle his subdivision.

Is anyone aware of case law, or an AG opinion, as to whether, by imposing the construction of a public work on a third party, local government may not comply with the requirement that the construction of the public work be directly supervised by an engineer?

Kerr County has an engineer on hourly contract who together with our Road & Bridge supervisor regularly inspects the new roads while under construction. We also have the developer pay all the expenses to do this. Our R&B supervisor is a stickler for road construction and the process seems to work very smoothly without any complaints from developers about paying engineering fees.