How do I check a general contractor's license in Texas?
Texas does not issue statewide general contractor licenses. Check the local city or county building department. Groundcheck (earthmove.io/trust) verifies entity registration, court records, OSHA citations, and BBB complaints for any general contractor in Texas.
Texas does not require a statewide general contractor license. Texas has no statewide general contractor license; HVAC, plumbing, and electrical are licensed by TDLR. General contracting is licensed at the city level (Houston, Dallas, Austin, etc.).
When a state doesn't license a trade at the state level, verification leans on three things: (1) the local city or county building department's licensing or permit registry, (2) Secretary of State entity registration at Texas Secretary of State, and (3) the contractor's public-record history — court judgments, liens, OSHA citations, and BBB complaints.
Step 1: Check whether the city or county where the work will be performed has a local contractor license. In Houston and Dallas, many general contractors are required to register with the city building department.
Step 2: Confirm the business is registered with the Texas Secretary of State (https://mycpa.cpa.state.tx.us/coa/) and that the filing status is active or in good standing. A dissolved or administratively revoked entity is a red flag — especially if the same address has a new entity registered.
Step 3: Run a free Groundcheck at earthmove.io/trust. The report pulls entity registration, court judgments, OSHA inspection history, and BBB complaints into one verdict. For unlicensed-at-state-level trades like general contractors in Texas, the public-record history is where the trust signal lives.
The detailed Texas general contractor rules are documented at earthmove.io/trust/license/general-contractor/texas.
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