STATE LICENSE
NoneSee what applies
The Office of the Texas Governor's Business Permit Office puts it plainly: 'The State of Texas does not require a general license.' Its statutory permits guide, published under Government Code § 481.125, is more specific still — 'General contractors are not required to obtain a license to practice in Texas. A general contractor may be subject to local (county or city) requirements and may need to coordinate with those localities.'
This was not always so. The Texas Residential Construction Commission registered residential builders from 2004 until the Sunset Advisory Commission recommended abolition, the enabling bill failed to pass, and the Act expired on September 1, 2009. Sunset's finding was blunt: 'Registration does not provide an effective mechanism for adequately protecting the public and regulating the residential construction industry.' Nothing replaced it.
So the gate moved to city hall, and it is not uniform. Austin, Fort Worth and Dallas require general contractor registration before you can pull a permit; San Antonio requires it for residential building contractors but explicitly not for commercial general contractors; Houston requires no general contractor registration at all. Austin's own guidance concedes the state gap: 'A State of Texas license is not required to be a General Contractor for a Building Permit.'
What Texas regulates instead is the money and the defect claim. Construction payments are statutory trust funds — misapplying them is a Class A misdemeanor and a third-degree felony with intent to defraud. Residential work runs through the Residential Construction Liability Act, with a 60-day pre-suit notice and a mandatory boldface contract disclosure. And the subcontracted trades — electrical, HVAC, plumbing — are state-licensed even though you are not.
The state sets the license floor; the county or city permit office controls filing, inspections, and local rules wherever the job site sits.
For general contracting the local layer is not an overlay — it is the entire regulatory system. The IRC and IBC are adopted by statute as municipal building codes (Loc. Gov't Code §§ 214.212, 214.216), and each city administers, enforces and amends them and decides whether contractors must register before permits issue. Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth require registration; San Antonio requires it for residential work only; Houston does not require it for general contractors at all. Because no state licensing chapter covers general contracting, the fee bars that protect licensed electricians, HVAC contractors and plumbers do not apply, so cities may both require registration and charge for it. In unincorporated areas, only counties that have opted into Loc. Gov't Code ch. 233, subch. F apply the IRC to new residential construction, with three builder-arranged inspections.
The local offices section below names the exact permit desk for every Texas county on file.
Each row names the issuing authority, cost, timeline, citation, and status behind the requirement — verified against the official source.
Published fees from the issuing authorities, as of September 2026. Local permit fees vary by project and jurisdiction — the basis is stated where a flat number does not exist.
Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth require general contractor registration before a permit. San Antonio requires it for residential building contractors but states there are no license or registration requirements for commercial general contractors. Houston states a general contractor's license is not required to obtain building permits.
Occupations Code §§ 1305.201(f), 1302.304 and 1301.551(g) bar cities from charging registration fees to state-licensed electricians, HVAC contractors and plumbers. No parallel bar exists for general contractors, which is exactly why Fort Worth charges $168.75 for a Building registration and $0 for the licensed trades.
San Antonio's Residential Building Contractor registration requires an FBI national background check, ICC certification, and liability insurance of $500,000 per occurrence, $1,000,000 aggregate and $500,000 products and completed operations.
A practical sequence for a new general contracting contractor in Texas. Actual agency processing times are noted in the ledger above.
Each item names the issuing authority, cycle, and citation.
Statutory consequences with their citations — not estimates, not “commonly cited” guesses.
There is no Texas general contractor license and therefore no state unlicensed-practice offense. Operating without a required city registration is a municipal ordinance violation, and in most cities simply means no permit issues.
A trustee who intentionally, knowingly or with intent to defraud retains, uses, disburses or diverts trust funds without first paying current or past-due obligations to beneficiaries has misapplied them.
The Residential Construction Liability Act prevails over conflicting law including the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, requires 60 days' written pre-suit notice with supporting evidence, and gives the contractor 35 days to inspect.
Inside city limits, the city office listed here issues the permit; the county office serves unincorporated areas. Every office links to its official page.
Every fact in this file was checked against these official sources on September 2026.
Pending verification: Austin's contractor registration fee amount — not published on any reachable official Austin page · Dallas's general contractor registration fee, which appears in a city portal walkthrough but not in the adopted fee schedule · Whether the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act (H.B. 2127, 2023) affects municipal contractor registration authority — the codified text could not be located and its litigation status is unresolved · Case law on whether an unlicensed contractor may enforce a lien; only the statutory text of Property Code ch. 53 was reviewed
General information, not legal advice. Always confirm requirements, deadlines, and forms with the issuing authority before filing or contracting.
Store licenses, permits, policies, and renewal dates in one place.