Texas Occupations Code, chapter 1958
Texas mold law, in plain English
Texas licenses mold work and sets rules that protect you as the customer. Below are the exact words of the parts that matter most when you hire — each linked to the official statute — with what they mean in practice.
The law changed effective September 1, 2025 (SB 1255), and the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation’s (TDLR’s) rules remain in effect until new rules are adopted. In TDLR’s words:
“All current administrative rules remain in effect until new administrative rules, procedures and definitions have been formally adopted.”
TDLR: Mold program update (September 17, 2025) (opens in a new tab)
Testing and cleanup must be done by different companies
Texas treats mold assessment (inspecting, testing and writing the cleanup plan) and mold remediation (removing the mold) as separate licensed jobs. One license holder can’t do both on the same project:
“A license holder may not perform both mold assessment and mold remediation on the same project.”
And the same people can’t own both companies on one project:
“A person may not own an interest in both the entity that performs assessment services and an entity that performs remediation services on the same project.”
What it means for you: the company that decides how much work you need has no stake in doing that work. If one company offers to test your home and then fix what it finds, ask which license covers each part — and get the assessment from an independent inspector.
When a license is required: the 25 square foot line
“A person is not required to be licensed under this chapter to perform mold remediation in an area in which the mold contamination affects a total surface area for the project of less than 25 contiguous square feet.”
What it means for you: for a small patch of mold — under 25 contiguous square feet in total for the project — Texas doesn’t require the person removing it to hold a mold license. At 25 square feet or more, it does. More on the 25 square foot rule.
What you’re owed after remediation
When a licensed remediator finishes, two deadlines start running:
“Not later than the 10th day after the date on which a license holder completes mold remediation at a property, the license holder shall provide a certificate of mold remediation to the property owner.”
“Not later than the 10th day after the date of completion of a mold remediation, the mold remediator license holder shall provide the property owner with copies of all photographs required by this section.”
What it means for you: within 10 days of completion you should have a certificate of mold remediation and copies of the required photographs. Keep both — you may need them later.
If you sell the house
“If a property owner sells property, the property owner shall provide to the buyer a copy of each certificate issued for the property under this section during the five years preceding the date the property owner sells the property.”
What it means for you: file every certificate with your house paperwork. If you sell within five years, the buyer gets a copy.
Mold and your homeowners insurance
The Insurance Code limits how an insurer can use past mold damage or a past mold claim when deciding whether to cover a home. The section begins:
“An insurer may not make an underwriting decision regarding a residential property insurance policy based on previous mold damage or a claim for mold damage if …”
It then lists conditions. In short: the home was eligible for coverage, had mold damage, and had it remediated; and either a certificate of mold remediation shows the underlying cause was fixed, or an independent assessor or adjustor inspected it and found no evidence of mold damage. Read the full section for the exact wording. It’s one more reason to keep your certificate.
Check any license yourself
Every company we profile shows its license number, type and expiry date. You can look up any mold license on the TDLR license search. We don’t label any business as lacking a license: if we couldn’t match a business to a current Texas mold license, we say “no matching Texas license found”. How we verify.
This page explains the law in plain English. It isn’t legal advice. The statute text is quoted from the Texas Legislature’s official site.