Texas: no state license covers chimney work. Here's what that means.

Texas is the Ohio pattern at Texas scale. The state licenses electricians, AC techs and plumbers — a chimney company answers to no state credential at all, and "licensed and bonded" means a city registration that stops at the city line. By the license⇄disclosure inverse-correlation thesis, a no-license state should have a strong seller disclosure — and Texas CONFIRMS: § 5.008 is a mandatory statutory notice whose current TREC form names the wood-burning chimney by line item (and now asks about a CO alarm). What makes Texas its own animal is the remedy: the DTPA's knowing/intentional multiplier gives the consumer a bigger stick than almost any licensing state's fund, so the leverage lives in the deception statute, not in a license you can look up. The three messages write themselves: there is no state license — verify the individual's certifications and the city registration; the § 5.008 form names your chimney — read it, but get your own inspection (the form itself says it's no substitute); and if you were knowingly deceived, the DTPA can treble your damages — after a 60-day notice letter. The eternal gap survives even here — no exam anywhere in Texas asks whether the person can read your flue.

No state license covers chimney work in Texas — and there is no state general-contractor or home-improvement license at all. Texas licenses only specific trades at the state level — electricians and air-conditioning & refrigeration contractors through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), and plumbers through the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. TDLR's own list of its regulated programs contains no general contractor, residential builder, home improvement, masonry, chimney, or hearth program (https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/, checked Sep 2026). A chimney sweep, mason, or reliner is none of these trades. There is no statewide contractor registry to look a chimney company up in. Licensing is entirely LOCAL, and the four big metros run different regimes (all city figures below are from July research and not re-verified —):

• Houston — no general-contractor registration at the city level reported; permits issued job-by-job (verify against the Houston Permitting Center).
• San Antonio — contractors must register with Development Services before pulling permits; residential building contractors reportedly post a $25,000 surety bond (verify at sa.gov → Development Services → Contractor Registration).
• Dallas — contractor registration with Development Services; permits via the DallasNow portal.
• Austin — registration with Building and Trade Contractor Services (BTCS) before being assigned to a building permit (austintexas.gov/development-services/contractor-registration).

So "licensed and bonded" in Texas almost always means a city registration + a permit/surety bond valid only in that city — not a state credential, and not proof anyone tested a flue.

As wide as Ohio's (labeled comparison), at scale. Statewide there is nothing to verify for chimney work — no exam, no registry, no bond. Even the strictest city registration tests general building/permit compliance and financial responsibility, not flue diagnosis, draft, or masonry skill. A registered Dallas or Austin contractor may never have inspected a chimney. Individual certifications (NCSG CCP/CCR; CSIA CCS, C-DET) and an independent audit are the only real competence signal — and in Texas they fill a total statewide vacuum.

Texas has a mandatory statutory seller disclosure that names the chimney. Tex. Property Code § 5.008 requires "A seller of residential real property comprising not more than one dwelling unit located in this state" to give the purchaser a written notice (last amended Acts 2023, 88th Leg., H.B. 697, eff. Sept. 1, 2023; https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._prop._code_section_5.008). The current TREC form — "SELLER'S DISCLOSURE NOTICE CONCERNING THE PROPERTY AT …," TREC No. 55-1 (footer "05-04-2026"; TREC's listing page shows the form dated 05/28/2026), "prepared by the Texas Real Estate Commission in accordance with Texas Property Code § 5.008(b)" (https://www.trec.texas.gov/forms/sellers-disclosure-notice; PDF https://www.trec.texas.gov/sites/default/files/pdf-forms/55-1.pdf) — lists "Fireplace(s) & Chimney (Wood burning)" and "Fireplace(s) & Chimney (Mock)" among the items the seller marks, alongside "Smoke Detector," "Smoke Detector-Hearing Impaired," and "Carbon Monoxide Alarm." (Wording as extracted from the PDF text layer; the July draft had "Woodburning" as one word, which was not confirmed — quote the live PDF when publishing.) The form states it "IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR ANY INSPECTIONS OR WARRANTIES THE PURCHASER MAY WISH TO OBTAIN." It is completed to the seller's actual knowledge. Exemptions under § 5.008(e) hollow it out at the edges: court-ordered and foreclosure sales, bankruptcy trustee transfers, mortgagee/beneficiary acquisitions, fiduciary estate administration (executors, guardians, trustees), co-owner transfers, family and marital-division transfers, government transfers, new residences never occupied, and properties where the dwelling is worth no more than 5% of the total value. No inspection is mandated at transfer; NFPA 211 Level 2 stays a NATIONAL STANDARD.

The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices–Consumer Protection Act (DTPA), Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §§ 17.41–17.63, gives consumers a private right of action for economic damages; if the conduct was committed "knowingly," the consumer may also recover mental-anguish damages and up to three times economic damages; if "intentionally," up to three times economic plus mental-anguish damages (§ 17.50(b)(1), https://law.justia.com/codes/texas/business-and-commerce-code/title-2/chapter-17/subchapter-e/section-17-50/), plus attorney's fees for a prevailing consumer. A written notice at least 60 days before filing suit is required, stating the specific complaint and the damages and expenses claimed (§ 17.505(a), https://law.justia.com/codes/texas/business-and-commerce-code/title-2/chapter-17/subchapter-e/section-17-505/). Separately, Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 601 gives a 3-business-day right to cancel consumer transactions personally solicited and agreed to away from the merchant's place of business — goods or services over $25 (real property over $100), cash or installments (§ 601.002; https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._bus._and_com._code_section_601.002). The merchant must give a boldface notice: "YOU, THE BUYER, MAY CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION AT ANY TIME PRIOR TO MIDNIGHT OF THE THIRD BUSINESS DAY AFTER THE DATE OF THIS TRANSACTION" (§ 601.052, https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._bus._and_com._code_section_601.052); no emergency-work exception appeared in the sections reached. This is the exact mechanic of the "we noticed your chimney" doorstep pitch. Related, not a CO law: HB 2022 (88th Leg., 2023), "relating to residential construction liability," passed with a Sept 1, 2023 effective date (REF: https://legiscan.com/TX/bill/HB2022/2023) — it amends the defect-claim process against residential contractors; confirm its effect on chimney-contractor claims before citing. Complaints: Texas Attorney General Consumer Protection Division (texasattorneygeneral.gov; hotline 800-621-0508).

The Texas AG runs consumer-alert campaigns on door-to-door and post-disaster "storm chaser" home-repair contractors, reminding Texans of the 3-day right to cancel a door-to-door contract and that contractors may not offer to waive or absorb an insurance deductible. After hail, wind, and freeze events, out-of-town crews pitch immediate repairs and large upfront payments — the same profile as the "we noticed your chimney" pitch. The AG's Consumer Protection hotline (800-621-0508) and TDI's contractor-scam guidance are the reporting channels. Specific TX chimney-sweep enforcement actions: NOT CONFIRMED — name no companies.

Texas has no unified statewide residential building-code enforcement. State law sets the IRC as the minimum residential code for municipalities (Local Government Code; municipalities may adopt later editions and local amendments — verify current edition per city). Enforcement is municipal: inside a city, chimney relines, rebuilds, crowns, and solid-fuel appliance installs are generally permit work; routine sweeps and like-for-like caps generally are not. In unincorporated county areas there is often no building code and no permit process at all. This state needs the local-variance disclaimer as strongly as Ohio and Illinois (labeled comparisons). National fallbacks: IRC Chapter 10 (chimneys/fireplaces) and NFPA 211 are the NATIONAL STANDARDS the codes reference. (This section was not re-verified in Sep 2026.)

Texas has no woodstove-emission or air-quality burn-ban regime located. What Texas has instead is county drought/wildfire burn bans: under Local Government Code authority, a county judge or commissioners court may prohibit or restrict outdoor burning during drought (assessed via Texas A&M Forest Service using the Keetch-Byram Drought Index) — violation is a Class C misdemeanor. These bans target outdoor burning, not indoor fireplaces/woodstoves. Honest market note: chimneys and wood-burning fireplaces are real in North Texas (DFW), the Hill Country, and the Panhandle, and much rarer on the humid Gulf Coast — many Houston-area and coastal homes have gas log/decorative units, not working masonry flues. Say so plainly; don't pad Gulf Coast content.

Texas is one of the thinnest CO-alarm states in the country. There is no general statewide CO-alarm mandate for existing single-family homes located. The one clear statewide requirement found is Human Resources Code § 42.060 ("Carbon Monoxide Detectors"): "Each day-care center, group day-care home, and family home must be equipped with carbon monoxide detectors in accordance with department rules" (https://law.justia.com/codes/texas/human-resources-code/title-2/subtitle-d/chapter-42/subchapter-c/section-42-060/). Everything else flows from local adoption of IRC R315 / IFC — so coverage depends on which city you're in. At sale, the TREC 55-1 disclosure form now asks whether a "Carbon Monoxide Alarm" is present — a disclosure item, not a mandate. HB 2022 is not a CO law: the 2023 bill of that number concerns residential construction liability, and the 2025 HB 2022 (limitations periods for certain personal-injury suits) died in committee (REF: legiscan). A permitted chimney job is still the natural moment to add alarms.