Enacts new Article 12, Certificate of Merit for Civil Actions Against Design Professionals, in Subchapter VI of GS Chapter 1. Requires the plaintiff in any civil action or arbitration proceeding for damages arising out of the provision of professional services performed by a design professional (including professionally licensed engineers and licensed architects or firms in which such individuals practice) to file along with the complaint an affidavit of a third-party licensed professional engineer or licensed architect. Requires the third-party engineer or architect, who must be licensed in the state and actively engaged in practice, to (1) be competent to testify and hold the same professional license and practice in the same area of practice as the defendant design professional and (2) offer testimony based on knowledge, skill, experience, education, training and practice. Requires that the affidavit state for each theory of recovery the negligence or other action by the design professional in providing the service and the factual basis for each claim. Provides that if a plaintiff does not file the affidavit, the complaint will be dismissed. Provides exceptions for the contemporaneous filing requirement. Provides for the timing of filing an answer.
Makes conforming changes to GS 1A-1, Rule 9 (pleading special matters), GS 89C-10 (powers of the North Carolina State Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors), and GS 83A-6 (North Carolina Board of Architecture rules, bylaws, and standards of professional conduct).
Effective for complaints and affidavits filed on or after October 1, 2011.