How to Hire a Sewer Contractor in Texas

Who licenses sewer contractors in Texas

The Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, TSBPE, licenses individuals: tradesman plumber-limited, journeyman, master, and the Responsible Master Plumber, or RMP, who takes legal responsibility for a company's work. A plumbing company operates under its RMP, whose number must appear in advertising and on every written estimate. Master numbers start with the letter M; a J or T number belongs to a journeyman or tradesman and does not qualify a company to contract. Run the number through the Board's Public License Search, which confirms the license is current and that a certificate of insurance is on file. One Texas exception matters for property managers: since September 2023, Occupations Code section 1301.059 lets unlicensed contractors install and repair water, sewer and storm service lines between the public right-of-way and a point five feet from the building, but not on one- or two-family dwellings. A house lateral in Texas still requires a licensed plumber under an RMP.

Permits and inspections

Texas has no state plumbing permit; cities issue them. In Houston, the Houston Permitting Center issues the plumbing permit and city inspectors look at the exposed lateral, while a separate street cut permit from Houston Public Works covers excavation in the right-of-way. Dallas handles the plumbing permit through Development Services, with Dallas Water Utilities involved when the tap is touched. San Antonio's Development Services Department issues the permit and the San Antonio Water System controls work at its main. Expect an inspection of the open trench before backfill; for lining jobs most Texas inspectors accept a post-lining camera recording. Texas 811 must receive notice at least two working days before digging. The RMP's company pulls the permit.

Who owns the pipe under the street

The big Texas cities generally split the lateral at the property line. Houston Public Works maintains the sewer service in the street and easement out to the property line and leaves the yard segment and house connection to the owner. Dallas Water Utilities and the San Antonio Water System follow a similar division, repairing their side when a camera shows the defect past the property line, though each wants its own inspector to confirm the location first. Suburbs and municipal utility districts around Houston and Dallas vary widely, and some MUDs assign the whole line to the owner out to the main. Ask the utility, not the contractor, where its responsibility ends. Texans usually call the pipe the sewer line or yard line.

What is under Texas, and why it shapes the bid

Texas sewer problems start with the foundation. Slab-on-grade houses built from the 1950s through the 1970s in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio carry cast iron drain lines under the slab that corrode from the bottom, and reaching them means tunneling beneath the house or breaking the floor. The yard line is usually clay tile before 1970 and PVC after. Houston sits on Beaumont clay that shrinks in drought and heaves after rain, pulling joints apart, with a water table shallow enough to flood a trench. Dallas and Fort Worth have the Blackland Prairie's expansive clay. San Antonio and Austin trade that for limestone and caliche near the surface, so trenching needs a rock saw. Frost is not a factor, so laterals are shallow.

For the lining methods themselves, the Sewer Pipe Lining Texas pipe lining guide goes into what fails in the ground here and which method fits.

What a Texas sewer bid must include

• The Responsible Master Plumber's name and M-number as the TSBPE Public License Search shows it, printed on the estimate.
• The city plumbing permit by office name, plus the street cut permit if the dig reaches the right-of-way.
• Where the utility's responsibility ends on your lot and how the contractor confirmed it with the city utility.
• For slab houses, whether the under-slab section is tunneled or the floor is broken, and who compacts the tunnel.
• Rock excavation in San Antonio or dewatering in Houston as a unit price, with the Texas 811 ticket number.

The full checklist, for any state, is on what a sewer bid should include.

Red flags in Texas

• A Texas bid with no Responsible Master Plumber number, or one that starts with J or T instead of M.
• A company claiming the 2023 service-line exemption on a single-family house in Texas.
• A Houston or Dallas bid for the segment under the street without first asking the utility to inspect its side.
• Breaking a slab before anyone has run a camera.

A vetted sewer contractor in Texas

Sewer repair, lining, bursting and replacement in Texas are performed by Texas trenchless crews at CPC Trenchless, covering Houston, the Gulf Coast and projects across Texas. They are listed in the CIPP Verified Installer directory, which means licensing, completed work and equipment were checked before the listing went live, and every bid starts with a recorded camera inspection.

Estimates are free. Call now. (346) 644-6780

Where Texas property owners ask for help most

The rules above apply statewide; the communities below are the ones that generate the most questions.

Texas sewer contractor questions

Does a sewer repair company in Texas need a plumbing license?

For a house, yes. Texas licenses individual plumbers, and a company contracts through its Responsible Master Plumber, whose number must appear on the estimate. The 2023 exemption in Occupations Code 1301.059 excludes one- and two-family dwellings, so residential laterals remain plumber work.

How do I verify a plumber's license in Texas?

Ask for the Responsible Master Plumber's number and enter it in the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners' Public License Search. It confirms the license is current and whether a certificate of insurance is on file. Master numbers begin with M. A name without a number is not enough.

Who fixes the sewer line under the street in Houston?

Houston Public Works maintains the public portion of the sewer service from the main to the property line, as most large Texas cities do. The owner handles everything from the property line to the house. If a camera shows the break in the street, call the city before paying anyone to dig there.

Why are under-slab sewer repairs so common in Texas?

Most Texas houses built from the 1950s to the 1970s sit on slabs with cast iron drains underneath. Expansive clay moving the slab, plus corrosion inside the pipe, leaves bellies and holes. Repair means tunneling under the foundation or cutting the floor, which is why Texas bids separate under-slab work from the yard line.

How much notice does Texas 811 need before a sewer excavation?

Texas law requires notice to Texas 811 at least two working days before digging, counted as 48 hours excluding weekends and holidays. Your contractor files the ticket and should share the number. The rule applies to a slab tunnel too, since the tunnel exits into the yard.

The short version for Texas

In Texas the sequence is: camera first, then the RMP number through the TSBPE Public License Search, then a call to your city utility to learn where its piece of the lateral ends. Insist that the bid name the city permit and the inspection, state the tunnel-or-break approach for anything under a slab, and price rock or dewatering as units.

Estimates are free. Call now. (346) 644-6780

Sources checked for this page: tsbpe.texas.gov/consumer-information/ · texas.public.law/statutes/tex._occ._code_section_1301.059 · capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/analysis/pdf/HB02334E.pdf