Texas · Landscaping licensing · official-source guide
Texas does not license landscaping contractors at state level, and there is no state general contractor registration covering this work. Specialty licenses do apply. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality licenses sprinkler work, the Department of Agriculture licenses pesticide application to lawns and ornamentals, and the Board of Architectural Examiners registers landscape architects. City permits govern the rest.
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Verify a licenseVerified against agency sources on 2026-10-12. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
There is no Texas landscaping license and no Texas general contractor or home improvement registration. The state issues nothing a landscaping company can hold, display or renew for the trade itself. Mowing, bed preparation, planting, sod, mulch, soil grading, patios, walkways, retaining walls and other hardscaping can all be sold and built in Texas with no state trade credential behind them. A customer looking for a state landscaping license number will not find one, because none is issued. That is the plain answer, and it changes what a Texas landscaping company has to prove instead. Three things carry the weight. First, specialty state licenses that attach to particular scopes inside the trade. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality licenses anyone who sells, designs, installs, alters, repairs or services a landscape irrigation system. The Texas Department of Agriculture licenses anyone who applies pesticide to lawns, ornamental plants, trees or weeds for hire. The Texas Board of Architectural Examiners registers landscape architects and publishes the roster of who holds that registration. Second, the city layer, which is where irrigation permits, local contractor registration and tree permits live. Third, the ordinary business obligations every Texas company carries, with sales tax on landscaping services being the one most specific to this trade. A crew that installs beds and a flagstone walk needs no state card at all. The moment that same crew ties a sprinkler zone into the water meter or sprays a broadleaf herbicide on a client lawn, a named state license has to stand behind the work.
Sourcestceq.texas.gov 1texasagriculture.gov 2tbae.texas.gov 3
The landscape irrigator license, abbreviated LI, is the one that matters most to landscaping companies in Texas. TCEQ states that a person may not sell, design, install, maintain, alter, repair, service or inspect an irrigation system, or consult on those activities, unless licensed by the commission. Selling is in that list, which catches the owner who quotes a sprinkler system and subcontracts the digging. A licensed landscape irrigator can do all of it, including connecting the system to a private or public, raw or potable water supply, and including water wells in unincorporated parts of the state. TCEQ sets no education requirement and no prior work experience requirement for the LI license. The gate is the approved basic irrigator licensing course, a complete application, a criminal history attestation, a fee of $111, and a passing score of at least 70 percent on each section of the exam. TCEQ notes the exam runs six hours, so not every computer based testing center can seat it, and applicants should confirm before scheduling. The agency says review of a new application takes roughly three to four weeks absent deficiencies, and the approval letter has to arrive before the exam can be booked. Holding the LI license cancels an irrigation technician license on issuance, because the irrigator scope already covers the technician scope.
Sourcestceq.texas.gov
TCEQ issues two more licenses in the same program. The irrigation technician license, abbreviated IT, lets a worker connect a landscape irrigation system to a water supply, install the backflow prevention device, and maintain, alter, repair, service or direct installation of a system under the supervision of a licensed irrigator. It is the practical card for a crew leader on an installation company where the owner or a designated irrigator holds the LI. Like the irrigator license, it carries no education or experience prerequisite. The approved path is either the irrigation technician course or the full landscape irrigator licensing course, then the application and exam. The irrigation inspector license, abbreviated II, is the municipal side. Inspectors verify that permits were pulled, inspect the system, decide whether it meets the rules, confirm the correct backflow device is installed, pass test results to the water purveyor and investigate complaints. The inspector route requires three courses: the landscape irrigator licensing course, the backflow prevention assembly tester course, and either a water conservation course or a water audit course. TCEQ notes there is no approved standalone irrigation inspector course. There is a conflict of interest wall here that landscaping owners should read closely. Under the commission rules, a person who owns an irrigation company, consults for one or works for one may not simultaneously act as an irrigation inspector, and a licensee holding both an inspector license and an irrigator or technician license may not use them at the same time.
Sourcestceq.texas.gov
The exemption list is the part landscaping owners most often get wrong. Texas law exempts a person licensed by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, and exempts a licensed engineer, registered architect or registered landscape architect to the extent their acts are incidental to their own profession. It also exempts sprinkler work a property owner performs on the home they own or occupy, repair work other than extensions or replacement systems done by a maintenance person who does not hold out to the public, railroad employees on railroad premises, employees of a political subdivision working on public property, and work done by an agriculturist, agronomist, horticulturist, forester, gardener, contract gardener, garden or lawn caretaker, nurseryman, grader or cultivator of land on land that person owns. Read that last one closely: it covers the gardener working on their own land, not a gardener selling sprinkler work to clients. Property owners association members get a narrow carve out for association land under half an acre used for aesthetic or recreational purposes. Garden hoses, hose sprinklers, hose end products and commercial agricultural irrigation systems are outside the program. There is also an exempt business owner path: a business owner who employs a licensed irrigator as the irrigator in charge is exempt from the licensing chapter, but that owner must make sure every irrigation service is supervised by that licensed irrigator, must verify the licenses of all irrigators and technicians working for the business, and must designate the irrigator in charge. Exempt persons still have to meet the construction standards.
Sourcestceq.texas.gov
TCEQ occupational licenses in the landscape irrigation program are valid for three years. Renewal means completing the required continuing education before the license expires, filing a renewal application, submitting a criminal history attestation and paying the renewal fee of $111. The continuing education hours differ by license. Landscape irrigators need 24 hours. Irrigation technicians need 16 hours. Irrigation inspectors need 24 hours. Hours have to be earned before expiration and may be taken at any point during the three year term, so there is no benefit to stacking them in the final month. TCEQ credits hours only for courses it has approved, and licensees can check the hours already recorded against their license through the agency license information search. Anyone who holds both an irrigator or technician license and an inspector license and wants to keep both current has to file the landscape irrigation program conflict of interest affidavit with the renewal application. For a landscaping company this is a scheduling problem more than a money problem. A three year cycle means the owner who holds the only LI in the business can let it lapse quietly, and a lapsed irrigator license takes the whole irrigation revenue line with it, including the ability to sign contracts and seal them. Put the expiration date and the 24 hour continuing education target on the company calendar, not just in the licensee's inbox.
Sourcestceq.texas.gov
This is where Texas gets specific, and it is the part competitors skip. Every licensed irrigator must obtain a seal on being licensed, and may not perform any landscape irrigation service without physical possession of both the seal and the license. The seal must be circular and not less than 1-1/2 inches in diameter, with the license number displayed horizontally in the center, dropping the LI prefix and the leading zeros, so LI0017234 is shown as 17234. The irrigator is responsible for the security of the seal. Vehicles are regulated too. Every vehicle used to install, maintain, alter, repair or service irrigation must display the irrigator's license number in the form LI________ in a contrasting color, in block letters at least two inches high, on both outward sides of the vehicle. Trailers that advertise irrigation services must display the number as well. All forms of advertisement for irrigation services, regardless of media, must display the number in the same LI format, and any advertisement showing a company name other than the licensed irrigator's own name must also show the licensed irrigator's name and license number. That rule reaches business cards, estimates, truck wraps, yard signs and websites. At the permanent structure where the irrigation business is primarily conducted and records are kept, the name, mailing address and telephone number of the commission must be posted on a legible sign in plain view so customers can direct complaints. No one may use another person's license number, and letting someone else use yours is itself a violation.
Texas writes the irrigation paperwork requirements into the rules, so the documents a landscaping company already sends out have to carry specific content. Every contract to install an irrigation system must be in writing and signed by each party. It must state the irrigator's name, license number, business address, current business telephone numbers, the date each party signed, and the total agreed price. It must carry the statement that irrigation in Texas is regulated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, with the commission's mail code, post office box in Austin and website. Every contract must include the irrigator's seal, signature and date, and must state the dates the warranty is valid. Written estimates, proposals, bids and invoices relating to installation or repair are covered by nearly the same list: irrigator name, license number, business address, current business telephone numbers and the same TCEQ regulatory statement. On every new system installation the irrigator must hand the owner or the owner's representative a written warranty covering materials and labor, and the irrigator is responsible for honoring it. If the irrigator's warranty is shorter than the manufacturer's warranty on components, the irrigator has to pass the manufacturer warranty information along. Pass through contracts get their own treatment. If a general contract includes irrigation, only a licensed irrigator may perform the irrigation portion, the contract has to identify that irrigator by name and license number, and it has to give the owner a way to reach that irrigator for warranty work.
Irrigation work in Texas runs into a second TCEQ license. Under the irrigation rules, every backflow prevention assembly must be tested by a licensed backflow prevention assembly tester at minimum on installation, repair, replacement or relocation, and assemblies on systems designated as health hazards must be tested annually. When fertilizer, insect repellent or any other chemical is injected into an irrigation system, TCEQ requires a reduced pressure principle assembly to protect the public water supply. So a company that installs systems, services them, or adds chemical injection either employs a licensed tester or hires one, and the test and maintenance report becomes part of the city permit file in several metros. The backflow prevention assembly tester license, abbreviated BPAT, is harder to get than the irrigator license. TCEQ requires a high school diploma or GED plus two years of approved experience. Installing or repairing lawn irrigation systems counts as approved experience, which is the natural bridge for an irrigation crew member. Other qualifying experience includes operating or maintaining a public drinking water system, drinking water treatment equipment work, work requiring a Texas plumbing license, fire sprinkler work, domestic wastewater plant work and registered sanitarian inspections. One year of experience can be substituted with 32 semester hours of college credit or 20 hours of approved training, on top of the mandatory 40 hour backflow tester course. The application fee is $111, the written exam is at an approved testing center, and the practical skills portion is given by the training provider.
The Texas Board of Architectural Examiners is the agency that registers landscape architects, and it has regulated design professionals in Texas since 1937. There are two ways in. Registration by examination runs through the Landscape Architect Registration Examination and a council record held by the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards, with an official college transcript and an employment verification form if an applicant tests early, before the council record is complete. TBAE confirms that an applicant who passes the exam before finishing the council record is not eligible for registration until TBAE has received and approved that record. Registration by reciprocity is the route for someone already registered in another state, supported either by a certificate of standing sent directly from the other licensing board plus a certified college transcript, or by a transmitted council record. TBAE publishes the reciprocity numbers: the application fee for registration by reciprocity is $150.00, and the initial registration fee, due only after tentative approval, is $200.00. A fingerprint based criminal history check is required before registration either way. The practical point for a landscaping company is that this registration is a design credential, not a construction license. It does not authorize irrigation work on its own, though a registered landscape architect is outside the irrigator licensing chapter to the extent the work is incidental to the profession. Design build firms that advertise plan work should know which of their people TBAE actually lists.
Sourcestbae.texas.gov 1tbae.texas.gov 2tbae.texas.gov 3tceq.texas.gov 4
TBAE registration carries ongoing duties that shape how a design led landscaping firm operates. Registrants must complete 12 hours of qualifying continuing education per calendar year. TBAE amended the rules in 2021 so that a registrant short on hours for the prior calendar year can cure the shortfall before renewing: complete the missing hours, complete the full 12 hour requirement for the current calendar year as well, for 24 hours total across the two years, and then renew. Registration expires on the last day of the registrant's birth month and must be renewed before that date. Registrants get a permanent plastic pocket card rather than a new card at each renewal, and TBAE points anyone checking status to its public search rather than the card. The seal rules matter on construction documents. A registrant must seal, sign and date construction documents issued for permitting, regulatory approval or construction. Documents released for any other purpose must carry the registrant's name, the issue date and a conspicuous statement reading that they are not for regulatory approval, permitting or construction. Electronic application of the seal, date and signature is allowed. Landscape architects must also give every client a written statement of jurisdiction. On advertising, TBAE is explicit that the old rule requiring registrants to display their registration number on business cards and in all directory listings was repealed in 2012, so the display burden on a registered landscape architect is lighter than the one on a licensed irrigator.
The Texas Department of Agriculture is the state's lead agency on pesticide use. TDA states plainly that applicators who want to apply any pesticide, regardless of classification and including general use products, to ornamental plants, trees, lawns or weeds for hire must be licensed by the department. That covers the weed and feed call, the grub treatment, the broadleaf spray on a client lawn and the systemic drench on a client tree. Applicators who apply only fertilizer do not need a TDA license, which is the single most useful dividing line for a maintenance crew. There are two license families and the choice depends on what and where you spray. The agricultural pesticide license requires certification in the 3A landscape maintenance category, the 5 vegetation management category, or both. The structural pest control service license requires certification in the lawn and ornamental category, the weed control category, or both. TDA publishes category descriptions for each program so an owner can match the license to the work actually sold. There is a vehicle rule here too. Each motor vehicle used by an employee of an applicator business making applications in the agricultural pesticide 3A landscape maintenance category must display an applicator business vehicle identification decal issued by the department, affixed to the rear window, front fender or front door panel. Decals come from the TDA regional office. Since May 19, 2025, TDA pesticide applicator exams have been administered by Metro Institute, and applicants file the application and fees with TDA first, then register for an exam.
If a landscaping company treats lawns and ornamentals under the structural pest control program rather than the agricultural pesticide program, the business itself gets licensed, not just the applicator. TDA requires a business license from the Structural Pest Control Service for each business location, including branch offices. Each commercial business license holder must designate a commercial certified applicator, registered with that business, as the responsible certified applicator, and that person may not serve as responsible certified applicator for any other business licensee or any other license location. The advertising rule is strict: a business or person cannot advertise pest control services or solicit business without first holding the business license and having an applicator certified in each category in which business will be conducted. Insurance is a condition of the license. Commercial business licensees must carry not less than $500,000 in bodily injury and property damage coverage with a minimum total aggregate of $1,000,000 for all occurrences, and proof must come in on TDA's own ALS-1101 form, which is the only form the department accepts. The fee schedule TDA publishes, effective January 1, 2016, sets $300 for an original or renewal business license, $125 for an original certified applicator license, $125 for renewal of a certified applicator license, $125 for an original apprentice registration, $125 for renewal of a technician license and $64 for the exam in each category. Late renewal within 90 days costs 1 1/2 times the normal renewal fee; from 91 days to one year it is twice the normal fee.
Texas attached a criminal penalty to unlicensed irrigation installation. Under the Occupations Code provision governing irrigators, unless exempt, a person commits an offense if they install an irrigation system without holding a license issued by the commission, and the offense is a Class C misdemeanor. The enforcement route got wider after House Bill 2507. TCEQ states that complaints against an unlicensed irrigator can now be filed in municipal and justice of the peace courts, and that law enforcement officers can issue a ticket, both citing the irrigator licensing offense. That means an unlicensed sprinkler install is no longer only a slow administrative complaint to Austin; a city can write it up locally. TCEQ takes complaints about licensed irrigators directly and publishes how to file one and what to expect, alongside searchable complaint and enforcement records. Separate rules carry their own exposure. Using another licensee's number, or letting another person or entity use yours in a way the rules do not allow, is a violation of both the Occupations Code chapter and the commission rules. An irrigator's license number may be used at only one entity as the irrigator in charge, though the irrigator may still work for other entities in a non-charge capacity. Licensees and exempt business owners alike must represent their qualifications accurately and truthfully to prospective clients and must not perform services they are not qualified by experience, knowledge or license to perform. TBAE publishes its own disciplinary actions against registered landscape architects.
The local layer is mandatory, not optional. The state rules require municipalities with a population of 20,000 or more to verify that the irrigator who designs and installs a system holds a valid license and has obtained a permit before installing within city limits or the extraterritorial jurisdiction, and inspectors must verify the design and installation against both the state chapter and local rules. Cities and water districts may adopt rules at least as stringent as the state chapter, and often do. In Houston, a plumbing permit is required for a lawn irrigation system, and the permit must be obtained by a master plumber or a licensed irrigator registered with the City of Houston. The fee is $1.95 per head for the first 200 heads and $1.30 per head after that, plus a $33.56 administrative fee, with plan review and inspection required and a 180 day valid period. Dallas requires a separate irrigation contractor registration. The license holder must appear in person with the completed form, the current irrigator pocket license and photo identification, and pay $120.00; renewals also cost $120.00 and the city registration expires when the state license expires. San Antonio requires a Development Services permit for all underground lawn irrigation installations and additions inside the city and in its extraterritorial jurisdiction, and the backflow assembly test and maintenance report has to be uploaded to the permit record. In Austin, trees under 19 inches in diameter are not regulated on residential property, while protected and heritage trees require a tree ordinance review application and critical root zone limits restrict digging.
Sourcestceq.texas.gov 1houstonpermittingcenter.org 2dallascityhall.com 3docsonline.sanantonio.gov 4austintexas.gov 5
Texas taxes the service, which makes the Comptroller a standing compliance item for every landscaping company in the state, licensed scopes or not. The Comptroller states that landscaping and lawn and plant care services include any work done to maintain or improve lawns, yards and ornamental plants and trees, and that the provider should collect state tax plus any local city, county, special purpose district or transit tax on the total charge. Taxable work includes planting, transplanting, relocating and removing plants, identifying, preventing or curing plant diseases, pruning, bracing, spraying, fertilizing and watering plants, planting, mowing, trimming and edging grass or ground cover, flower garden work and tree trimming, spraying and maintenance. Non-taxable work includes mowing pipeline or highway rights of way, trimming trees away from power lines, farm and forest land work and mowing cemeteries. Charges for non-taxable services must be stated separately or the whole charge is presumed taxable when the taxable portion exceeds 5 percent. Two carve outs matter. The professional services of landscape designers and architects, including consultations, research and preparation of design plans, are not subject to sales tax, and should be invoiced separately. Lawn care and landscaping other than licensed pest control is non-taxable when done by a self-employed individual who performs the work personally, has no employees or partners providing the services, and has gross receipts from those services of $5,000 or less over the most recent four calendar quarters. Decks, retaining walls, fences, pools and underground sprinkler installation are not landscaping for tax purposes; they fall under construction or remodeling rules.
Sourcescomptroller.texas.gov
Texas gives homeowners free public lookups, and the smart move for a licensed company is to point customers at them before a competitor does. TCEQ runs a licensing and registration information search that covers individual licensing information, company registrations, group searches by criteria and license exam results. That is where a homeowner confirms an LI number on a truck or an estimate is real and current, and it is where TCEQ licensees can check the continuing education hours already recorded against their license. TCEQ also publishes complaint and enforcement records that can be searched for status. The agency instructs homeowners directly to find a licensed landscape irrigator or irrigation company through that search before hiring, and it publishes guidance aimed at both homeowners and builders on hiring licensed professionals for landscape irrigation. For design credentials, the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners maintains a separate individual search by first or last name, city, registration number or other criteria, updated daily, which shows whether a person is registered and their current status and expiration date. TBAE also offers a firm and business search and downloadable rosters of registrants and registered firms, and notes that recent legislation on confidentiality of personal information changed what the rosters and search tools show. TBAE states it does not endorse any particular registrant or firm. Three practical habits follow: put the LI number on the estimate as the rules already require, name the registered landscape architect on design work, and tell the customer where to check.
Sourceswww2.tceq.texas.gov 1tceq.texas.gov 2tbae.texas.gov 3indreg.tbae.texas.gov 4
These are common details other guides publish about Texas, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
No. Texas has no state landscape contractor license and no state general contractor license, so planting, sod, mulch, beds and hardscaping can be sold without a state trade license. Irrigation work and pesticide application to lawns and ornamentals are different, and each needs a named state license.
The TCEQ landscape irrigator license. TCEQ states a person may not sell, design, install, maintain, alter, repair, service or inspect an irrigation system, or consult on those activities, unless licensed by the commission. Selling counts, so quoting a system and subcontracting the install still requires the license.
The application fee is $111, and the renewal fee is also $111. TCEQ requires the approved basic irrigator licensing course, a complete application, a criminal history attestation and a passing score of at least 70 percent on each exam section. There is no education or prior experience requirement.
Yes, if the truck is used for irrigation work. Every vehicle used to install, maintain, alter, repair or service irrigation must show the irrigator license number as LI________ in a contrasting color, in block letters at least two inches high, on both outward sides. Trailers advertising irrigation must show it too.
Yes for irrigation. All forms of advertisement for irrigation services, in any media, must display the number in LI format. If the ad shows a company name other than the licensed irrigator's name, it must also show that irrigator's name and license number. Estimates and business cards are covered.
Writing, signed by each party, with the irrigator's name, license number, business address, current business phone numbers, the date each party signed, the total agreed price, the required TCEQ regulatory statement, the warranty validity dates, and the irrigator's seal, signature and date.
Only with the irrigation technician license, and only under a licensed irrigator's supervision. The technician license allows connecting the system to a water supply, installing the backflow device, and maintaining, altering, repairing, servicing or directing installation. It has no education or experience prerequisite.
Yes. TDA requires a license to apply any pesticide, including general use products, to ornamental plants, trees, lawns or weeds for hire. You certify in the agricultural pesticide 3A or 5 categories, or in the structural pest control lawn and ornamental or weed control categories.
No. TDA states that applicators who apply only fertilizer do not need a department license. That line is worth holding on your service menu, because adding a single herbicide or insecticide application for hire pulls the work into the pesticide licensing program and its category certification.
A licensed backflow prevention assembly tester. The rules require testing at minimum on installation, repair, replacement or relocation, and annual testing on assemblies in systems designated as health hazards. Chemical injection into a system requires a reduced pressure principle assembly.
Unless exempt, installing an irrigation system without a commission license is an offense, and the offense is a Class C misdemeanor. TCEQ says complaints against an unlicensed irrigator can now be filed in municipal and justice of the peace courts, and law enforcement officers can issue a ticket.
Only if the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners has registered you. TBAE registers landscape architects by examination or by reciprocity and publishes a daily updated public search showing current status and expiration. Registration carries 12 continuing education hours per calendar year and seal duties on construction documents.
We can review the local market, your current search visibility, and paid-search fit before recommending any marketing work.