Plumbing contractor insurance in Texas

Texas plumbing licenses and the RMP insurance rule

The Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (TSBPE) licenses plumbers statewide. Plumbing regulation never moved to TDLR. The 2019 bill that would have shifted it failed, and the Legislature has since continued the board with a Sunset date of September 1, 2033.

License types and forms are on the TSBPE website.

The ladder runs from apprentice registration to Tradesman Plumber-Limited, Journeyman and Master Plumber. Endorsements cover medical gas piping, multipurpose residential fire sprinklers and water supply protection. The board also registers drain cleaners and residential utilities installers.

The insurance rule attaches to one role. A Master Plumber has to file a certificate of insurance before working as the company's Responsible Master Plumber (RMP).

Here's what the law and board rules ask for:

• Commercial general liability for bodily injury and property damage, at least $300,000 for all claims in a one-year period.
• An authorized insurer or an eligible surplus lines insurer.
• Continuous coverage, uploaded as a COI to the RMP's online account with the board.
• Every type of plumbing done under the license, including LP-gas, medical gas and multipurpose residential fire sprinklers.
• Customer disclosure. If a customer asks in writing, the RMP or owner must give the insurer's name and the agent's name, address and phone within 30 days.

Think of $300,000 as the entry fee, not the target. It's an annual total for every claim combined, and one flooded two-story house with finished floors can use up much of it. Most shops that work for GCs or property managers carry more because their contracts say so.

The customer disclosure rule is easy to miss. Keep your carrier and agent details where the office can find them, so a written request doesn't sit for weeks. We can send that information to you whenever you need it.

Licensing is statewide, but the check happens locally. A city that requires an RMP to pull a permit has to verify that certificate through the board's website or by phone first.

So a San Antonio inspector's office or an Austin permit desk sees your coverage status before it sees your plans. We found no state plumbing license bond in the Plumbing License Law. Read how bonds and insurance differ in our guide to bonded and insured plumbers.

Subscriber or non-subscriber: workers' comp in Texas

Texas lets most private employers decide whether to carry workers' comp. Shops with a policy are subscribers, and shops without one are non-subscribers. Public employers must provide it.

In a 2022 state survey, 25% of private employers in Texas were non-subscribers.

Opting out isn't a one-time choice. A non-subscriber must file DWC Form-005 with the state's Division of Workers' Compensation:

• every year between February 1 and April 30
• within 30 days of hiring the first employee
• within 10 days of ending coverage
• within 10 days of a DWC request

You also have to give employees written notice and post notices at work. Skipping the filing is an administrative violation.

The TDI employer resources page has the forms.

The real cost of opting out shows up after an injury. A tech who gets hurt can sue a non-subscriber for negligence, and the employer can't argue the tech was partly at fault, assumed the risk, or was hurt by a co-worker. It keeps only two defenses: intoxication and the employee's intentional act.

Some non-subscribers buy occupational accident insurance, which pays set medical and wage benefits. It isn't workers' comp, and it doesn't restore the lost defenses.

Public work closes the door on opting out. When a city, county or school district signs a building or construction contract, it must require the contractor to certify comp for every employee on the project. Each sub hands the GC a coverage certificate that goes up to the public entity.

Example scenario: A five-tech residential shop near Fort Worth has run as a non-subscriber for years. A helper carrying a 50-gallon heater up an attic ladder falls and breaks his wrist and shoulder. He hires a lawyer and sues. The owner can't argue the helper was careless, only that he wasn't drunk and didn't get hurt on purpose. The case now turns on whether the shop's ladder practices were negligent, and the defense bill starts on day one.

If your growth plan includes your first municipal or school job, you'll need comp on that payroll. This is a legal decision as much as an insurance one, so talk with a Texas employment attorney before you drop coverage. Compare the options on our workers' comp page for plumbers. Get a quote for your plumbing business →

What makes Texas plumbing risky to insure

The February 2021 freeze

Winter Storm Uri ran from February 11 to 20, 2021. It dropped Houston to 13°F, burst pipes across the region, and was expected to rank among the costliest weather disasters in Texas history.

More than 12 million Texans had water service disrupted, according to news reports at the time.

Freeze-burst repairs and repipes done in a hurry are the kind of work that comes back. A joint that later leaks becomes a completed operations question, meaning damage that shows up after you've finished the job. Most GL policies include that coverage, within their limits and exclusions.

Hurricane rain on the Gulf Coast

Hurricane Harvey came ashore as a Category 4 on August 25, 2017. Friendswood recorded 54.77 inches of rain, and an estimated 136,000 structures flooded in Harris County alone.

Vans parked in a low yard and stock on a shop floor are exposed. Loose tools riding in a van usually fall outside the auto policy, so a tools floater does that job.

Clay that moves under slabs

Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio sit on the Blackland Prairie. Its clay soils shrink and swell with moisture and crack deeply in dry spells, which can damage buildings and buried lines. Houston Black, the state soil, covers more than 1.5 million acres of those prairies.

Slab-leak repairs, tunneling and reroutes are everyday work on that ground. When a repaired line fails again after the soil shifts, the customer may blame your work, not the clay. Notes, photos and pressure-test results from each slab job help your carrier sort out what failed and why. They also help you push back on a claim that's really about the foundation.

Texas cities where we insure plumbers

How Texas shapes the price of plumber insurance

Your price depends on payroll, revenue, claims history, the work you do and the limits you choose. Texas adds three twists.

Comp rates run low by national standards. Oregon's 2024 ranking puts the Texas all-industry index at $0.78 per $100 of payroll, 40th of 51 jurisdictions and 72% of the median. It's not a plumbing rate, but it puts Texas among the cheaper states for comp, which weakens the case for opting out on price alone.

Opting out moves cost; it doesn't erase it. A non-subscriber saves the premium but carries the lawsuit risk without its main defenses, plus the yearly filing.

Contracts set your real limits. The RMP minimum is $300,000 for all claims in a year. GCs and property managers often ask for more than that, and an umbrella is a common way to reach their number. That demand comes from the contract, not from state law.

How you're shopped matters as much as these factors. As an independent agency, we take one set of answers about your shop and put it in front of several carriers, then show you the trade-offs between price, limits and exclusions. A shop that runs medical gas or fire sprinkler work needs a carrier that will write all of it on one policy, and some carriers won't write all three.

Certificates come up constantly in Texas, because cities, GCs and property managers all want one. Current clients can get a certificate on their existing coverage the same day. See typical national ranges in our plumber insurance cost guide. Get a quote for your plumbing business →

Licensed to place coverage in Texas

Plumbing Insurance Group is a brand of The Allen Thomas Group, licensed in Texas (License #3256838, NPN 7642818). We quote Texas plumbing companies of every size, whether you're a new RMP pulling your first permit or a commercial shop bidding public work. Our full list of agency licenses by state is public.