Kitchen remodel in Dallas–Fort Worth: permits, licenses and contracts

What does a Texas kitchen remodel involve on paper?

Three layers of paperwork apply: the city's permit, the state's trade licenses, and the state's rules for residential construction contracts. The city decides whether the work needs a permit and who may pull it. The state licenses the electricians, A/C contractors and plumbers. The Texas Property Code sets what a contractor must hand you before a contract is signed.

It helps to keep those three apart, because each one answers a different question. The permit answers "is this work inspected?" The license answers "is this person allowed to do this trade?" The contract rules answer "what are my rights while the job is running and after it ends?" A remodel can be fine on one and weak on another, so check all three.

Everything below applies to Dallas and Fort Worth themselves. Other cities in the region run their own building departments with their own forms, so if your home sits outside those two city limits, ask your own city the same questions. For the overall order of a kitchen job, from measuring the room to choosing surfaces, see our kitchen remodeling A to Z and our page on kitchen remodeling.

How Dallas handles residential remodel permits

The City of Dallas takes residential permits for construction, renovation and major repairs through its online system, DallasNow, and its residential permits page names a kitchen remodel as one of the examples. So the plain answer for a Dallas home is that a kitchen remodel is the kind of work the city expects to see come through its permit process.

The city's building inspection FAQ adds the details that matter most in a kitchen. A permit is generally needed for structural work, which in a kitchen often means taking out or opening a wall, enlarging a window, or changing a header over a doorway. Electrical work has to be done by a licensed electrician. And homes inside a historic district, a conservation district or a planned development district lose the exemptions that apply elsewhere, so the rules there are stricter.

That last point catches people out. If your house sits in one of those districts, assume the usual shortcuts do not apply and ask the city before you order cabinets or windows. The district may also have its own review for anything that changes the outside of the house, such as a new window over the sink.

The Dallas homeowner exemption

Dallas has a homeowner's exemption from contractor registration. In practice, that means a homeowner may be able to pull certain permits for work on their own house without registering as a contractor. The exemption is about registration, not about skipping the permit, and it does not override the FAQ's line that electrical work goes to a licensed electrician. If you plan to do part of the kitchen yourself, call or check the city's pages for what the exemption covers at your address before work begins.

How Fort Worth handles residential remodel permits

The City of Fort Worth has a Residential Remodel Construction Permit for interior or exterior remodeling of a single-family home, and its residential permit descriptions list "remodel kitchen" as an example. So a Fort Worth kitchen remodel has its own named permit type, which makes the first conversation with the city easier: you know which application you are asking about.

What the Fort Worth remodel submittal asks for

The city's remodel checklist and packet asks for floor plans of the kitchen as it is today and as it will be after the work. When the mechanical, electrical or plumbing systems change, it also asks for MEP plans showing those changes. In a kitchen, that covers things like a new circuit for an induction range, a sink moved to an island, a new gas line, or a range hood ducted through a wall or roof.

A good habit is to draw both floor plans before you talk to any contractor. Mark where the sink drain, the gas line, the electrical panel and the hood duct sit now, and where they will sit after. That one drawing makes the permit packet easier, and it also makes bids comparable, because every contractor prices the same plan.

Contractor registration and the owner-occupant exemption

Fort Worth requires anyone pulling a building, mechanical, plumbing or electrical permit to register with the city as a contractor. The exception is an owner working on the single-family home they own and live in. If you rent the house out, or you do not live there, the exemption as the city describes it does not fit, and the person pulling the permit needs to be registered. Ask any contractor you hire whether they are registered with Fort Worth for the permits your kitchen needs.

Which Texas trades need a state license?

In Texas, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) licenses electricians and electrical contractors, and it licenses air conditioning and refrigeration contractors. The Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (TSBPE) licenses plumbers. A kitchen remodel touches at least two of those trades almost every time.

Both agencies keep free public license searches. On TDLR's license search, you can look up an electrician or an A/C contractor by name or license number and see whether the license is active. TDLR's customer service line is (800) 803-9202. On the TSBPE site, you can look up a plumber the same way. Do the search before you sign, and again if a different person shows up to do the work than the one named in your contract.

This guide does not say anything about a state license for general contractors or remodelers in Texas, because we have not found an official source either way. What is settled is the trade side: the person running new kitchen circuits should hold a TDLR electrical license, the person moving the sink or the gas line should hold a TSBPE plumbing license, and the person changing ductwork tied to heating or cooling should hold a TDLR A/C license. For our pages on those trades, see electrician and plumber.

What Texas law says about your remodel contract

Before a residential construction contract is signed, Texas Property Code §53.255 requires the contractor to give the owner a written disclosure titled "Know your rights and responsibilities under the law." It explains how the lien system works for a home job and what the owner can do to protect the property.

The disclosure covers points worth reading slowly. It tells you to get the deal in writing. It tells you that you can ask for a list of the subcontractors and suppliers on the job. It explains that the owner should hold back 10 % of the contract price during the work and for 30 days after it is finished, which gives unpaid subcontractors or suppliers a pool to claim against instead of your house. It also covers lien releases and bills-paid affidavits, the papers that show the people below your contractor were paid.

In practice, a kitchen job has several of those people: the cabinet supplier, the countertop fabricator, the electrician, the plumber, and sometimes a separate drywall or tile crew. If the general contractor does not pay one of them, that person may have a claim against the property. Collecting lien releases as each stage is paid, and a bills-paid affidavit at the end, is how the disclosure suggests you keep track.

Homestead contracts

If the kitchen is in your homestead, Texas Property Code §53.254 adds formal steps. The contract has to be in writing, signed by both spouses when the owner is married, and filed with the county clerk. These requirements exist because the homestead has special protection under Texas law, and a lien against it needs those formalities to be valid. Ask the contractor how they handle a homestead contract before you sign, and keep a copy of what is filed.

Is the home older than 1978?

Many homes in both cities were built before 1978, and the federal EPA lead rule applies to them in Texas just as anywhere else. Paid work that disturbs painted surfaces in a pre-1978 home needs a firm with EPA lead-safe certification using lead-safe work practices. Tearing out old painted cabinets, opening a wall or replacing a kitchen window can all fall under it. Our guide to a lead-safe kitchen remodel covers what the rule asks and how to check a firm.

A checklist for Dallas–Fort Worth homeowners

Put the pieces together in this order and most problems show up while they are still cheap to fix:

1. Know your city. Confirm whether the house is inside Dallas or Fort Worth city limits, and in Dallas, whether it sits in a historic, conservation or planned development district.
2. Draw the before and after. Existing and proposed floor plans, with the sink, gas, panel and hood duct marked.
3. List what changes. Walls, windows, circuits, pipes, gas and ducts each point to a trade and possibly a permit.
4. Ask the city. Bring the drawing to the building department and ask which permits the plan needs and who may pull them.
5. Check the trade licenses. TDLR for electricians and A/C, TSBPE for plumbers, before signing.
6. Read the §53.255 disclosure. Make sure you receive it before the contract, and plan the 10 % holdback.
7. Collect the papers. Lien releases as you pay, a bills-paid affidavit at the end, and final inspections signed off.

Our home renovation checklist and our list of questions to ask a contractor cover the rest of the hiring conversation.

Where we fit in

Contractor Near Me is a free request service for the San Francisco Bay Area and Dallas–Fort Worth. We are not a contractor, we hold no contractor's license, and we do not design, price or build kitchens. When you send us your kitchen plan, we call or email you back to talk about what is changing, which licensed trades it points to, and what to check before you sign. You can also reach us through our contact page, or read more guides on our blog.

Sources: City of Dallas, Residential Permits (official), City of Dallas, Building Inspection FAQs (official), City of Fort Worth, Residential Permit Descriptions (official, 2020), City of Fort Worth, Residential Remodel Checklist and Packet (official), City of Fort Worth, Contractor Registration (official), TDLR, Electricians (official), TDLR, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (official), TDLR, License Search (official), Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (official), Texas Property Code §53.255 (official), Texas Property Code §53.254 (official), EPA, Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program (official).