Texas Contractor License Classifications

Texas has no general contractor classification — there is no state license for it to classify. What the state actually issues is 9 credential categories across three different shapes: business licenses qualified by an individual (electrical, air conditioning), individual licenses (electricians and plumbers), and registrations. Each row below carries the verbatim official scope text, the statutory citation and its source.

Verified 2026-10-029 state credentials5 credential shapesIndexation gate: passed

01 The classification that does not exist

BUSINESS LICENSE+INDIVIDUAL LICENSE+REGISTRATION

No general contractor classification — "General contractors are not required to obtain a license to practice in Texas." Without a license there is no classification, no trade subclass list and no state scope table for general construction. S-TX-GOV-GUIDE
No state roofing classification either — C.S.H.B. 3344 would have created one in 2025; it died in Calendars. S-TX-LEG-HB3344
So these rows are what exists — each classification declares the credential that issues it, because Texas mixes business licenses, individual licenses and registrations inside one state.

Source S-TX-GOV-GUIDE — Office of the Governor of Texas

Texas Business Licenses & Permits Guide | Office of the Governor of Texas — gov.texas.gov Texas Business Licenses & Permits Guide — heading 'GENERAL CONTRACTING · CONSTRUCTION · HOME BUILDER' (PDF text extracted 2026-10-02)

https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/business/Texas_Licenses_Permits_Guide.pdf

Retrieved 2026-10-02 · last verified 2026-10-02

PDF downloaded and text-extracted (pdftotext) 2026-10-02. Under the heading 'GENERAL CONTRACTING · CONSTRUCTION · HOME BUILDER' states VERBATIM: '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.' Its licenses list for that trade contains no general contractor or roofing license — the listed state licenses are trade-specific (TDLR air conditioning, TCEQ air permits, etc.). Source of the centerpiece fact REQ-TX-NO-GC-001.

02 Business licenses (TDLR) — qualified by an individual

Code	Credential	Category	Official scope (verbatim)	Citation	Source
TECL	Electrical Contractor License (TDLR — issued to the business, qualified by a Master Electrician of record)	Electrical Contractor (business)	Licensed to engage in the business of designing, installing, erecting, repairing, or altering electrical wires or conductors to be used for light, heat, power, or signaling purposes. This includes the installation or repair of ducts, raceways, or conduits for the reception or protection of wires or conductors and the installation or repair of any electrical machinery, apparatus, or system used for electrical light, heat, power, or signaling.	Occ. Code Ch. 1305 (Texas Electrical Safety and Licensing Act)	S-TX-TDLR-ELEC-APPLY
TACL/A	Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor License (TDLR — business license, Class A or Class B)	Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor — Class A	The Class A license allows you to work on any size unit.	Occ. Code Ch. 1302 (air conditioning and refrigeration)	S-TX-TDLR-ACR-APPLY
TACL/B	Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor License (TDLR — business license, Class A or Class B)	Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor — Class B	The Class B license allows you to work on cooling systems of 25 tons and under, and heating systems of 1.5 million BTUs/hour and under.	Occ. Code Ch. 1302 (air conditioning and refrigeration)	S-TX-TDLR-ACR-APPLY

03 Individual licenses (TSBPE / TDLR)

Code	Credential	Category	Official scope (verbatim)	Citation	Source
MASTER-ELECTRICIAN	Electrician License (TDLR — individual license, e.g. Master Electrician)	Master Electrician (individual)	Licensed to install, maintain, or extend an electrical wiring system and the appurtenances, apparatus, or equipment used in connection with the use of electrical energy in, on, outside, or attached to a building, residence, structure, property, or premises, including service entrance conductors.	Occ. Code Ch. 1305 (Texas Electrical Safety and Licensing Act)	S-TX-TDLR-MASTER-ELEC
MASTER-PLUMBER	Plumber License (TSBPE — individual license: Tradesman Plumber-Limited, Journeyman Plumber, Master Plumber)	Master Plumber (individual)	A person licensed under this chapter who: is skilled in the design, planning, and superintending of plumbing and in the practical installation, repair, and servicing of plumbing; has worked as a journeyman plumber for at least two years, or for at least one year and has successfully completed a training program approved by the United States Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship or another nationally recognized apprentice training program accepted by the board; performs or supervises plumbing work; has passed the required examination; and has fulfilled the other requirements of the board.	Occ. Code Ch. 1301 (The Plumbing License Law), §1301.002(5)	S-TX-TSBPE-LAW
JOURNEYMAN-PLUMBER	Plumber License (TSBPE — individual license: Tradesman Plumber-Limited, Journeyman Plumber, Master Plumber)	Journeyman Plumber (individual)	A person licensed under this chapter who: has met the qualifications for registration as a plumber's apprentice or for licensing as a tradesman plumber-limited license holder; has completed at least 8,000 hours working under the supervision of a responsible master plumber; installs, changes, repairs, services, or renovates plumbing or supervises any of those activities under the supervision of a responsible master plumber; has passed the required examination; and has fulfilled the other requirements of the board.	Occ. Code Ch. 1301 (The Plumbing License Law), §1301.002(4)	S-TX-TSBPE-LAW
TRADESMAN-PLUMBER-LIMITED	Plumber License (TSBPE — individual license: Tradesman Plumber-Limited, Journeyman Plumber, Master Plumber)	Tradesman Plumber-Limited (individual)	A person who: has completed at least 4,000 hours working under the direct supervision of a journeyman or master plumber as a plumber's apprentice, or successfully completed a coherent sequence of courses in the plumbing trade offered through a career and technology education program; has passed the required examination; constructs and installs plumbing for one-family or two-family dwellings under the supervision of a responsible master plumber; and has fulfilled the other requirements of the board.	Occ. Code Ch. 1301 (The Plumbing License Law), §1301.002(10)	S-TX-TSBPE-LAW
RMP	Plumber License (TSBPE — individual license: Tradesman Plumber-Limited, Journeyman Plumber, Master Plumber)	Responsible Master Plumber (individual designation)	A person licensed as a master plumber under this chapter who: allows the person's master plumber license to be used by one plumbing company for the purpose of offering and performing plumbing work under the person's master plumber license; is authorized to obtain permits for plumbing work; assumes responsibility for plumbing work performed under the person's license; and has submitted a certificate of insurance as required by Section 1301.3576.	Occ. Code Ch. 1301 (The Plumbing License Law), §1301.002(9-a)	S-TX-TSBPE-LAW

04 Registrations (not licenses)

Code	Credential	Category	Official scope (verbatim)	Citation	Source
APPRENTICE-REGISTRATION	Plumber Registration (TSBPE — Plumber's Apprentice and related registrations)	Plumber's Apprentice (registration)	A person other than a master plumber, journeyman plumber, or tradesman plumber-limited license holder who, as the person's principal occupation, learns about and assists in the installation of plumbing, has fulfilled the requirements of, and is registered by, the board, and works under the supervision of a responsible master plumber and the direct supervision of a licensed plumber.	Occ. Code Ch. 1301 (The Plumbing License Law), §1301.002(6)	S-TX-TSBPE-LAW

05 How each credential is earned

Electrical Contractor (TECL) — the BUSINESS license; it must employ a licensed Master Electrician of record, who qualifies with a journeyman license held ≥2 years plus 12,000 supervised hours. S-TX-TDLR-MASTER-ELEC
ACR Contractor (TACL/A or B) — 48 of the past 72 months under a licensed contractor, or 12 + 36 of 48, or one of four official exceptions (degree, engineer, military training, industrial process work). S-TX-TDLR-ACR-APPLY
Plumbing ladder — apprentice registration → tradesman (4,000 h, 1–2 family dwellings) → journeyman (8,000 h + 48-hour course) → master (journeyman ≥2 years, or 1 year + approved apprenticeship); every license requires its exam and supervision under an RMP. S-TX-TSBPE-LAW
Responsible Master Plumber — the company equivalent: one master allows ONE plumbing company to use the license, takes permits, assumes responsibility and files a ≥$300,000 certificate of insurance. S-TX-TSBPE-LAW

06 Deterministic scope limits

texas:acr-contractor-a — acr work on units of any size (TDLR ACR contractor apply page (Occ. Code Ch. 1302)) S-TX-TDLR-ACR-APPLY
Verbatim: 'The Class A license allows you to work on any size unit.' Class A also requires the $300,000/$600,000/$300,000 insurance tier. Encoded by rule TX-ACR-CLASS (outcome class_a_required when capacity exceeds Class B).
texas:acr-contractor-b — cooling up to 25 tons and heating up to 1 5m btu per hour (TDLR ACR contractor apply page (Occ. Code Ch. 1302)) S-TX-TDLR-ACR-APPLY
Verbatim: 'The Class B license allows you to work on cooling systems of 25 tons and under, and heating systems of 1.5 million BTUs/hour and under.' The ONLY numeric scope threshold in Texas licensing (research §H) — encoded by rule TX-ACR-CLASS. Above either limit the work needs Class A (rule outcome class_a_required).
texas:acr-contractor-a — electrical connections for licensed acr work without electrician license (Occ. Code §1305.003(a)(11)) S-TX-TDLR-ELEC-EXEMPT
'Licensed air-conditioning and refrigeration contractors are not required by the state to be licensed as electricians in order to establish electrical connections for heating and air-conditioning work or for any disconnect exclusively for the equipment.' The exemption is for LICENSED ACR work — if the ACR work itself is unlicensed, no electrical exemption exists. Subject to the §1305.201 local override (REQ-TX-LOCAL-OVERRIDE-001).
texas:acr-contractor-b — electrical connections for licensed acr work without electrician license (Occ. Code §1305.003(a)(11)) S-TX-TDLR-ELEC-EXEMPT
Same statutory exemption as SCOPE-TX-ACR-A-HVAC-ELECTRICAL — recorded per class so each classification row carries its own scope evidence. Still limited by Class B capacity (SCOPE-TX-ACR-B-CAPACITY) and the local override.
texas:master-electrician — serving as master of record for electrical contractor licenses (Occ. Code §1305.153 (master of record); TDLR apply/renew/compliance pages) S-TX-TDLR-ELEC-APPLY
A Master Electrician may only be assigned to a single Electrical Contractor unless the master owns more than 50 percent of the electrical contracting business; when the master leaves, the business must notify TDLR and designate a new master within thirty business days. This is the qualifying-individual mechanism of the Texas electrical credential model (research §E).
texas:responsible-master-plumber — allowing the master license to be used by more than one plumbing company (Occ. Code §1301.002(9-a)(A)) S-TX-TSBPE-LAW
Verbatim: the RMP 'allows the person's master plumber license to be used by ONE plumbing company for the purpose of offering and performing plumbing work under the person's master plumber license.' The RMP also is authorized to obtain permits, assumes responsibility for the work, and must have the §1301.3576 certificate of insurance on file.
texas:tradesman-plumber-limited — plumbing in one and two family dwellings under rmp supervision (Occ. Code §1301.002(10)(C)) S-TX-TSBPE-LAW
The word 'constructs and installs plumbing for one-family or two-family dwellings' is the LIMIT of this license — larger structures need journeyman/master coverage under an RMP. Qualification: 4,000 apprenticeship hours or an approved CTE course sequence, plus the exam.
texas:journeyman-plumber — supervision by a responsible master plumber (Occ. Code §1301.002(4)(C); §1301.351(a)(2)) S-TX-TSBPE-LAW
Verbatim scope: the journeyman 'installs, changes, repairs, services, or renovates plumbing or supervises any of those activities UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF A RESPONSIBLE MASTER PLUMBER.' The journeyman may directly supervise apprentices on all job sites and tradesman plumbers on job sites other than one- and two-family dwellings.
texas:plumbers-apprentice — direct supervision by a tsbpe licensee on the job site (Occ. Code §1301.002(6); TSBPE apprentice scope page) S-TX-TSBPE-APPRENTICE
Also: 'You MUST register as a Plumber's Apprentice before you can start counting the hours of experience you have working in the plumbing trade' — hours worked before registration do not count toward the tradesman or journeyman exams.

These limits feed the deterministic rules (TX-NO-GC-LICENSE, TX-ELECTRICAL-WORK, TX-ACR-CLASS, TX-PLUMBING-PERMIT, TX-OWNER-PLUMBING, TX-SOLAR) that project pages evaluate first.