GC Laws — Texas contractor-law checklist preview (free)
Sources reviewed 2026-09-30. Public summaries remain free on gclaws.com.

[ ] Licensing
      - The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation administers the electrician and electrical-contractor licensing program.
      - The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation separately administers the air-conditioning and refrigeration contractor program.
      - Plumbing licensing is administered by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners under the Plumbing License Law and board rules, rather than by TDLR.

[ ] Mechanic's liens
      - Section 53.052: an original contractor files by the 15th day of the fourth month after the month its work was completed, terminated, or abandoned; residential projects use the third month. File in the county where the improvements are located.
      - Section 53.052: other claimants generally file by the 15th day of the fourth month after the later of the month of last labor/materials or the month undelivered specially fabricated materials normally would have been delivered; residential projects use the third month. Their retainage claims instead use the third month after the month the original contract was completed, terminated, or abandoned.
      - Section 53.056: subject to the separate contractual-retainage procedure in Section 53.057, a non-original contractor must send the statutory unpaid-labor/materials notice to both owner and original contractor by the 15th day of the third month after each relevant work or delivery month; residential projects use the second month.
      - Section 53.055: send the filed affidavit to the owner within five days after filing; a claimant other than the original contractor must also send it to the original contractor within those five days.
      - Section 53.158: the ordinary foreclosure deadline is one year after the last day the affidavit could be filed. A written agreement with the current record owner, entered before that deadline and recorded in the same county, can extend it only as far as two years after the affidavit was actually filed.

[ ] Retainage
      - Section 2252.032(b): for covered contracts below $5 million, retainage cannot exceed 10% of the contract price or any schedule item; at $5 million or more the limits are 5%. Dam construction or maintenance uses 10% regardless of value.
      - Section 2252.032(i) exempts specified previously approved Water Development Board financing and specified large wholesale water suppliers from subsection (b); those entities must place retainage exceeding 5% of periodic payments in an interest-bearing account.
      - Section 2252.032(d): a prime contractor cannot withhold a greater retainage percentage from a subcontractor than the government may withhold under the prime contract; the same ceiling passes to lower tiers.
      - Sections 2252.032(e)-(f): retainage generally cannot continue after the contracted work is completed, including merely through a warranty period. On final application, a bona fide dispute about contract compliance or a surety refusal can justify withholding with written notice of the basis.

[ ] Prompt payment
      - Property Code 28.002 ordinarily requires the owner to pay an allowed written request for proper work or suitably stored/specially fabricated materials within 35 days; contractors and subcontractors pass the attributable payment to the next tier within seven days after receipt.
      - Sections 28.006 and 28.008 qualify the owner deadline: a written single-family residential contract may set a date before the 61st day; a qualifying lender failure changes the deadline to five days after the owner receives the loan proceeds.
      - Sections 28.003-.004 allow withholding for a good-faith dispute up to 110% of the disputed difference for detached single-family, duplex, triplex, or quadruplex work, and up to 100% for other real property; required unpaid amounts bear 1.5% interest monthly beginning after the due date.
      - Government Code 2251.021 makes covered governmental payments overdue on day 31 after the latest applicable goods receipt, service completion, or invoice receipt. A political subdivision whose governing body meets monthly or less often has a day-46 overdue date.
      - Government Code 2251.022-.023 require vendors and subcontractors to pass the appropriate share of government payments within ten days after receipt; that share becomes overdue on day 11.

[ ] Prevailing wage
      - Covered contractors and subcontractors must pay workers at least the prevailing rates determined for similar work in the locality, including the applicable holiday and overtime rates.
      - For political-subdivision contracts, section 2258.022(a) permits a local wage survey or the U.S. Department of Labor Davis-Bacon determination. Section 2258.022(b) prescribes a different survey method for state-awarded work in counties bordering Mexico or adjacent to those counties; the simple either-or statement is not universal.
      - The public body must put the determined rates in both the invitation for bids and the contract. Section 2258.023 sets a $60 penalty per underpaid worker per calendar day or part of a day, but subsection (c) excludes a violation when the public body failed to determine and specify the rates. A municipality may collect that penalty only if its population exceeds 10,000.

[ ] Davis-Bacon (federal)
      - Under 40 U.S.C. section 3142, covered contracts require payment to laborers and mechanics employed directly on the site of the work at least weekly, at rates no lower than the applicable prevailing wage determination. The required compensation includes the basic hourly rate and required fringe benefits, which may be provided through qualifying benefits or cash as the statute permits.
      - Qualifying apprentices may receive a lower registered-program rate only when the applicable registration and program conditions are met. The Department of Labor’s apprenticeship rules govern those exceptions.
      - The Department of Labor determines the prevailing rates for the work classifications and locality. Contractors and subcontractors must use the wage determination applicable to their covered contract.
      - Federal assistance alone does not establish coverage: many, but not all, construction-assistance statutes include Davis-Bacon requirements. Identify the funding program and its governing Related Act.
      - SAM.gov publishes Davis-Bacon wage determinations. Search by the wage-determination number or the Davis-Bacon public-buildings-or-works category, and match the decision to the contract, locality, and work classification.

This preview lists the topics and rules covered in the full state pack. The paid pack adds the complete source URLs, citations, review dates, and the three editable tools.
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