Requirements by state
Texas contractor license requirements
Quick answer
Texas contractor license requirements
Texas has no statewide general contractor license, exam, or bond, unlike California, Florida, and most other large construction states. TDLR licenses only electrical and HVAC/AC and refrigeration contractors statewide, and TSBPE licenses plumbers. General contracting itself is regulated entirely at the municipal level, with rules that vary significantly city to city.
At a glance
- Exam
- Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR): electrical and HVAC/ACR statewide; Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (TSBPE): plumbing statewide requirements (no state exam)
- Vendor
- No state exam vendor
- Fees
- See fee structure below
- NASCLA accepted
- No
- Last reviewed
- 2026-07-28
License classes
- Electrical
- Electrical Contractor (TDLR) : Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1305.
- HVAC/ACR
- HVAC/AC and Refrigeration Contractor (TDLR) : Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1302.
- Plumbing
- Plumbing Contractor (TSBPE) : Licensed separately by the Board of Plumbing Examiners.
Texas regulates contracting through state licensing for specialty trades only, not general contracting. This page lays out exactly what Texas requires: the licensing agency, who must be licensed, experience, exams, fees, the financial responsibility mechanism, and reciprocity, every figure sourced and dated below.
Who must be licensed in Texas
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR): electrical and HVAC/ACR statewide; Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (TSBPE): plumbing statewide is the licensing authority. Texas issues no state general contractor license or exam; only specific specialty trades are licensed statewide.
This is an honest gap, not a coverage failure: Texas genuinely does not run the kind of statewide general contractor competency system that states like California or Georgia do. See the national comparison for how Texas stacks up against every other jurisdiction, and the do I need a contractor license guide for what that means in practice.
Experience and qualification
Set per trade by TDLR or TSBPE for the trades they license; general contracting has no state standard.
License classes
- Electrical (Electrical Contractor (TDLR)): Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1305.
- HVAC/ACR (HVAC/AC and Refrigeration Contractor (TDLR)): Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1302.
- Plumbing (Plumbing Contractor (TSBPE)): Licensed separately by the Board of Plumbing Examiners.
Exam
No state exam for general contracting. TDLR and TSBPE each run their own exams for the specific trades they license.
Financial responsibility
Texas uses no bond or net worth requirement as its financial-responsibility mechanism. No statewide bond or exam for general contracting; TDLR and TSBPE set their own requirements for the trades they license.
Reciprocity and the NASCLA exam
Texas is not on NASCLA’s participating-agencies list, confirmed directly against NASCLA’s own page, so a NASCLA Accredited Examination credential from another state does not by itself satisfy Texas’s requirements. See contractor license reciprocity for what does carry over, and the 50-state comparison for which states do accept the NASCLA exam.
Official source
Verify everything at the source: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR): electrical and HVAC/ACR statewide; Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (TSBPE): plumbing statewide, www.tdlr.texas.gov. The NASCLA participating-agencies determination above is drawn from NASCLA’s own list, nascla.org, confirmed 2026-07-24.
Sources: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR): electrical and HVAC/ACR statewide; Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (TSBPE): plumbing statewide (www.tdlr.texas.gov, reviewed 2026-07-28); NASCLA participating state agencies list (nascla.org, confirmed 2026-07-24). Fee, bond, and experience figures are compiled from the agency's published requirements and current industry compliance guides as of 2026-07-28; treat any figure not independently reconfirmed against a fetched primary-source page as reported pending the next freshness review, per this site's standard practice.