How to Verify a Texas Contractor's License

Texas has no single contractor license and no single place to check one. The credential depends on the trade, and so does the agency. This guide names the right lookup for each trade this site covers in Texas, what it shows, and the traps.

Know which agency issues the credential

• Plumbing: a Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (TSBPE) license. The number you check belongs to the company's Responsible Master Plumber.
• HVAC: a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) license. TDLR says contractors who install, repair, or maintain systems related to air conditioning, refrigeration, or heating must have a TDLR license.
• Electrical: a TDLR Electrical Contractor license, held by the business. TDLR's rule is that anyone who performs, or offers to perform, non-exempt electrical work in the state of Texas must be licensed and perform that work through a licensed electrical contractor.
• Water damage restoration: no license for the trade. What Texas does license, through TDLR, is mold remediation above 25 contiguous square feet. Beyond that the checkable credential is voluntary IICRC certification.
• Roofing: no state license at all. The only checkable credential is the voluntary RCAT license, covered below.
• Pest control: a Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) business license from its Structural Pest Control Service, not a building-trades license.

Plumbers: look it up at TSBPE

TSBPE's consumer page starts with the name: obtain the name of the Responsible Master Plumber (RMP) for the company. The RMP's license number should be displayed in all advertisements. Then the trap. Master Plumber license numbers begin with the letter M, and the board is explicit that license numbers which begin with A, T, J or any other letter are not Master Plumber license numbers.

The lookup is the Public License/Registration Search that TSBPE's consumer page links to. It offers a search by name, by license number, by city or by county. The license number search has a Board field listing several Texas boards: choose Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, then enter the M number. TSBPE says to use it to verify the validity of the Master Plumber license number and that the Master Plumber has a Certificate of Insurance on file. An RMP must have submitted proof that you have obtained a minimum of $300,000 of commercial liability insurance coverage. In the board's licensee file a good license reads "Current"; that is what this site requires. For complaint history the board says to call the Enforcement Department at (512) 936-5200, ext. 65249.

HVAC, electrical and mold: look it up at TDLR

The lookup is the TDLR License Data Search. It searches by license type, license number, expiration date, name or business name, city, county or zip code, and its help page says results show Name, License Number, Expiration Date, Type, and Address information.

The biggest Texas trap is in the title: TDLR calls it the Active License Search, and it covers active licenses only. A lapsed license does not come back marked expired; it does not come back at all. TDLR's instruction is if license not found, please contact Customer Service at 800-803-9202. A result means active; the expiration date says for how long. The number search is numeric only, so drop any letters a contractor writes in front of it. For air conditioning contractors TDLR publishes the county rather than the city, which is why HVAC pages on this site cover one county each.

For electrical work, check the business, then the person. TDLR's FAQ says an electrical contractor must either obtain and assign your own Master Electrician license to your company, or employ a licensed Master Electrician to assign their license number to the company as the "Master Electrician of Record". Those are two different records, and TDLR's advice is to search for the individual or company by name or license number. Do both. For water damage, the same search covers the mold program, whose license types include Mold Remediation Contractor and Mold Remediation Company. A drying crew with neither breaks no Texas rule below the mold threshold, which is why restoration listings here also show IICRC certification.

Roofers: there is nothing at the state to check

RCAT, the Roofing Contractors Association of Texas, puts it plainly: the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation (TDLR) does NOT currently administer licensure for roofing contractors, and anyone can call themselves a roofer in Texas.

What exists is RCAT's voluntary Licensed Roofing Contractor program: three exams, proof of general liability insurance or a surety bond at the amounts on RCAT's program page, and a one-year license renewed with 8 Continuing Education Units. Check it in the RCAT directory: enter part of the company name or the representative's last name, or search by zip code, and tick the RCAT Licensed Contractor box, because RCAT says the same directory lists suppliers, manufacturers, consultants, and fellow members. The number's prefix gives the scope: 01 residential, 02 commercial, 03 both. It is an industry credential, not a state one, so this site labels Texas roofers RCAT-licensed and nothing stronger.

Pest control: check with TDA, not TDLR

TDA's Structural Pest Control Service licenses and regulates pest management professionals who apply pesticides in and around structures. Its consumer page says licenses are required for anyone who is in the business of pest control. A company must secure a business license from the SPCS for each business location, must designate a responsible certified applicator, and must have an applicator certified in each license category in which business is to be conducted. The categories that matter for a house are the register's own P, T and F: general pest, termite and wood-destroying organisms, and fumigation. Ask which ones the license carries, because the same license can cover lawn and weed work that is not this trade.

One honest limitation. We found no name-or-number search form on the SPCS pages we read. What TDA publishes is a downloadable Commercial Business Licensed Report (csv) on its Structural Pest Control Business Publications page. Ask the company for its business license number and find it in that report. For concerns, the consumer page says SPCS investigates complaints involving unlicensed pest control activities and gives (866) 918-4481 or email SPCS@TexasAgriculture.gov.

What this site checked before you did

Every Texas listing here comes from the issuing agency's own public file, and only a current credential is listed: TSBPE's "Current" for plumbing, TDLR's "CURRENT" for mold, an unexpired TDLR license for HVAC and electrical (those files carry no status column), a TDA license carrying a pest category, or an RCAT license. Each listing shows the number and links the lookup so you can repeat the check; the full rules are on the methodology page. Start at the Texas hub, or go to plumbers, HVAC contractors, electricians, water damage restoration, roofers or pest control.