Why this matters more than reviews
A review tells you how a job went for someone else. A licence tells you the person doing the work has met the state’s competency requirement, carries the insurance the state requires, and can be complained about to a body with the power to act.
In Texas the licence to look for is the Responsible Master Plumber (RMP). It is the licence that allows someone to operate a plumbing company and pull permits.
The check, step by step
1. Get the number. Format M-12345. Texas requires it on all advertising and on any vehicle used for plumbing work - so it should be on the van in your driveway, the flyer, and the website footer.
2. Look it up. Use our license checker, which searches the TSBPE roster and shows status, expiration date, whether insurance is on file, and any endorsements. Or go directly to the state’s own lookup.
3. Read what comes back.
- Current - the licence is in good standing.
- Expired - it is not. Do not proceed on the basis of an expired licence.
- No result - either the number is wrong, or it was never issued. Ask them to repeat it, then draw the obvious conclusion.
4. Check the expiry date. “Current” with an expiry date already in the past means the state’s export has not caught up. We flag those separately rather than showing them as clean.
5. Check insurance. Texas requires proof of insurance on file to hold an RMP licence. Our checker shows the insurance expiry date where the roster carries one.
What the licence does not tell you
It is a floor, not a ranking. It confirms competency and insurance; it does not tell you they turn up on time, quote fairly, or clean up. Use the licence to rule people out, and references to choose between the ones who remain.
Where our data comes from
Directly from the TSBPE’s published RMP roster, refreshed daily. We do not edit it, and no company can pay us to change what it says. The date of the snapshot we are showing you is on our data sources page.
Common questions
What does a Texas plumbing license number look like?
A Responsible Master Plumber licence is written as M-##### - the letter M, a hyphen, then five digits. Texas law requires it on advertising and on vehicles used for plumbing work.
What if the company will not give me a number?
Treat that as your answer. The number is legally required on their advertising already, so there is nothing to withhold. Ask someone else.
The number checks out but the company name is different. Is that a problem?
Not necessarily - an RMP licence belongs to an individual, who may be the responsible master plumber for a company trading under another name. Ask how the two are connected. A straight answer is fine; an evasive one is not.