Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1305 — the Texas Electrical Safety and Licensing Act — is the statute that creates the state's electrician licensing program, identified in TDLR systems as the "ELC" program. It defines who must be licensed and what counts as electrical work: installing, maintaining, or extending electrical systems in buildings, structures, or properties, across residential, commercial, and industrial settings.
The chapter also carves out exemptions from licensing, including agricultural operations, certain industrial work at chemical plants, petrochemical plants, and refineries under specific conditions (§1305.003), federal government work, design work by licensed professional engineers, and some work by homeowners on their own property.
Its implementing rules live in Title 16, Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 73, which spells out licensing procedures, CE rules, and compliance standards. Two other sections worth knowing: §1305.101 adopts the National Electrical Code statewide, and §1305.201 lets cities impose stricter requirements than state minimums.
Chapter 1305 and the Chapter 73 rules fill the law-and-rules portion of your annual CE — about an hour of our approved 4-hour course outline.
What it means for your renewal
The law portion of CE is where licensees learn scope, exemptions, and enforcement — including that working on an expired license is a violation carrying fines of $1,000 to $3,500. It's a mandatory CE topic: a course that's all NEC content won't complete your renewal.
Authority: Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1305