Checked against the sources named below, 4 September 2026
Texas Electrician License Lookup
TDLR runs the search and it is free. This page explains the seven ways into it, what the three letters in front of a contractor number mean, and why a name that does not come back is not always an answer.
On this page
The search is TDLR's, and this page is not it
The department runs the lookup itself and it is free. It sits at tdlr.texas.gov/licensesearch, under the heading TDLR License Data Search (Active Licenses only), and the general entry point on the department's own verification index is labeled Search for Individuals and Businesses.
This page holds no license records and searches nothing. It explains what the department's search asks for, what the letters in front of a number mean, and what a result does and does not settle, so you spend one minute there instead of ten.
The seven ways in
The search offers seven separate inquiries rather than one box, and picking the wrong one is the usual reason a license you know exists does not come back.
| Inquiry | What you type | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Inquire by License Type | A program picked from a long list that covers every trade TDLR regulates | Browsing a license type rather than chasing one person |
| Inquire by License # | The number itself | The fastest route when you have the number off a truck, an invoice or a permit |
| Inquire by Expiration Date | A date in mmddyyyy form | Rarely useful to a licensee, and it is there |
| Inquire by Name (Last, First) or by Business Name | A person's name last-first, or the company name | Checking a person you worked under, or a shop that quoted you |
| Inquire by Location (City) | A Texas city from the list | Finding who holds a license locally |
| Inquire by County | A Texas county, with an out-of-state option | Wider than a city, and it catches shops in the next town |
| Inquire by Zip Code | The postal code | Tighter than a county, looser than a city name spelled a second way |
A business name is a search of its own for a reason. A one-person shop normally holds two licenses, an individual one attached to the person and a contractor one attached to the company, and they are separate records with separate numbers. Checking the company does not check the person, and checking the person does not check the company.
Active licenses only, and what that leaves out
The heading on the search page says it in the title: Active Licenses only. So a blank result is two different findings wearing the same face. Either no such license was ever issued, or one was issued and is not active now.
An expired license is the second case and it is common, because a Texas electrical license runs one year from the date of issuance rather than to a shared calendar date (16 TAC 73.22(a)). Somebody who renewed late has a stretch of days behind them when they held nothing.
That stretch is not a technicality. A person may not perform electrical work requiring a license with an expired license (16 TAC 73.22(b)), and a license issued on late renewal leaves the unlicensed period where it is rather than backdating it (16 TAC 73.23(d)). If you are checking somebody for work they did last spring, the search tells you about today.
TDLR prints its own instruction for an empty result: If license not found, please contact Customer Service at 800-803-9202. Take that literally before concluding anything about a person.
What the letters in front of a number mean
TECL is not a Texas prefix in general. It belongs to one license, and there are three of them, each set by the contractor responsibility rule for that license. TDLR's own compliance guide states each one plainly.
The license number for an Electrical Contractor must be preceded by the letters TECL.
TDLR, Electricians Compliance Guide
| License | Prefix | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical contractor | TECL | 16 TAC 73.51(d) |
| Electrical sign contractor | TSCL | 16 TAC 73.52(d) |
| Residential appliance installation contractor | TICL | 16 TAC 73.54(c) |
All three are business licenses, which is why you meet them on a truck door and on an invoice. The display duty is statutory: the contractor's business name and license number on both sides of each vehicle, at least two inches high, in a contrasting color, permanently affixed (Tex. Occ. Code 1305.166).
The eleven individual licenses work differently. Master electrician, journeyman electrician, residential wireman, electrical apprentice and the rest are searched by name or by their own license number, and no rule in the contractor responsibility sections puts a three-letter prefix in front of them. So a number with none of those three prefixes is not a suspicious number. It is probably a person.
TRL turns up in some third-party license listings. It is not in 16 TAC 73.51, 73.52 or 73.54, and it is not on TDLR's compliance guide, so this page does not tell you what it means. If you are holding a number that starts that way, ask the department what license it belongs to rather than taking a definition from a directory.
Reading a result
Three things are worth doing with whatever comes back, in this order.
- Read the date stamp before the record. The search page carries a Data last updated line with a date and a time on it. It is a snapshot of a database rather than a live view of one, and a renewal processed this morning may not be in the copy you are reading.
- Match the license to the work. A valid license is not a license for the job in front of you. A residential wireman covers single-family and multifamily dwellings up to four stories and nothing past that, and a journeyman industrial electrician covers a list of industrial sites. Our page on the fourteen license types sets out what each one reaches.
- Check the company as well as the person. An individual licensee provides licensed electrical work through a licensed contractor or an employing governmental entity, so a master with a clean record working under a company with no contractor license is still the wrong arrangement.
One lag is built into the rules and no search will show it. When a master electrician of record leaves, the contractor has thirty business days from the last day of employment to tell the department (16 TAC 73.51(a)(1)). A contractor record can therefore be accurate and out of date at the same time, by design.
What the search will not tell you
Penalties and orders are a different search. TDLR's verification index carries Search for Penalties and Administrative Orders as a separate tool at tdlr.texas.gov/cimsfo, so a clean license record is not by itself a clean enforcement record.
Your continuing education is a different lookup again. TDLR publishes a View Your Completed Courses tool on its electrician continuing education page, and reporting those hours is the provider's job rather than yours. If a course you paid for is not showing, the provider is who to chase. Our page on the four hour rule covers the timing.
Eligibility to test is not there either. The department decides that on your application rather than in advance (16 TAC 73.21(a)), so no amount of searching settles whether your hours are enough. The hours calculator does the arithmetic and the readiness check turns it into a list, and neither is a determination.
Questions people ask
How do I look up a Texas electrician license?
Use TDLR's own search at tdlr.texas.gov/licensesearch, which the department heads TDLR License Data Search (Active Licenses only). It offers seven separate inquiries: by license type, by license number, by expiration date, by name last-first or business name, by city, by county and by zip code. The license number is the fastest of them when you have it off a truck or an invoice.
What does TECL mean in front of a license number?
It marks an electrical contractor, which is a business license rather than a person. 16 TAC 73.51(d) sets that prefix, 16 TAC 73.52(d) sets TSCL for an electrical sign contractor, and 16 TAC 73.54(c) sets TICL for a residential appliance installation contractor. The eleven individual licenses carry no such prefix, so a number without one is most likely a person rather than a company.
Why can I not find a license I know exists?
The search covers active licenses only, so an expired one can be missing while the person is perfectly real. A Texas electrical license runs one year from the date it was issued (16 TAC 73.22(a)), and somebody mid-renewal may not be in the file today. TDLR's own instruction for an empty result is to call Customer Service at 800-803-9202.
How current is the data in the search?
The page carries a Data last updated line with a date and a time, and that is the honest answer to the question. It is a snapshot rather than a live view, so a renewal processed this morning may not appear yet. Read the stamp before you read the record.
Does the license search show complaints or penalties?
No. TDLR keeps enforcement in a separate tool, listed on its verification index as Search for Penalties and Administrative Orders, at tdlr.texas.gov/cimsfo. A license that comes back active tells you about the license and nothing about whether the department has ever taken action.
Can I check my own continuing education hours there?
Not in the license search. TDLR publishes a separate View Your Completed Courses tool on its electrician continuing education page, and reporting your hours is the provider's responsibility rather than yours. If a course you completed is not showing, contact the provider first.
What this page cites
- TDLR, Active License Search The heading "TDLR License Data Search (Active Licenses only)", the seven inquiry options, the Data last updated stamp, and the line "If license not found, please contact Customer Service at 800-803-9202". Fetched 4 September 2026. source
- TDLR, Search / Verify Licenses or Projects "Search for Individuals and Businesses" pointing at the license search, and "Search for Penalties and Administrative Orders" as a separate tool. Fetched 4 September 2026. source
- TDLR, Electricians Compliance Guide The three contractor prefixes quoted above, and the vehicle lettering requirements. Fetched 4 September 2026. source
- TDLR, Continuing Education Information for Electricians The View Your Completed Courses tool, and the statement that reporting hours is the provider's responsibility. Fetched 4 September 2026. source
- 16 TAC 73.51, 73.52 and 73.54 Contractor responsibilities, and the prefix and vehicle duty in each. Cited on this site at vehicle marking. source
- Tex. Occ. Code 1305.166 Display of license. Business name and license number on each vehicle, two inch contrasting lettering on both sides. source
- 16 TAC 73.22 and 16 TAC 73.23 One year term at 73.22(a), no licensed work on an expired license at 73.22(b), and the unlicensed period left by a late renewal at 73.23(d). Cited on this site at renewal and lapse. source
- 16 TAC 73.51(a)(1) Thirty business days from the end of a master electrician's employment for the contractor to notify the department. Cited on this site at the contractor license. source
- 16 TAC 73.21(a) The department determines examination eligibility on the application. Cited on this site at hours required. source