Houston contractor permits, trade registrations and local rules

The city does not hand out one general contractor license. It registers trades, sells the permits, and enforces a set of ordinances on noise, wash water and hauling. Everything below comes from the Houston Permitting Center, the city's code of ordinances or the Texas agencies, checked in October 2026. Nothing here is legal advice, and each item should be confirmed with the office named before you rely on it.

Texas licenses the trade, Houston registers it

Texas licenses the trades. The state's Department of Licensing and Regulation covers electricians and air conditioning contractors, the State Board of Plumbing Examiners covers plumbers, and the Department of Agriculture covers pesticide applicators. Our Texas contractor licenses guide and the Texas start-up page cover that layer, along with the state's sales tax on lawn care, cleaning and pressure washing. Houston adds three things on top: a registration of the state license with the city, the permit system, and its own ordinances. The city's permitting presentation states plainly that it does not license or register general contractors.

Who can buy a permit in Houston

The Houston Permitting Center's 2025 presentation, "Commercial Permitting 101," splits permits into two groups. A building permit can be bought by an owner, an agent or a contractor. A trade permit has to be bought by a licensed contractor who is also registered with the city:

• Electrical: a master electrician licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and registered with Houston.
• Mechanical: an air conditioning contractor holding a Type A or Type B state license, registered with Houston.
• Plumbing: a master plumber licensed by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners and registered with Houston. In specific cases a homeowner may buy the permit.
• Fire alarm and fire sprinkler: contractors licensed by the State Fire Marshal's Office at the Texas Department of Insurance, registered with Houston.
• Sidewalk and driveway work: only a bonded contractor with a $2,000 surety bond may buy the permit.

The same presentation says licensed contractors can buy trade permits after the building permit is sold, that plans and permits must stay on the job site, and that most inspections are scheduled online or on an automated phone line.

How each trade registers

All three registrations are handled at the Permitting Center, 1002 Washington Avenue, fourth floor, Houston 77002, open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Each is valid for one year and must be renewed.

The city mails an air conditioning renewal notice 90 days before expiration and tells contractors who do not receive one to contact the Mechanical Section. Electrical registrations can be renewed by email, in person or by mail. Check the city's fee schedule for any dollar amounts the registration pages do not state.

Homeowners, fees and what the city sells

Houston's homeowner plumbing and irrigation permit form (CE-1284, revised January 2026) is for a person who occupies the single-family home as a homestead and does the plumbing work personally. The same form lists a minimum permit fee of $97.56 plus a $33.56 administration fee. The form is for the owner doing the work. It does not cover a homeowner who hires a crew.

Noise: Chapter 30 and the 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. window

Houston rewrote its noise chapter in 2022. It sets maximum levels measured at the property line of the property receiving the sound: 65 dB(A) in the daytime (8 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and 58 dB(A) at night on residential property, and 68 dB(A) at all times on nonresidential property. The chapter lists defenses. One covers sound from building, excavation, demolition or construction between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. that stays at or below 85 dB(A) at the receiving residential property line. Another covers power saws, sanders, lawn and garden tools and lawn mowers used between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. under the same 85 dB(A) limit, when the tool is used for the maintenance or upkeep of the property where it runs. Read that last condition against how your crew works before you assume it fits. A violation carries a fine up to $2,000, and each hour or portion of an hour counts as a separate offense.

Wash water and sidewalks

Section 47-741 of the code makes it an offense to put anything into the storm sewer system that is not entirely stormwater. The section lists defenses, and two matter to pressure washers: pavement wash water when cleaning chemicals are not used, and wash water that uses only potable water, similar in quality to street wash water, without detergents or surfactants. The city engineer can remove those defenses by written notice if a discharge is found to be a source of pollutants. The practical reading is that a surface cleaning job with a detergent should not drain to the street inlet. The state side of this, including Texas's sales tax on pressure washing, is on our pressure washing start-up guide and the state sales tax table.

Section 40-24 adds a separate rule: a person may not let water from a hydrant, fountain or sink on their premises run onto a sidewalk or street so as to make it wet and muddy or cause a nuisance. Hose runoff from a customer's driveway job is worth watching on that basis.

Hauling waste: the commercial franchise

Houston rewrote Chapter 39 effective July 1, 2026. Section 39-113 makes it unlawful for a commercial solid waste operator to collect, haul or transport solid waste or industrial waste from commercial properties in the city without a franchise granted with the consent of city council. The code defines the operator as anyone who hauls solid or industrial waste for a fee, by any means. Franchise holders owe a four percent fee on gross revenue from that hauling, shown as a separate line on the customer's invoice, and must display decals at least five inches by six inches on both sides of the vehicle. The fine is $150 to $500 per violation. If you run junk removal or hauling for businesses, ask the city whether your work falls inside the definition before you quote a commercial account.

Signs on poles and public property

Section 28-39 prohibits placing advertising signs, posters or stickers on utility poles, trees, fences, hydrants or any structure in public streets, sidewalks, easements or other public places. The city may dispose of lightweight stake signs left in the right-of-way. Yard-sign marketing belongs on private property with the owner's permission.

Before you dig: Texas811

Texas Utilities Code section 251.151 requires an excavator to notify the notification center no earlier than 14 days and no later than 48 hours before digging, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. The Railroad Commission says homeowners, excavators and contractors call 811. This applies on a sprinkler or fence job for a homeowner as much as on a site contractor's trench.

Local sales tax and the Houston calendar

The Texas Comptroller's local rate table lists Houston at 1 percent, with the Metropolitan Transit Authority adding another 1 percent, for a total of 8.25 percent in the areas it shows. The Comptroller's table lists the rate, and whether your service is taxable is a state question covered on the Texas page.

NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals for Houston Intercontinental show about 51.84 inches of rain a year, a July average high of 94.5 degrees and a January average low of 43.7 degrees. June is the wettest month at 6.00 inches.

What this means for your website and phone

List the trades you register on your website so the customer who checks sees the same name the city has on file. Give each permit-driven job its own quote line for the permit fee, and have your phone answered when the inspector's office calls back. An AI receptionist can take those calls and the late calls from a customer who has a flooded driveway at 7 p.m. See also our note on recording business calls. Fees and forms change, so verify before filing.

Frequently asked questions