Remodeling contractors in Texas

Why “what’s your license number?” has no answer in Texas

In a licensing state the first question is the license number. In Texas there is no state answer for a remodeler. The Occupations Code licenses the trades a remodeler hires: electricians (Chapter 1305) and air-conditioning and refrigeration contractors (Chapter 1302) through TDLR, and plumbers (Chapter 1301) through the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners.

TDLR’s “at a glance” list of 41 programs (FY 2025) includes electricians, ACR contractors, mold assessors, elevator contractors and industrialized housing. General contracting is not on it.

That is not an oversight. The last statewide builder registry, the Texas Residential Construction Commission, ended after the 81st Legislature declined to continue it. The Sunset Commission’s 2009 final report recommended repealing the TRCC Act, and no successor board was created. Builders stayed subject to city permitting; they did not become state licensees.

So the rule that matters is local, and it differs by city. San Antonio requires a registered residential building or home-improvement contractor before it issues a permit for that work.

El Paso requires a General Contractor registration, with a blanket construction bond and a liability certificate on file, before its One Stop Shop issues a building permit.

Houston, Dallas, Austin and unincorporated counties each run their own counter, and a registration in one city does not carry to the next.

Ask a Texas remodeler three narrower questions instead: (1) are you registered with the city that will inspect this job, and what is the number.

(2) who holds the TDLR or TSBPE license for the electrical, HVAC or plumbing work; (3) will you give me the Tex. Prop. Code § 53.255 disclosure and a current certificate of insurance before I sign?

What those fees buy, and what they do not

San Antonio’s $170 two-year residential-building registration is written in the ordinance and on the department’s page, and it is the price of pulling a structural remodel permit there.

On September 5, 2026 the Development Services page still read: home improvement $150 for two years, residential building $170 for two years, and commercial general contractors “no license or registration requirements.”

The $170 is not an exam score. Information Bulletin 236 (revised November 10, 2025) sets three Contractor Connect categories. Registered requires the fee, a code-of-ethics acknowledgment, liability insurance and an FBI background check.

Registered Plus adds current permit fees, no verified building-related infractions and two DSD training events a year. Premier adds Residential ICC certification or an approved equivalent. None is a state license.

El Paso’s $100 a year plus a $50,000 bond is the price of being on the Accela register the One Stop Shop checks before issuing a building permit.

On September 5, 2026 the Rev. 07/2024 sheet still listed, for general contractors: business documents, the application, a liability certificate with at least $100,000 naming the city, the $50,000 bond, and “$100 Annual Fee + Tech Fee.”

The 2024 schedule raised the general-contractor bond from $25,000 on the 2020 sheet; use the 2024 figure.

An Issued Accela registration shows the city held a certificate and a bond when it registered the firm.

The register does not show the carrier, limits or policy dates, so it is not proof of current coverage. Ask for the certificate.

Neither fee applies statewide. An Austin remodeler registered with Austin does not appear in San Antonio’s Contractor Connect. That is how the Texas market is built, not a gap we can fill by pretending TDLR has a lookup.

The two cities also charge the licensed trades differently. El Paso charges electrical, mechanical and plumbing registrants no annual fee; they file the state license instead of the bond.

San Antonio registers a state plumber license free, and a state mechanical or TCEQ irrigator license for $85 a year. The remodeler’s fee buys the building permit; the trades’ fees buy the trade permits.

When a Texas remodel goes wrong: liens and retainage, not a board complaint

There is no TDLR complaint to file against an unlicensed general contractor, because the license does not exist. In Texas, getting money back is a property-law question, and national “check the license” advice misses that.

Property Code Chapter 53 is the mechanic’s-lien statute. Under § 53.021, anyone who supplies labor or materials under a contract with the owner, the owner’s agent, the contractor or a subcontractor can claim a lien, as can licensed architects, engineers, surveyors, landscapers and demolition crews.

The contractor you hired is not the only one who can put a claim on the house.

Before you sign a residential contract, § 53.255 requires the contractor to give you the statutory disclosure: that unpaid subcontractors can lien the house, that you should withhold against a written notice of claim, and that you should hold 10 percent for 30 days after completion.

Skipping it does not by itself cancel a lien (§ 53.255(c)), but you want it in your file before the first payment.

Section 53.101 sets retainage: during the work and for 30 days after completion, the owner holds 10 percent of the contract price, or of the value of the work. On a $75,000 contract that is $7,500, a statutory illustration, not a quote or a typical Texas remodel cost.

Skip it and § 53.105 applies: subcontractors who followed the statute have a lien against the house and lot at least for the amount that should have been held. The 10 percent is the protection Texas built instead of a licensing board.

Section 53.256 requires a written list of subcontractors and suppliers (name, address, phone) before work starts, updated within 15 days of any change, unless you waive it in the statute’s 10-point bold form. That waiver “may not be canceled at a later date,” so do not initial it because it was in the stack.

A homestead has a second gate (§ 53.254): a written contract signed before any work or materials, by both spouses if married, and filed with the county clerk.

A lien affidavit on a homestead must carry, in at least 10-point bold at the top: “NOTICE: THIS IS NOT A LIEN. THIS IS ONLY AN AFFIDAVIT CLAIMING A LIEN.”

Filing deadlines after House Bill 2237 (effective January 1, 2022): on a residential project, the original contractor files the lien affidavit by the 15th day of the third month after the month its work was completed, terminated or abandoned (§ 53.052(a)(2)).

Subcontractors and suppliers on a residential project have the same third-month window, counted from their last labor or materials, or the date specially fabricated materials would have been delivered (§ 53.052(c)). A retainage claimant other than the original contractor files by the 15th day of the third month after the original contract ended (§ 53.052(d)).

At final payment, § 53.259 requires the contractor to sign a bills-paid affidavit: either everyone has been paid in full, or who is still owed, how much, and their contact details.

A knowingly or recklessly false affidavit is a misdemeanor (a fine up to $4,000, up to a year in jail, or both), and the signer is personally liable. A “paid in full” stamp on an invoice is not the affidavit.

Defect claims against a builder fall under the Residential Construction Liability Act (Property Code Chapter 27), a notice-and-chance-to-repair statute. Deceptive practices fall under the DTPA. None of this is legal advice: a Texas construction lawyer applies Chapter 53 or Chapter 27 to a specific job.

How we built this page, and its limits

Texas counts come from the license files in data/remodeling-data/licenses/ with state TX, measured September 5, 2026; authority names are taken from the files, and company counts from company-states/. The two El Paso Accela records were reopened on September 5, 2026: LCCR19-00259 Issued, expires August 11, 2027; LCCR25-00297 Issued, expires August 3, 2027.

San Antonio’s Contractor Connect has no per-firm URL, so GDK Remodeling LLC is cited from our August 29, 2026 pull.

San Antonio fees, insurance minimums and trade fees were re-read from the DSD Building & Home Improvement, Electrical, Mechanical and Plumbing pages on September 5, 2026; El Paso’s from the Rev. 07/2024 requirements sheet the same day.

Comptroller counts come from our August 29, 2026 pull of the public Active Sales Tax Permit Holders dataset. Occupations Code and Property Code citations were retrieved from statutes.capitol.texas.gov on September 5, 2026 and cross-checked on texas.public.law (verified there to May 26, 2025).

The limits: our Texas records cover two cities, not 254 counties. Houston, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, unincorporated Harris County and every other permitting authority are outside them, which says nothing about firms that work there.

Texas discipline fields are empty because we have not retrieved any city discipline feed. An Issued Accela record is not current insurance, and a “Registered” Contractor Connect record is not an examined license.

This page does not rank contractors or score reviews. The 50-state study of where no contractor license exists is states without contractor licensing; every state’s lookup is in the license lookup directory. HyreRemodel does not remodel homes, pull permits or take a fee to list a firm.