Texas Contractor & Trade Licensing Costs (2026)
Texas licenses specific trades at state level through TDLR (electrical, HVAC) and the TSBPE (plumbing). There is no state general contractor license; general contractors register or pull permits at municipal level (e.g., Austin, Dallas, Houston). Select a trade classification below to calculate application fees, PSI examination costs, surety bond minimums, and renewal schedules.
Texas does not license contractors the way most states do. There is no single Texas contractor license, no one board covering the building trades, and no state license for a general contractor. Texas licenses specific trades only, and just three of the eight on this page: electricians, plumbers, and air conditioning and refrigeration contractors. Everything else runs on cities, contracts and federal rules.
Two separate agencies run the licensed trades, and they are not interchangeable. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) licenses electricians and ACR contractors. Plumbers answer to a different body entirely, the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (TSBPE). Their fees, exams and renewals share almost nothing.
This page walks through the three licensed routes with their verified first-time costs, then the five trades Texas leaves unlicensed and what governs them instead. Every figure matches the verified schedule on the linked trade page, checked against the licensing authority on October 29, 2026.
Two boards, three licensed trades, and a hard border around them
The licensed map of Texas is short. Electrical work and air conditioning and refrigeration work are both licensed by TDLR, electrical under Chapter 1305 of the Occupations Code. Plumbing is licensed by the TSBPE under its own chapter, exams and fee schedule. Those three are the whole state system.
The border matters as much as the map: a general contractor can coordinate all three licensed trades without holding any of these licenses, but cannot lawfully self-perform their work. The licensed businesses have to be on the job; the general contractor page covers that side in full.
Electricians: two licenses on one ladder, $233 the first time
Texas electrical licensing is a ladder that ends in two different licenses. The Master Electrician license belongs to a person: a $45 application, a $78 PSI exam in two portions, 12,000 hours of on-the-job training under a Texas master, and a journeyman license (8,000 hours, exam available at 7,000) held for at least two years. Our Texas electrician guide takes that ladder apart rung by rung.
The Electrical Contractor license belongs to a business: a $110 application, no exam, and two conditions, a master electrician of record and liability insurance of $300,000 per occurrence, $600,000 aggregate and $300,000 for products and completed operations.
Priced as one route, the first time costs $233, and keeping both licenses costs $155 a year ($45 master, $110 contractor). Neither license carries a surety bond. Continuing education follows the person, not the business: individual licensees owe 4 hours a year, while the contractor license itself requires none. The full ladder, including the $20 apprentice and $30 journeyman rungs and the rule that stops one master fronting two shops, is on the electrician page and in our Texas electrician guide.
Plumbers: a different board, and a designation instead of a second license
Plumbing is where Texas surprises people. The plumber's board is not TDLR, and the credential a plumbing company runs on is not a license you apply for directly. First comes the Master Plumber license from the TSBPE: a journeyman license held for at least two years (or one year alongside a US Department of Labor approved apprenticeship), the Master exam at $25 to the Board and $128.50 to Pearson VUE, a $75 initial license fee, and a one-time $39.05 fingerprint fee if yours are not already on file.
Only then can the Responsible Master Plumber designation be added to that license, for a $225 application fee and no exam. The designation is what a plumbing company operates under, and the Board guards it: an RMP can be of record for only one company at a time, and cannot hold a Plumbing Inspector license at the same time.
The route costs $453.50 in state and exam charges the first time, and $375 a year to renew the pair ($300 designation, $75 Master license), with 6 hours of continuing education a year. There is no surety bond at any stage, whatever older websites claim about a $15,000 Texas plumbing bond. The financial gate is a $300,000 liability policy with its certificate on file at the Board. Full detail is on the plumber page.
Air conditioning: one license, two classes, and an exam priced per endorsement
The ACR Contractor license, also TDLR's, is built around classes. Class A covers work on any size unit. Class B is limited to cooling systems of 25 tons and under and heating systems of 1,500,000 BTU per hour and under. On top of the class sits one endorsement per license: Environmental Air Conditioning, Commercial Refrigeration, or Process Cooling or Heating. The application costs $115, and PSI charges per endorsement exam, $74 for Class A and $60 for Class B.
Experience runs 48 months of practical work under a licensed ACR contractor within the past 72 months, or 36 months within the past 48 if you have held a TDLR technician certification for the past 12 months. There is no separate license issuance fee and no bond.
What gates the license after the exam is liability insurance: $300,000 / $600,000 / $300,000 for Class A, or $100,000 / $200,000 / $100,000 for Class B. Renewal is $65 a year with 8 hours of continuing education. Classes, endorsements and the old BTU figure that still circulates online are covered on the HVAC page.
The five trades with no state license, and what governs them instead
General contracting, roofing, painting, landscaping and carpentry have no Texas state license: no application, no state exam, no state fee, no state bond. A Texas general contractor works under city permits, and registration practice differs by city, so the development office where the job sits is the authority that matters. Roofers operate the same way, so Texas leans on the written contract, the insurer-issued certificate of insurance, and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act when storm work goes wrong.
Painters, landscapers and carpenters carry no state credential either. Their credibility is contractual: insurance, references, and a written scope. There is no state license number to look up for any of them, because none exists, and any website selling a fee schedule for one is inventing it. What does bind these trades is a set of trapdoors, covered next.
The trapdoors: licensed work hiding inside unlicensed trades
Paint and lead come first. Federal law, the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule (40 CFR Part 745), requires any firm paid to disturb painted surfaces in housing, childcare facilities or preschools built before 1978 to be EPA-certified, with a certified renovator assigned to each job. Texas does not run its own version of the program, so certification comes from the EPA directly and lasts five years. It reaches painters directly, and carpenters too, because window and door replacement in older homes is the classic case.
Landscaping has two trapdoors of its own. Selling, designing, installing or servicing a landscape irrigation system in Texas requires a license from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality: approved training of at least 32 hours, an exam, and a license fee of $111, with the license number required in advertising.
Spraying restricted-use pesticides or regulated herbicides on other people's land for pay requires a commercial applicator license from the Texas Department of Agriculture. And in every unlicensed trade, the moment the work touches wiring, plumbing or refrigerant lines, it crosses into the licensed trades above.
Trade License Categories in Texas
General Contractor
Oversees residential and commercial construction, manages subcontractors, pulls building permits, and coordinates turnkey building projects.
Electrical Contractor
Installs, maintains, and repairs electrical power, communications, lighting, and control systems in homes, businesses, and industrial factories.
Plumbing Contractor
Installs and repairs water supply lines, waste disposal systems, gas piping, and related appliances and fixtures.
HVAC / Mechanical Contractor
Installs and services heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration systems, adhering to EPA Section 608 refrigerant compliance.
Roofing Contractor
Repairs and installs commercial and residential roofs using shingles, tile, metal, and waterproofing membranes.
Painting Contractor
Applies paints, stains, wall coverings, and protective coatings to interior and exterior surfaces of structures.
Landscape Contractor
Designs, installs, and maintains outdoor living spaces, hardscaping, irrigation lines, and pesticide applications.
Carpentry & Framing Contractor
Constructs, erects, installs, and repairs structures and fixtures made of wood, steel studs, and composite materials.
Mistakes that cost Texas applicants time and money
- Looking for a Texas general contractor license, or paying a filing service to find one. It does not exist; city permits and registration govern, and they differ by city.
- Sending a plumbing application to TDLR. Plumbers are licensed by the TSBPE, a separate board with its own exams, fees and renewals.
- Budgeting for a surety bond on a Texas electrical, plumbing or ACR route. None of the three has one; the financial gate in each is liability insurance.
- Quoting a $35 electrician application fee or a $223 first-time total. TDLR's ladder is $20 / $30 / $45 / $110, and the full electrician route costs $233.
- Installing sprinkler systems as a sideline to landscaping. Irrigation is licensed work under the TCEQ, and advertising it without the license is prohibited as well.
- Treating the EPA lead rule as optional on older homes. Pre-1978 paint work needs a certified firm and a certified renovator.
Texas Contractor Licensing FAQ
Does Texas have a general contractor license?
No. Texas does not license general contractors at state level, and never has in the modern licensing system: there is no application, exam, fee or bond. General contractors work under city building permits, and some cities require them to register locally before pulling permits. What a Texas GC cannot do is self-perform the licensed trades; the electrical, plumbing and air conditioning work on a project belongs to businesses licensed for it.
Which construction trades does Texas actually license?
Three of the trades on this site: electricians and air conditioning (ACR) contractors through TDLR, and plumbers through the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. General contracting, roofing, painting, landscaping and carpentry have no state license, though irrigation inside landscaping and lead-paint work inside painting and carpentry carry licenses and certifications of their own.
How much does it cost to get set up as a Texas electrical contractor?
$233 in TDLR and exam charges the first time: $45 for the Master Electrician application, $78 for the master exam, and $110 for the Electrical Contractor application, once the hours and journeyman requirements behind them are met. Keeping both licenses costs $155 a year. Liability insurance is a separate business cost, and there is no bond.
Do Texas contractors need a surety bond?
Not for any state license on this page. The electrician, plumber and ACR routes all use liability insurance instead: $300,000 minimums for electrical contractors and Responsible Master Plumbers, and class-based limits for ACR contractors. Bonds still appear in Texas construction, but as contract conditions set by owners, lenders and cities, mainly on larger general contracting work, not as a licensing requirement.
Can a landscaping company install the sprinkler system too?
Only if it holds the TCEQ irrigation license. Selling, designing, installing or servicing landscape irrigation in Texas is licensed work: at least 32 hours of approved training, an exam, and a $111 license fee, and the license number has to appear in advertising. The landscaping itself needs no license, which is exactly why the boundary catches companies out.
What happens if someone does electrical or plumbing work without a license in Texas?
It is a criminal offense, not just a paperwork problem: unlicensed electrical work and plumbing violations are Class C misdemeanors. On top of that, TDLR or the TSBPE can add administrative penalties of up to $5,000 per violation, with each day counting as a separate violation, and issue cease-and-desist orders.
Fee figures on this page match the board-verified schedules on each trade page above, checked against Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation (TDLR) sources in October 2026. Renewal fees vary by entity type and are shown on each trade page.