Verified against the city’s published rules · page updated October 21, 2026 · rules change — confirm with the city before applying
Fort Worth lets an owner-occupant pull an electrical permit and do the work. It also draws one hard line on its own affidavit: the owner may not touch the service.
Everything below comes from the city’s own pages, forms, code and ordinances, plus the Texas Occupations Code, read on October 1, 2026.
The City of Fort Worth Development Services Department issues residential electrical permits.
The department is at City Hall, 100 Fort Worth Trail, Fort Worth, TX 76102. Its Permits, Contractor Registration and Inspections pages publish 817-392-2222. The Residential Permitting page lists only 817-392-1234, the City Hall line. The city publishes no office hours on any of those pages.
Electrical is one of the trade permits the city takes online through Accela Citizen Access. The Permits page also points homeowners to a Residential Permit Guide at cfwpermit.fortworthtexas.gov to scope a project and its permits.
The state electrical licensing law, Chapter 1305 of the Texas Occupations Code, gives counties no electrical permitting role and does not mention them. Section 1305.201(d) says electrical work inside a city’s limits “must be installed in accordance with all applicable local ordinances,” and §1305.201(e) says work in an unincorporated area must meet standards “at least as stringent as the requirements of the state electrical code.” This page covers addresses inside Fort Worth city limits only.
Fort Worth requires a permit to change, move or repair electrical equipment, and it publishes no electrical exemption.
The Residential Permitting page says: “Changing, moving, or repairing electrical equipment, including electrical services requires an electrical permit.” A broader sentence on the same page lists electrical among the kinds of work that need permits.
The page’s exemptions are cosmetic remodels, plumbing fixture replacement, shingle work, some above-ground storm shelters and driveway flat work. None of them is electrical. The city does not say whether a like-for-like switch, receptacle or light fixture swap counts as “changing” equipment. We found no answer, so this page does not supply one. Ask before you rely on it.
Yes, for a home you own and live in as your primary residence, but not for work on the service.
The city’s rule: “Permit applicants must be a registered building contractor or must meet the requirements for a homestead permit, which include working on a building owned and occupied by them solely as their primary residence as demonstrated by either a homestead exemption granted by the appraisal district.” The sentence says “either” and names only one proof. We report the appraisal district homestead exemption and do not guess at the missing alternative.
The owner signs the Homestead Electrical Affidavit, one page of the city’s four-page homestead form. It certifies “I own and live at” the address and that the owner “will personally perform all work covered by permit number”. Printed under that line: “(Homeowner’s may not work on the service—work must be permitted and performed by a Master Electrician.)” The work must comply with “the State of Texas Licensing Law and the City of Fort Worth Electrical Code and Ordinances.”
So a panel or service change on your own home goes to a licensed master electrician, even if you pull permits for other work yourself. The affidavit has no notary block and carries no revision date.
State law exempts an owner who lives in the dwelling only for work “not specifically regulated by a municipal ordinance” (Tex. Occ. Code §1305.003(a)(6)). Fort Worth’s ordinance and affidavit regulate this work.
One gap: the city’s Electrical Permit Application has fields for a contractor and a site contact only. It has no owner role. Ask Development Services which form a homestead applicant files.
Your electrician needs a TDLR Electrical Contractor license and a Fort Worth contractor registration.
Texas requires a license from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) to perform or offer electrical work (§1305.151). A TDLR electrical contractor must employ a licensed master electrician. It must also carry liability insurance of at least $300,000 per occurrence, $600,000 aggregate and $300,000 aggregate for products and completed operations, per TDLR’s application page read October 1, 2026. Check any license at TDLR’s license search.
Fort Worth adds registration. Anyone obtaining a permit under the electrical provisions of the city’s codes must have a valid Contractor Registration on file. “Applicants for a Fort Worth Electrical Contractor Registration shall hold a valid State of Texas electrical contractor’s license or State of Texas electrical sign contractor’s license.” Homestead owners working on their own single-family home are exempt. Registration expires one year from issuance.
The registration page’s fee list names Building, Plumbing Irrigators, Sign, Moving and Wrecking contractors at $168.75. It names no electrical fee. Fort Worth’s fee ordinance, No. 26-28781, sets the contractor registration fee at $178.00 (pages 15 and 20), so the web page and the ordinance do not match. The exemption sits in §118.2.1 of the city’s Building Administrative Code (City Code §7-1), last amended by Ordinance No. 27191-09-2024: “Exception: State Licensed Plumbing, Electrical, or Mechanical Contractors or their qualifying individuals are exempt from paying registration fees. State licensed electricians are exempt from paying registration fees.” Ordinance No. 26-28781 amends the fee tables in §119 and does not list §118 among the sections it changes.
Texas Occupations Code §1305.201(f) reads: “A municipality or region may not collect a permit fee, registration fee, administrative fee, or any other fee from an electrician who holds a license issued under this chapter for work performed in the municipality or region. This subsection does not prohibit a municipality or region from collecting a building permit fee.” The city does not explain how its permit fees fit that text, and this page does not decide it.
Find TDLR-licensed electrical contractors filed in Tarrant County. See the other Texas city electrical permit guides.
Fort Worth prices electrical permits item by item, under fee Ordinance No. 26-28781.
The city links Ordinance No. 26-28781 as its Development Services Fee Schedule. It was adopted September 15, 2026 and took effect October 1, 2026. Its electrical lines, read October 1, 2026 (pages 15 and 25 to 27), include:
The ordinance cuts the permit fee to 35 percent when a third party performs the inspections.
The schedule has no line named for EV chargers. We do not map a charger to a line the city has not named. The permit application says a Temporary Power Letter is “by separate permit only!” Get the city’s own total before you budget.
Request inspections online or through the city’s phone line, and get the request in before 6:30 a.m. for same-day scheduling.
The IVR line is 817-392-6370, the same number printed on the electrical permit application. The city says: “Inspections received before 6:30 a.m. each day will be scheduled for inspection on that day.” Requests at or after 6:30 a.m. go to the next business day. The city also asks you to enter your contact for the day in Accela so the inspector can reach you.
Fort Worth lists six electrical inspection types: Electrical Final (200), Electrical Underground (205), Electrical Rough (210), Electrical Ceiling (215), Electrical Slab (240) and Electrical Wall (255). The permit application also asks “Electrical Release? YES / NO”. No city page we read explains that release or how the utility reconnects.
On code, the city’s Building & Energy Codes page states: “The City of Fort Worth has adopted the 2026 National Electrical Code effective September 1, 2026.” The document linked beside it is an unnumbered draft ordinance.
Fort Worth sets one job-specific electrical rule, for the service, and names solar panels only as needing a building permit.
We did not confirm anything with the city by phone, and we draw no line the city has not drawn.
We could not find where Fort Worth draws the line on replacing a switch, outlet or fixture. We could not confirm which form a homestead owner files, what the “Electrical Release” box triggers, or the ordinance number behind the 2026 NEC adoption. The city publishes no office hours. Each is a call to 817-392-2222.
License and permit information from the City of Fort Worth and the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, read October 1, 2026. Neither this site nor the information as presented here is endorsed by the State of Texas or any state agency.
Every figure on this page comes from one of the documents below, each published by the body that sets, measures or administers the thing it describes. We record the document’s own date and the date we read it, because published pages change without notice.
| Source | Document date | We read it |
|---|---|---|
| City of Fort Worth Development Services – Residential Permitting | undated city web page | 2026-10-01 |
| City of Fort Worth Development Services – Contractor Registration | undated city web page | 2026-10-01 |
| City of Fort Worth Development Services – Permits | undated city web page | 2026-10-01 |
| City of Fort Worth Development Services – Inspections | undated city web page | 2026-10-01 |
| City of Fort Worth Development Services – Building & Energy Codes | undated city web page; states the 2026 National Electrical Code is adopted effective September 1, 2026 | 2026-10-01 |
| City of Fort Worth Development Services – Homestead Affidavits (building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing) | no date or revision marking on the document (same electrical affidavit text as the v/3 copy at …/v/3/development-services/documents/resources-applications-forms-videos/h/homestead-affidavits.pdf) | 2026-10-01 |
| City of Fort Worth Development Services – Electrical Permit Application (Standalone / Umbrella) | no date or revision marking on the document | 2026-10-01 |
| City of Fort Worth – Ordinance No. 26-28781 (fee ordinance; linked by the city as ‘Development Services Fee Schedule’ and ‘NEW Fee Schedule’) | ADOPTED: September 15, 2026; EFFECTIVE: October 1, 2026 (as printed on p. 5 of 73; Section 9 ‘This Ordinance shall take effect on October 1, 2026’). Re-posted by the city as v/11 (server Last-Modified October 1, 2026 21:55 GMT, 4,400,076 bytes, 73 pages); text layer identical to the v/10 copy read 2026-09-24. Every figure on the page checked 2026-10-01 against page renders: p. 15 (item 11 registration $178.00; reinspection $66.15), p. 20 (Table 1-D $178.00), p. 25 (Temporary Power Letters $43.66), p. 26 (light fixtures/outlets/switches/receptacles; transformers and generators), p. 27 (services and subpanels; construction pole; 35% third-party note). The city’s Development Resources page links this v/11 file as ‘Fee Schedule’, ‘NEW Fee Schedule’ and ‘Development Services Fee Schedule’ | 2026-10-01 |
| City of Fort Worth – Ordinance No. 27191-09-2024 (prior development fees ordinance; amends City Code §118.2.1, the registration-fee exception) | Ordinance No. 27191-09-2024; Section 8: takes effect October 1, 2024; 48 pages; server Last-Modified February 27, 2025. Cited only as the last amendment to §118.2.1 (p. 9). On 2026-10-01 this URL returns a 301 redirect to Ord. 26-28781 (v/11), so the 2024 PDF was not re-read; the current §118.2.1 text was re-read from the city’s online code instead (next source) | 2026-09-24 |
| Code of the City of Fort Worth, §7-1 Building Administrative Code, Section 118 (Contractor Registration and City Licensing), §118.2.1 Fees, American Legal Publishing (the city’s online code, linked from fortworthtexas.gov ‘City Code & Charter’) | 2026 S-20 supplement, ‘Local legislation current through Ordinance 28600-06-2026, effective 6-9-2026’; §7-1 history note ends ‘Ord. 27191-09-2024, § 1, passed 9-24-2024, eff. 10-1-2024’. Ord. 26-28781 (eff. 2026-10-01) amends §119 and does not list §118, so the §118.2.1 exception quoted on the page is the text in force on 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-01 |
| Texas Occupations Code ch. 1305 (§§1305.003(a)(6), 1305.151, 1305.201), official text, Texas Legislature | current text; §1305.201 last amended by Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 285 (H.B. 3329), eff. September 1, 2017; chapter contains no reference to counties. Re-read 2026-10-01 from the page’s document file (tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/OC/htm/OC.1305.htm), because the statutes.capitol.texas.gov URL now serves a JavaScript shell | 2026-10-01 |
| TDLR – Apply for a New Electrical Contractor License (master electrician of record; insurance minimums) | undated agency web page | 2026-10-01 |
| TDLR – License Search | live state database | 2026-10-01 |
| City of Fort Worth – Development Resources page (links ‘Fee Schedule’ and ‘Development Services Fee Schedule’ to Ordinance No. 26-28781) | undated city web page | 2026-10-01 |
| City of Fort Worth – draft ordinance adopting the 2026 National Electrical Code (linked from Building & Energy Codes as ‘2026 National Electrical Code’) | unnumbered draft (‘Ordinance no XXXXX-XX-XXX’), 23 pages, undated; still unnumbered and still the only electrical link on Building & Energy Codes on 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-01 |
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