Short answer: Exchange lists 24 renovation contractors in Texas. Texas has no state licence for remodelers or general contractors — only the trades are licensed, through TDLR and the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. A homestead remodeling contract must be in writing, signed by both spouses, and executed before any labour or material, or the mechanic's lien is void. Lien notices run on the fifteenth day of the month under Property Code Chapter 53.
Renovation contractors in Texas
Texas licenses the trades and leaves the builder alone. There is no state licence for a residential remodeler or general contractor — no examination, no bond, no state registration. A firm can gut and rebuild a River Oaks house on the strength of a city permit and a certificate of insurance. What Texas regulates instead, and regulates tightly, is the paper: the contract itself, the notices that have to reach a homeowner before a lien can attach, and the statutory dance a contractor and homeowner must complete before a construction defect claim can reach a courtroom. Renovation in Texas is a documentation trade as much as a construction trade, and the firms that fail here usually fail on the notice calendar rather than on the work.
Who actually needs a licence
The trades inside a remodel are licensed individually and strictly. Electricians answer to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, air conditioning and refrigeration contractors to TDLR under a Class A or Class B licence with an ACR technician registration for the field staff, and plumbers to the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, which is the oldest and most independent of the three. Irrigation, backflow prevention and mold remediation are separately licensed. A remodeler who self-performs any of that work without the licence is committing a distinct offence from performing it badly, and TDLR enforcement in the Dallas–Fort Worth and Houston metros is active. The general remodeler's own credential requirement is municipal: Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth all require contractor registration to pull permits, and the thresholds and fee structures differ in each.
The homestead contract rules that void agreements
Texas gives the homestead constitutional protection, and the protection reaches into remodeling contracts. A contract for improvements to a homestead must be in writing, signed by both spouses, and executed before any material is delivered or labour performed. Get the sequence wrong — start demolition on a handshake and paper it afterwards — and the mechanic's lien is void, not merely defective. For work arranged in the home, the contractor must also give the homeowner a right to rescind within three days. On residential construction contracts the contractor must deliver a disclosure statement and a list of subcontractors and suppliers, and must furnish an updated list on request. None of this is discretionary and none of it can be waived by the homeowner.
Lien notices and the fifteenth day
Texas Property Code Chapter 53 runs on the fifteenth day of the month, which is the single most-missed deadline in the state. On residential work, a subcontractor or supplier must send notice to the owner and the original contractor by the fifteenth day of the second month after each month in which labour or material went unpaid. An original contractor's affidavit must be filed by the fifteenth day of the third month after the month the work was completed, terminated or abandoned on residential projects, and the fourth month on commercial. Retainage claims have their own thirtieth-day and thirty-day clocks. The 2022 amendments under Senate Bill 219 tidied the notice forms and shifted some design responsibility, but they did not soften the calendar. A remodeler who tracks nothing else should track the fifteenth.
The RCLA and defect claims
The Residential Construction Liability Act, Chapter 27 of the Property Code, requires a homeowner to give the contractor written notice of a claimed defect at least sixty days before filing suit, to allow a reasonable inspection, and to consider a written offer of repair or settlement. A homeowner who unreasonably rejects a reasonable offer has damages capped. This is not a formality — it is the mechanism by which a competent remodeler converts a threatened lawsuit into a scheduled repair, and it only works if the contractor's file contains the change orders, selections sheets and photographs that make the offer credible. Texas also runs a ten-year statute of repose for structural defects and a four-year limitation on breach of contract.
Codes, energy and the seaward counties
Texas has no unified statewide building code enforced by a state agency for existing residential remodels; the 2012 IRC and the 2015 IECC are adopted as the statutory minimum for residential, and municipalities amend upward — Austin runs its own energy and green requirements, Dallas has adopted the 2021 codes with local amendments, and unincorporated county land may have effectively no inspection at all. That variability is the defining feature of the Texas remodeling market: the same scope of work in Plano and in unincorporated Kaufman County involves entirely different permit, inspection and liability paths. In the fourteen seaward counties, windstorm construction requires a WPI-8 certificate of compliance issued through the Texas Department of Insurance, without which the homeowner loses access to Texas Windstorm Insurance Association coverage on the improvement — a remodeler in Galveston, Corpus Christi or Port Arthur who fails to engage a windstorm inspector at rough-in has created an insurance problem that cannot be fixed at completion.
Permits, inspections and the occupied remodel
Because Texas leaves so much to municipalities, the permit path is the first real estimate a remodeler produces. Austin reviews residential remodels against its own energy and tree ordinances and its review queues are measured in weeks; Houston has no zoning but does have deed restrictions that a permit will not warn you about; San Antonio applies historic district review across large swathes of the near-downtown neighbourhoods where most high-value remodeling happens. A structural alteration that opens a bearing wall requires a Texas-licensed engineer's letter almost everywhere, and in the older housing stock of the Heights, Hyde Park and Monte Vista the wall is usually bearing. Asbestos survey obligations under the Texas Asbestos Health Protection Rules attach to public and commercial buildings and to demolition regardless of age assumptions, and lead renovation, repair and painting certification under the federal rule applies to any pre-1978 dwelling — a category that covers most of the inner-loop remodeling market in Houston and Dallas.
Soil, heat and hail
Three physical facts shape Texas renovation more than any regulation. The first is expansive clay: the Blackland Prairie running through Dallas, Waco and Austin swells and shrinks with moisture so aggressively that slab movement, not age, is the usual reason a Texas house needs work, and any addition tied to an existing slab needs a plan for differential movement and often a separate foundation system. The second is heat — Austin and San Antonio design conditions sit near 100 degrees Fahrenheit dry bulb, attics reach 140, and duct and equipment placement in an unconditioned attic is the difference between a comfortable remodel and a callback. The third is hail: the corridor from San Antonio through Dallas to the Red River is among the most hail-damaged in the world, and insurance-funded roof and exterior work is a permanent share of the Texas remodeling market, with its own statutory rules on deductible representations and assignment of benefits.
Nearby regions and related trades
Renovation & Remodeling contractors in other regions: California, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Virginia.
Other trades in Texas: Architect, Concrete, Electrical, Envelope, General Contracting, HVAC, Maintenance & Handyman, Mechanical, Plumbing, Restoration, Roofing & Waterproofing, Windows and Doors.
Jump to licence verification sources for Renovation & Remodeling in Texas, or back to all renovation & remodeling contractors on Exchange.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a licence to be a remodeling contractor in Texas?
Not from the state. Texas has no licence for residential remodelers or general contractors. The trades are licensed individually — electricians and HVAC through TDLR, plumbers through the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners — and cities including Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and Fort Worth require contractor registration to pull permits.
What makes a Texas homestead remodeling contract enforceable?
It must be in writing, signed by both spouses, and executed before any labour is performed or material delivered. Starting work first and papering it later voids the mechanic's lien outright. Contracts arranged in the home also carry a three-day right of rescission, and residential contracts require a disclosure statement and a subcontractor and supplier list.
What is the fifteenth-day rule in Texas lien law?
Under Property Code Chapter 53, subcontractors and suppliers on residential work must give notice to the owner and original contractor by the fifteenth day of the second month following each unpaid month. Original contractors file the lien affidavit by the fifteenth day of the third month after completion on residential work, the fourth on commercial.
What does the RCLA require before a homeowner can sue?
The Residential Construction Liability Act requires sixty days' written notice of the claimed defect, a reasonable opportunity to inspect, and consideration of the contractor's written offer of repair or settlement. A homeowner who unreasonably rejects a reasonable offer has recoverable damages capped.
What is a WPI-8 and when does a remodeler need one?
In the fourteen Texas seaward counties, windstorm-resistant construction must be certified through the Texas Department of Insurance to qualify the improvement for TWIA coverage. Inspections happen during construction, so a windstorm inspector has to be engaged at rough-in — it cannot be certified retroactively at completion.
Which building code applies to a Texas remodel?
The 2012 IRC and 2015 IECC are the statutory residential minimum, but municipalities amend upward and adopt newer editions, so Austin, Dallas and Houston each impose different requirements. Unincorporated county land may have little or no inspection, which makes the permitting path scope-identical jobs entirely different.
Why do so many Texas renovations start with the foundation?
The Blackland Prairie clay through Dallas, Waco and Austin shrinks and swells with soil moisture enough to move a slab measurably year to year. Differential movement rather than age is the usual trigger for work, and any addition tied to an existing slab needs an explicit plan for it, often on a separate foundation system.
