How to check a foundation repair company in Texas

Texas does not license foundation repair companies, so no state lookup will tell you whether one is any good. What you can check is everything around the company: the engineer’s license, the plumber’s license, the contract terms Texas law sets, and the warranty. This guide gives the official lookup for each, the questions to ask and the red flags. It is general information, not legal advice.

Does Texas license foundation repair companies?

No. Texas has no state license for foundation repair companies. SB 1399, a 2011 bill to create one, passed the Senate and was reported by a House committee but never got a House floor vote. HB 613 reached the House calendar in 2013 and did not become law. The Legislative Reference Library’s subject index lists no bill after that.

Lawmakers knew the risk. The House committee’s analysis of SB 1399 said: “Interested parties assert that increasing numbers of predatory practices by foundation repair companies have been reported. They argue that currently there is no state regulation in place to directly mitigate these risks.”

Two years later, the committee analysis of HB 613 said that “the absence of state standards for people operating as, or representing themselves to the public as, foundation repair contractors allows unqualified and unscrupulous people to perform foundation repairs, often with disastrous results for people’s homes.” The House Research Organization put it more simply: “This work currently is performed by an unregulated foundation repair industry.”

Texas did once have a state agency for residential construction, the Texas Residential Construction Commission. It was allowed to lapse: “The Texas Residential Construction Commission was abolished and the Act expired on September 1, 2009.” So a company that calls itself “state licensed” for foundation repair is wrong about the law.

Who on a foundation job does hold a license?

The people around the company. The engineer who evaluates the house or designs the repair must be a licensed Professional Engineer, and the plumber who tests or repairs pipes must be licensed too. Each has a free state lookup. If you are buying the house, the home inspector is licensed by the Texas Real Estate Commission.

How do you check the engineer?

Ask for the engineer’s name and license number, then look it up on the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors roster, which shows whether a license is active. The board says working out why a foundation moved, or recommending a repair, is engineering. A repair plan with no engineer behind it is a warning sign.

The board’s Advisory Opinion 43 (2018) says: “Analyzing the cause of a condition, recommendations for repair, or providing any other expert engineering opinion associated with a foundation, including the foundations systems and components, would be considered the practice of engineering per the Act §1001.003(c)(1) and could warrant disciplinary action from the Texas Board of Professional Engineers if conducted by an individual unlicensed as a Professional Engineer (PE).”

The engineering law backs that up. “A person may not engage in the practice of engineering unless the person holds a license issued under this chapter” (Occupations Code §1001.301(a)). The law also bars unlicensed use of words including “engineer”, “professional engineer” and “engineered”. If an estimate promises an “engineered” repair, ask whose license stands behind the word.

There is a wrinkle. The law exempts people repairing a private dwelling who do not claim to offer engineering (§1001.056(a)). But that exemption does not cover engineering design for repairing “a residential dwelling slab located on expansive soil that meets the expansive soil classification provisions of the International Residential Code as applied in the jurisdiction in which the residential dwelling is located,” unless the work meets that code (§1001.056(c)(2)). Whether a given lot meets that classification is a question for the engineer; our soils guide explains why it varies here.

The roster shows each license’s status, such as active, delinquent, expired or inactive. Complaints about an engineer go to the board by mail: “Completed complaint forms and supporting documentation must be mailed to the board rather than e-mailed.” The address is 1917 S Interstate 35, Austin, Texas 78741, and the board’s phone is (512) 440-7723.

How do you check the plumber?

If the job includes a plumbing test or a pipe repair, look up the plumber with the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. State law says a person “may not engage in plumbing” unless they hold “the proper license, registration, or endorsement required by this chapter” and their work is “supervised and controlled by a person licensed under this chapter.”

The law’s definition of plumbing does not mention slabs, but it covers the water supply pipes and “a drain or waste pipe, used to carry wastewater or sewage from or within a building” (Occupations Code §1301.002). Two exemptions are worth knowing:

• Your own homestead. “A property owner is not required to be licensed under this chapter to perform plumbing in the property owner’s homestead.” The exemption names the owner, not a company working for you.
• Rural property. Some rural and small-town properties are exempt, but not for plumbing done “in conjunction with new construction, repair, or remodeling”.

We found no rule on hydrostatic or sewer testing in the plumbing board’s rules, so the details belong in your contract. Our slab leak repair page covers the tests, the repairs and their published prices.

What does Texas law say about the contract?

Three rules matter most. A contractor on a residential construction contract must give you a written disclosure statement before you sign. A lien on your homestead requires a written contract signed before any work starts, by both spouses if you are married. And a sale made at your home can usually be cancelled within three business days.

The disclosure statement. Property Code §53.255(a) says: “Before a residential construction contract is executed by the owner, the original contractor shall deliver to the owner a disclosure statement described by this section.” The statement opens: “KNOW YOUR RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER THE LAW. You are about to enter into a transaction to build a new home or remodel existing residential property.” We could not confirm that every foundation repair contract falls under this section, so ask the company whether it gives the statement, and read it if it does.

Homestead liens. Under Property Code §53.254, a company that wants a lien on your homestead must have a written contract with you, signed before the work or materials are provided, and signed by both spouses if you are married. That is a protection for your home, so read the whole contract before anyone signs.

Three days to cancel. Under Texas’s home solicitation law, sales made at your home over $25 can usually be cancelled within three business days. We read that law, Business and Commerce Code Chapter 601, on Texas Public Law, an unofficial copy of the statutes, because the state’s own site would not load it. Check the current text before you rely on it.

What should you ask before you sign?

Ask questions that force specifics: who the engineer is, how many piers go where and how deep, who pulls the permit, who tests the plumbing and when, and what voids the warranty. Get every answer in the written estimate. A company that puts clear answers on paper is easier to hold to its word.

1. Who is the engineer, and who hired them? Get the name and license number. An engineer you hire reports to you; one the company brings in designs the company’s repair. See engineer or foundation company.
2. How many piers, where, what type and how deep? Bids can differ wildly. One Dallas-area buyer on Houzz was quoted 37 piers for $21,000 and 13 piers for $5,900. Our repair methods guide explains the pier types.
3. Who pulls the permit, and from which office? Our permit guide lists every office.
4. Is there a plumbing test before and after the lift? Ask who runs it, who pays for it and who pays if it finds a leak.
5. What does the warranty cover, and what voids it? Ask about transfer rules and deadlines, watering and drainage conditions, and plumbing leaks. See our warranty guide.
6. Will an engineer inspect the finished work and write a final letter? Ask whether that visit and letter are in the price.
7. What is not included? Ask whether drainage work, plumbing repairs, flooring and landscaping are in the price or billed separately.
8. Is the company registered where the city requires it? Athens, for one, makes contractors register.

Then compare the total with the ranges in our cost guide.

What are the red flags?

Slow down if a company will not name its engineer, pushes you to sign today, claims a state license that does not exist, or offers a warranty that voids on things you cannot control or prove, such as a plumbing leak nobody tested for. Each one takes away a check you are entitled to make.

• No engineer, or an unnamed one. The engineering board treats diagnosing the cause and recommending the repair as engineering.
• Pressure to sign today. A sale made at your home can usually be cancelled within three business days anyway, and a fair offer can wait for a second opinion.
• “State licensed” for foundation repair. No such license exists.
• A warranty that voids on any plumbing leak you did not test for, or on watering you cannot prove. Get the plumbing test, before and after the lift, written into the contract.
• A price with no scope. No pier count, no pier locations, no drawing.
• “No permit needed” inside a city. Several cities here charge a permit fee for repair work, as our permit guide shows. If in doubt, call the city.

What if the job goes wrong?

Keep every paper and photo, then put your complaint in writing. Before suing under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Texas law requires written notice to the company at least 60 days before filing. Complaints about an engineer go to the engineering board by mail, and the plumbing board’s website links a complaint page for plumbers.

Business and Commerce Code §17.505(a) says “a consumer shall give written notice to the person at least 60 days before filing the suit advising the person in reasonable detail of the consumer’s specific complaint and the amount of economic damages, damages for mental anguish, and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, if any, reasonably incurred by the consumer in asserting the claim against the defendant.” During those 60 days the company may ask in writing to inspect.

That is why paperwork matters from day one: the estimate, the contract, the engineer’s report and letters, the permit, dated photos and every email. If you ever sell, the same file answers a buyer’s questions; see buying a house with foundation repair.