Texas Plumbing License Lookup

Texas licenses plumbers through the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, usually shortened to TSBPE. Its website is tsbpe.texas.gov, and the board links a Public License Search from its home page that takes you to the state's licensing data portal. A consumer banner on that home page puts the board's position plainly: always hire a licensed plumber.

The search itself is a menu. It opens on a screen headed Select Search Type, with the instruction to click on the type of search below to enter the search criteria, and it offers five options. Each one takes you to its own form, so pick the one that matches what you know about the plumber.

Be careful with the agency you are searching. Texas licenses many trades, and some of them are administered by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation rather than TSBPE. Plumbers are TSBPE. If you find yourself on a general state license search that does not offer a plumbing license type, you are in the wrong database.

• Search by Name - the right choice if you have the individual plumber's name.
• Search by Name for a Specified License Type - the same, narrowed to one license category, which cuts through common names.
• Search by License Number - the fastest and most definitive, if the plumber gave you a number.
• Search by City - useful for finding who is licensed near you, or confirming a company's stated location.
• Search by County - the same, at county scale, which suits the Dallas-area suburbs where city boundaries interleave.

The whole point of a license check is that it happens before work starts and before money changes hands. Do it while you are still comparing quotes, not after a problem.

1. Ask the plumber directly for the name the license is held in and the license number. A licensed plumber will give you both without hesitation, and reluctance is itself informative.
2. Note that the license may be held in a person's name rather than the company's. One licensed Responsible Master Plumber commonly covers a company's work, so the name you are given may not match the van.
3. Go to tsbpe.texas.gov and follow the Public License Search link to the state licensing portal.
4. Choose Search by License Number if you have one, because it is unambiguous. Otherwise use Search by Name, or Search by Name for a Specified License Type if the name is common.
5. Check that the record exists, that the name matches, and that the license is current rather than expired, inactive or lapsed. A real license number that is no longer active is the failure mode people miss.
6. Check the license type against the work. A Tradesman Plumber-Limited license and a Master Plumber license are not the same authorization, and the next section explains the difference.
7. Search by city or county as a cross-check if something does not line up, and take a screenshot of the record you found for your own file.
8. Ask about insurance separately. Licensing and insurance are two different things, and the license database does not tell you whether a plumber carries liability coverage. Ask for a certificate of insurance.

The TSBPE home page lists its license and registration categories, and knowing which one you are looking at tells you a lot about who is actually going to do the work and under whose authority.

A Responsible Master Plumber is the license that lets a business offer plumbing work to the public. It is the one that carries responsibility for the work performed under it, and if you are hiring a company, this is the license the company operates on.

A Master Plumber has passed the master-level examination and can perform and supervise plumbing work. A Journeyman Plumber is licensed to perform plumbing work, typically under the authority of a Responsible Master Plumber. A Tradesman Plumber-Limited license is a narrower authorization than a journeyman license rather than a junior version of the same thing.

An Apprentice Registration is exactly what it sounds like: a registered person learning the trade and working under supervision. Seeing an apprentice on the job is normal and fine; having an apprentice do the work unsupervised is not.

A Plumbing Inspector license is a separate category and belongs to the people who inspect work for a municipality, not the people who perform it. The board also lists endorsements and further registration categories on its site for specialized work. If a plumber's record shows a type you do not recognize, the board's own site is the place to read what it covers.

• Responsible Master Plumber - the license a plumbing business operates under and the one that carries responsibility for the work.
• Master Plumber - examined at master level; performs and supervises plumbing work.
• Journeyman Plumber - licensed to perform plumbing work, typically under a Responsible Master Plumber.
• Tradesman Plumber-Limited - a narrower authorization, not simply a lower grade of journeyman.
• Apprentice Registration - a registered trainee working under supervision.
• Plumbing Inspector - inspects work for a municipality; not a contractor license.
• Endorsements and other registrations - additional categories the board lists for specialized work; read the board's own descriptions rather than assuming.

A license check is good practice anywhere. In North Texas, the specific work homeowners most often hire for raises the stakes.

Almost every Dallas-area home sits on a concrete slab, with supply and drain lines running under or inside it. Slab leaks, under-slab drain repairs and repipes are routine work here, and they are also the jobs where a mistake is expensive and hard to undo: cutting the wrong concrete, rerouting a line badly, or backfilling without a pressure test are not problems you discover on day one.

Those jobs also need permits, and permitting in Texas is handled by your city rather than the state. An unlicensed operator cannot pull a permit, which means unpermitted and uninspected work in your foundation - the kind of thing a buyer's inspector finds years later during a sale, with no warranty and nobody to call.

There is also a code dimension worth knowing. The TSBPE adopts the plumbing codes that govern the work by rule: its administrative rules, in the March 2026 edition, adopt the 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code and the 2018 International Plumbing Code, with the International Fuel Gas Code and International Residential Code incorporated through the IPC. Your city's building department sets which edition and which local amendments apply to a specific permit, so confirm the detail locally.

And the obvious one: gas. Water heater and gas line work involves fuel gas piping, and this is not an area for an unlicensed handyman at any price.

The same board that issues the license handles complaints about licensed plumbers, and that is the formal route if a dispute cannot be resolved directly. TSBPE publishes a file-a-complaint page on its website, along with a printable general complaint form for people who would rather submit on paper. The board also publishes its office hours and contact details on its own site, so check there for the current phone number and address rather than relying on a number printed elsewhere.

Before filing, give yourself the strongest possible position. Complaints are decided on documentation, and the things that matter are mostly collected before and during the job rather than after it.

• Keep the written estimate and the final invoice, and note any difference between them.
• Keep the license name and number you verified, plus the screenshot of the record.
• Keep the permit number if one was pulled, and the inspection result.
• Photograph the work area before, during and after, including anything that gets covered up.
• Keep written communication rather than relying on phone calls, and summarize any phone agreement in a follow-up message.
• Raise the issue with the plumber in writing first and give them a chance to put it right. Many disputes end there, and a documented attempt strengthens a complaint if it does not.
• File with TSBPE through its complaint page if the matter is about licensed plumbing work. For billing disputes with no licensing dimension, that may not be the right forum.

Dallas Best Plumber is a free referral service, not a plumbing company. We do not perform plumbing work, we do not hold a plumbing license, and we do not set prices. What we do is match homeowners with licensed, insured local plumbers who serve their ZIP, at no cost and with no obligation to hire.

That makes verification part of the point rather than an awkward topic. We would rather you check the license of anyone you are considering, including anyone we match you with. The TSBPE database is public, free and takes two minutes, and a plumber who is comfortable with you checking is a plumber worth talking to.

Tell us what the problem is through the quote form and we will put you in front of someone who can quote it. Then verify the license, ask for the certificate of insurance, and get the quote in writing before anyone starts.