GroundRosterTexas septic and well contractor license lookup
Texas splits this work between two agencies. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) licenses the people who evaluate sites for, install and maintain septic systems, which Texas calls on-site sewage facilities (OSSF). The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) licenses water well drillers and pump installers.
Searches our copy of the Texas rosters. The state's own lookups, below, are the final word.
Who licenses what
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)
| Licenses | Septic (OSSF) installers, maintenance providers and site evaluators |
| Renewal | TCEQ occupational licenses are valid for three years. Source |
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR)
| Licenses | Water well drillers and pump installers (Occupations Code chapters 1901 and 1902) |
| Renewal | A driller or pump installer license is valid for two years from the date it was issued. Source |
Permits
Before a septic system is built, altered, extended or repaired, a licensed site evaluator or a licensed professional engineer must first evaluate the site.
Source: TCEQ: OSSF system types.
What the license classes mean
OSSF Installer II
Can install every type of septic system. Aerobic (secondary treatment) systems can only be installed by an Installer II.
Issued by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Source: TCEQ: OSSF licenses; TCEQ: OSSF system types.
OSSF Installer I
Can install standard systems: septic tanks, absorptive drainfields, unlined evapotranspiration drainfields, leaching chambers, gravel-less pipe and pumped effluent drainfields. An aerobic system needs an Installer II.
Issued by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Source: TCEQ: OSSF licenses; TCEQ: OSSF system types.
OSSF Maintenance Provider
Services and maintains aerobic treatment systems. It is a maintenance license, not an installer license.
Issued by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Source: TCEQ: OSSF licenses.
OSSF Site Evaluator
Evaluates a site before a system goes in: whether the site suits a particular system, and every nearby feature the system could contaminate or that could keep it from working properly.
Issued by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Source: TCEQ: OSSF licenses.
Water Well Driller/Pump Installer
TDLR issues three licenses here: well driller, pump installer, and a combination of the two. A driller license alone does not cover installing or repairing well pumps, and a pump installer license alone does not cover drilling. TDLR's data file gives all three this one label, so our listings can't show which one a contractor holds.
Issued by Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). Source: TDLR: apply for a driller or installer license.
Check a license with the state
- TCEQ license search: Search by name or license number.
- TDLR license search: Search by name, business name, license number, city, county or ZIP.
Good to know
- Hiring for pump work, or for drilling? Our listings can't show whether a TDLR well license is a driller, pump installer or combination license. Ask the contractor which one they hold, and check the license number in TDLR's search.
- A contractor can hold both a TCEQ septic license and a TDLR well license. Our listing shows every class we found under the same name and place, and each one is checked with the agency that issued it.
Not being in our copy is not evidence that someone is unlicensed. Our copy can lag the state, and a license may be listed under another name, such as the owner's or the company's.