License numbers in advertising: what Texas and New Mexico trades must show

In Texas, electrical contractors, air conditioning and refrigeration contractors, plumbing companies and licensed irrigators must show a license number in their advertising, and none of those rules carves out a company’s own website. In New Mexico, the license number in advertising rule we could verify for construction contractors covers written bids and building permit applications, not ads; manufactured housing licensees are the exception and must show it in all media advertising.

Below is each rule with its citation, what it asks for and where the exceptions are. We read the rule text for every row. Anything we could not confirm is left out, and the gaps are named. This is not legal advice; it’s what we check before we put a tradesperson’s website or ad online.

The rules at a glance

Texas, trade by trade

Electrical contractors

Under 16 TAC § 73.51(e), all advertising designed to solicit electrical business must include the contractor’s name and license number, and the rule names business cards. The exceptions are narrow: nationally placed TV that says license numbers are available on request, phone directory listings with only a name, address and phone, manufacturer and distributor trade ads, phone solicitations, promotional items of nominal value, and signs at the contractor’s permanent location.

A website isn’t on that list. The definitions in § 73.10 describe offering to perform electrical work as advertising “in any form through any medium”, which is a good reason to treat your site, your Google Business Profile and your paid ads as advertising. Trucks carry the name and number on both sides, in contrasting letters at least two inches high, with “TECL” before the number (§ 73.51(d)). Proposals, invoices and written contracts carry the name, address, phone, license number and TDLR’s contact block (§ 73.51(f)).

Air conditioning and refrigeration contractors

16 TAC § 75.71(h) puts the affiliated licensee’s license number in all advertising that solicits A/C or refrigeration business. Here the definitions settle the website question: § 75.10 defines advertising as any commercial message that promotes the services of an A/C and refrigeration contractor. The exceptions match the electrical list, plus letterheads and printed forms used in the office. Vehicles show the number and company name on both sides in letters at least two inches high, and invoices carry the license number and TDLR’s regulatory information.

Plumbing companies

A Texas company may not advertise, contract for or offer plumbing work unless it has at least one Responsible Master Plumber with a current Master Plumber License (22 TAC § 367.9(a)). The RMP’s license number then goes on the advertising. The only internet exception in § 367.10 is advertising a franchisor places for its franchisees, with a statement that local license numbers are available on request. A local plumber’s own website doesn’t qualify. Listings that a third party aggregates are exempt.

The paperwork rule is the most detailed of the group. The first page of every written or electronic proposal, invoice or contract shows the RMP’s first and last name, the license number, the phrase “regulated by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners” and the board’s mailing address, phone and website, in type no smaller than 12 point. Trucks carry the RMP’s number with an “M”, “MPL” or “RMP” prefix and the company name, at least two inches high.

Irrigators (and landscapers who install sprinklers)

The TCEQ rule at 30 TAC § 344.70(b) is the broadest one we found: all advertising for irrigation services, regardless of the type of media, shows the irrigator’s license number in the form “LI” followed by the number. If the ad carries a company name other than the licensed irrigator’s, it must also show the irrigator’s name and number. Trailers that advertise irrigation count too. A landscaping company that installs sprinkler systems should put the LI number on its site even when mowing is most of the business.

Structural pest control

Pest control works differently. 4 TAC § 7.152 requires every advertisement, digital media included, to carry the business name exactly as it appears on the business license, and it bans claims such as “safe” or “environmentally friendly”. The license number is a vehicle rule: § 7.141 asks for it permanently affixed, after “Texas Pest Control License #” or “TPCL #”, at least two inches high. Magnets don’t count. Nothing stops you from adding the number to the website too.

Real estate: links, not numbers

Texas brokers and agents have website rules that aren’t about a license number. The homepage of each business website must link to “Texas Real Estate Commission Information About Brokerage Services” (22 TAC § 531.20) and to the “Texas Real Estate Commission Consumer Protection Notice” (§ 531.18), each in a readily noticeable place.

New Mexico

Construction contractors under CID

NMSA § 60-13-19 says a licensee must clearly indicate the contractor’s license number on all written bids and when applying for a building permit. Missing it carries a $150 penalty. For residential work, the contractor must also give the owner a written disclosure, before work starts, a contract is signed or money changes hands, that the license and bond do not protect the consumer if the contractor defaults.

What we did not find: a CID rule that requires the license number in advertising. The contractor license requirements in 14.6.3 NMAC don’t mention advertising at all. So for an electrician, plumber or HVAC company in Las Cruces, the verified rule covers bids and permits. We still put the number on the website, because a customer comparing two contractors wants something to check.

Manufactured housing

14.12.1.15 NMAC is the clear New Mexico advertising rule. The licensee’s name and license number go in advertising and on every vehicle used to install or repair manufactured homes, in letters at least two inches high on service vehicles. A separate line in the same section says all licensees must include their name and license number in all media advertisement. Manufacturers are exempt, and ads must also follow the New Mexico Unfair Trade Practices Act and the federal Regulation Z advertising rules.

Across the river

Mexico’s rules depend on the profession. For doctors and other health professionals, Ley General de Salud art. 83 asks them to show the institution that issued their degree, their cédula profesional number and any specialty certificate, and to put the same in their advertising. A Juárez clinic advertising to El Paso patients should carry it on the Spanish and English pages alike.

What counts as an ad, in practice

On the jobs we see, these are the places a license number is usually missing:

• The website footer. Every page, not only the contact page. Visitors land on whatever page Google sends them to.
• Google Business Profile and Facebook. The description or about section has room for one line.
• Paid ads. None of the Texas rules above has an exception for short online ads. If the number doesn’t fit the ad, ask the agency or a lawyer before you run it without one.
• Truck wraps, yard signs and door hangers. The vehicle rules set a minimum letter height, which a designer can miss on a busy wrap.
• Quote PDFs and invoices. The electrical, A/C and plumbing rules spell out what goes on them.

How we handle it

When we build a site for a licensed trade, we ask for the license details before the free sample, which is ready in one business day. The number goes in the footer of every page, in English and Spanish, and in the ad copy we write. Your website design project, your Google Business Profile and your ads end up saying the same thing. The trade pages for electricians, HVAC, plumbing, landscaping, pest control and contractors cover the rest of what each trade needs online.

Rodco Systems, El Paso, Texas.