How We Verify Electrician Licenses

Every directory says it verifies. Most mean someone filled out a form. Here is exactly what we check, what we do not, how current the data is, and where our coverage is thin — so you can judge the claim rather than take it.

What “license-verified” means here

It means one thing: we matched the company to a current license record published by the state’s licensing agency (TDLR in Texas, L&I in Washington, DLI in Minnesota), and we print what we matched. The listing carries the license type, the license number, the expiration date the agency shows, where it publishes one, and the date we last read it. If any of those is missing, the badge is not shown.

The license we match on is the Electrical Contractor license — the one a business needs to contract for electrical work in Texas. Under Texas Occupations Code §1305.159, a company can hold it only if it is, or employs, a licensed master electrician, and has established proof of financial responsibility with TDLR. A journeyman or apprentice license belongs to an individual, and does not make a company a licensed contractor; the Electrical Contractor record is what does.

What we do not check

We do not inspect work, interview customers, or verify insurance beyond what TDLR publishes. We do not read city permit or inspection records. We do not screen for criminal history. A badge on this site means the license is real and current. It does not mean the job will go well.

How current the data is

Every listing prints the date we last checked it. The roster behind it is TDLR’s own published file, which TDLR regenerates daily. A license whose expiration date had already passed when we read the file is not published. One that lapses later stays listed with its badge removed and its status shown as expired, so you can see it.

License data on this site comes from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (tdlr.texas.gov), and every listing shows the date we copied it. Neither this site nor the information as presented here is endorsed by the State of Texas or any state agency.

Where coverage is thin, stated plainly

We publish a company only when the roster gives us enough to stand behind — a current license and a validated phone number. Contractors whose business address is outside Texas are not placed on a Texas county page. Counties with too few verified companies are marked rather than padded.

Service areas

Where a company works is a claim, not a fact we can read off a license. A Texas electrical license is valid throughout the state (Texas Occupations Code §1305.165), so the county on a license record is where the business is filed — not where it will travel. We never turn an address into a service area. Where we show a company on a county page, that placement comes from the county of record on TDLR’s own file, and nothing more is implied by it.

Permits

Electrical permits in Texas are municipal. Texas Occupations Code §1305.201 lets a city require inspections and adopt local amendments to the electrical code, and requires work inside city limits to follow local ordinances; outside city limits the work must meet at least the state electrical code, and the statute gives counties no permitting role. So there is no county permit rule for us to publish, and we do not invent one. Our permit guides are written per city, from that city’s own published pages.

Corrections

If a listing is wrong, tell us and we will fix it. A company can claim its own record and correct it directly — see For electrical contractors. Correcting a record never changes where it ranks.