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Killeen AC Experts

License check

How to Verify a Texas AC Contractor License (TDLR)

Texas requires an air conditioning and refrigeration contractor license for AC repair, and you can check one in a few minutes on the TDLR License Data Search: choose “Air Conditioning Contractors”, enter the license number or the business name, and match the result. Checked against the statute, the rule and the search page on November 11, 2026.

Published November 11, 2026 · Figures and rules checked against the sources listed at the end of this page.

The five-step lookup

  1. Ask for the license number. Ask the company for its Texas air conditioning and refrigeration contractor license number. State rules require it in the company’s advertising, on both sides of its service vehicles and on its proposals and invoices, so a real contractor has it to hand.
  2. Open TDLR’s license search. Go to the TDLR License Data Search on the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation website. It searches active licenses only.
  3. Choose the license type. Under “Inquire by License Type”, choose “Air Conditioning Contractors”. The separate “A/C Technicians” list is for individual technicians, not the contracting license.
  4. Search by number or name. Enter the digits of the license number in “Inquire by License #” (the box takes numbers only), or search by the person’s or business’s name. You can also narrow by city, county or ZIP code.
  5. Match the result. Check that the name on the result matches the company you are dealing with and note the expiration date shown. If the license is not found, TDLR’s search page says to contact its customer service at 800-803-9202.

The search is here: TDLR License Data Search.

What Texas law says

  • A license is required. “A person may not engage in air conditioning and refrigeration contracting unless the person holds an air conditioning and refrigeration contractor license” (Texas Occupations Code §1302.251(a)).
  • Repair counts. The law defines contracting as performing or offering to perform the design, installation, construction, repair, maintenance, service or modification of equipment in an environmental air conditioning system (§1302.002).
  • Homeowners are exempt in their own home. The chapter does not apply to a person working in a building they own solely as their home (§1302.053).

Where the license number has to appear

State rule 16 TAC §75.71 puts the number in front of you in three places:

  • Advertising. All advertising by an air conditioning and refrigeration contracting company designed to solicit business must include the license number, with a few listed exceptions such as plain phone-book listings and signs at the company’s own premises.
  • Vehicles. The license number and company name, in letters at least two inches high, on both sides of vehicles used for the work.
  • Paperwork. The company’s name, address and phone number and the license number on all proposals and invoices, along with a notice that the company is regulated by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

If a truck, an estimate or an advert has no license number on it, ask why before any work starts.

What the lookup does not tell you

The search shows that a license is active. It is not a review of the company’s prices or workmanship, so still ask for a written price and compare it with the repair cost ranges. For equipment changeouts in Killeen, also ask who is pulling the City permit: see the permit guide.

About this site. Killeen AC Experts is a referral service, not an air conditioning contractor, and holds no contractor license. Any contractor you are matched with should give you their own license number, which you can check the same way.

Sources and dates

Every figure and rule above names where it came from and the date it was read. Price ranges are national guides; a written quote for your own system is the real number. For permit and license rules, the City and TDLR have the last word. Prices are rechecked at least every six months.

  1. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, TDLR License Data Search (active licenses) — read November 11, 2026
  2. Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 1302 (Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors), §§1302.002, 1302.053, 1302.251 — read November 11, 2026
  3. 16 Texas Administrative Code §75.71 (Responsibilities of the Contracting Company), Texas Secretary of State TAC viewer — read November 11, 2026
  4. 16 Texas Administrative Code §75.10 (Definitions), Texas Secretary of State TAC viewer — read November 11, 2026
  5. TDLR, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors: Laws and Rules — read November 11, 2026

Texas AC license questions

Does an AC repair company need a license in Texas?

Yes. Texas Occupations Code §1302.251 says a person may not engage in air conditioning and refrigeration contracting without an air conditioning and refrigeration contractor license, and the law defines contracting to include repair, maintenance and service as well as installation. The licenses are issued by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR).

Can I work on my own air conditioner in Texas?

The licensing chapter does not apply to a person doing air conditioning work in a building they own solely as their home (Texas Occupations Code §1302.053). That exemption is about the state license; city permit rules still apply, and the City of Killeen limits homeowner permits to a property listed as your homestead.

Where should a Texas AC contractor’s license number appear?

State rule 16 TAC §75.71 requires the license number in the company’s advertising, on both sides of its vehicles in letters at least two inches high, and on all proposals and invoices. Proposals, invoices and written contracts must also carry a notice that the company is regulated by TDLR, with the agency’s address and phone numbers.