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Mold & Indoor Air Quality Library

Texas Law & Licensing

The 25-square-foot rule and other exemptions

Texas law Sources: Tex. Occ. Code Ch. 1958, 16 TAC Chapter 78

In plain English

Texas draws one line that drives almost everything: 25 contiguous square feet of mold — the contiguous area of surface material that must be cleaned or removed. Below it, remediation doesn't require a license. At or above it, licensing, a protocol, containment, protective equipment and TDLR notification all apply. A licensee who works on a smaller job still has to follow the rules.

If someone working under the small-job exemption finds more mold and the total reaches 25 contiguous square feet, they must stop work immediately (using emergency containment if needed) and tell the client the exemption is lost: the rest of the remediation and the post-remediation assessment must be done by licensed or registered people.

Owners and tenants (and their managing agents or employees) can assess and remediate their own property without a license. The exemption does not cover remediation of 25 contiguous square feet or more, or a managing agent or employee who does mold work for the public. Owners of residential property with fewer than 10 dwelling units, and builders doing mold work on a one- or two-family home they built or improved, at the same time as that construction, improvement or repair (and not as a mold business for the public), have exemptions that apply regardless of size. The law also doesn't cover routine cleaning, ordinary plumbing, HVAC or electrical work, or real estate inspections that aren't for mold, and reviewing remediation bids isn't mold assessment.

Key points

  • Under 25 contiguous sq ft: no license needed to remediate.
  • Found more? Stop and tell the client the exemption is lost.
  • Owner, tenant, small-landlord and builder exemptions — with limits.
  • Licensed insurance adjusters and other licensed professionals have narrow exemptions.

Official text

Tex. Occ. Code Ch. 1958 — Sec. 1958.102. Exemptions Texas law

(a) An owner or tenant, or a managing agent or employee of an owner or tenant, is not required to be licensed under this chapter to perform mold assessment or mold remediation on property owned or leased by the owner or tenant. This exemption does not apply:

(1) if the managing agent or employee engages in the business of performing mold assessment or mold remediation for the public;

(2) if the mold remediation is performed in an area in which the mold contamination affects a total surface area of 25 contiguous square feet or more; or

(3) to a person who is exempt under Subsection (e).

(b) Repealed by Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 493 (S.B. 1255), Sec. 4, eff. September 1, 2025.

(c) A person is not required to be licensed under this chapter to perform mold remediation in an area in which the mold contamination affects a total surface area for the project of less than 25 contiguous square feet.

(d) A person is not required to be licensed under this chapter to perform mold assessment or mold remediation in a one-family or two-family dwelling that the person constructed or improved if the person performs the mold assessment or mold remediation at the same time the person performs the construction or improvement or at the same time the person performs repair work on the construction or improvement. This exemption does not apply if the person engages in the business of performing mold assessment or mold remediation for the public.

(e) An owner, or a managing agent or employee of an owner, is not required to be licensed under this chapter to perform mold assessment or mold remediation on a residential property owned by that person with fewer than 10 dwelling units. This exemption does not apply if the managing agent or employee engages in the business of performing mold assessment or mold remediation for the public.

Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 205, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Amended by:

Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 493 (S.B. 1255), Sec. 4, eff. September 1, 2025.

Citation: Tex. Occ. Code Ch. 1958, Sec. 1958.102. Exemptions.

Read on the official site ↗ See it in the full Tex. Occ. Code Ch. 1958

16 TAC Chapter 78 — §78.30. Exceptions and Exemptions Texas law

(a) For purposes of Texas Occupations Code §1958.002(b)(1)(D), regarding the excepted emergency containment of mold contamination, an emergency exists if a delay in mold remediation services in response to a water damage occurrence would increase mold contamination.

(b) For purposes of Texas Occupations Code §1958.102(d) and (e), regarding certain residential property, the exemptions apply regardless of the total surface area within the subject property that is affected by mold growth. The following terms used in Texas Occupations Code §1958.102(d) shall have the meaning given:

(1) "improve" means to build, construct, or erect a new building or structure or a new portion of a building or structure that is attached to an existing building or structure; and

(2) "improvement" means a building or structure, or a portion of a building or structure, that was built, constructed, or erected as an attachment to an existing building or structure after the construction or erection of the existing building or structure.

(c) Licensees performing mold remediation in an area in which the mold contamination for the project affects a total surface area of less than 25 contiguous square feet must do so in accordance with the Act and this chapter unless otherwise indicated.

(d) A person who is performing mold remediation under the licensing exemptions of §1958.102(a) or (c) of the Act, in which the mold contamination affects a total surface area of less than 25 contiguous square feet, and who identifies additional mold such that the total mold contamination affects a total surface area of 25 contiguous square feet or more shall:

(1) immediately cease all remediation work and implement emergency containment if necessary; and

(2) advise the person requesting the remediation that the exemption under §1958.102(a) or (c) of the Act has been lost, and that any additional mold remediation and post-remediation assessment in the area must be performed by a person licensed or registered under this chapter.

(e) Employees of a licensee performing mold remediation under the supervision of a licensee must be registered as provided under §78.56.

(f) Professional exemptions.

(1) All persons engaged in mold-related activities must be licensed or registered under this chapter, except that those professionals currently licensed by the state in another field (including, but not limited to, medicine, architecture, or engineering) who provide to a licensed or registered person only consultation related to that other field, are not required to be separately licensed under this chapter. In such a case, the responsibility for the project or activity remains with the person licensed or registered under this chapter.

(2) A person is not required to be licensed or registered under this chapter if engaging only in the performance of regulated activities of a licensed insurance adjuster pursuant to Chapter 4101 of the Texas Insurance Code or in the performance of regulated activities of a licensed public insurance adjuster pursuant to Chapter 4102 of the Texas Insurance Code, including the investigation and review of losses to insured property, assignment of coverage, and estimation of the usual and customary expenses due under the applicable insurance policy, including expenses for reasonable and customary mold assessment and remediation.

(g) The review of mold remediation bids or proposals and making recommendations thereto is not mold assessment or mold remediation.

(h) The code of ethics, conflict of interest, and disclosure requirements in the Act and these rules apply to credentialed persons engaging in the activities described in this section.

Source Note: The provisions of this §78.30 adopted to be effective November 1, 2017, 42 TexReg 4619.

Citation: 16 TAC Chapter 78, §78.30. Exceptions and Exemptions.

Read on the official site ↗ See it in the full 16 TAC Chapter 78

Tex. Occ. Code Ch. 1958 — Sec. 1958.002. Scope of Authority Texas law

(a) This chapter applies only to the regulation of mold-related activities that affect indoor air quality, including a mold-related activity performed by a third party for compensation at a property owned or operated by a governmental entity.

(b) This chapter does not apply to:

(1) the following activities when not conducted for the purpose of mold assessment or mold remediation:

(A) routine cleaning;

(B) the diagnosis, repair, cleaning, or replacement of plumbing, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical, or air duct systems or appliances;

(C) commercial or residential real estate inspections; and

(D) the incidental discovery or emergency containment of potential mold contamination during the conduct or performance of services listed in this subsection;

(2) the repair, replacement, or cleaning of construction materials during the building phase of the construction of a structure;

(3) the standard performance of custodial activities for, preventive maintenance of, and the routine assessment of property owned or operated by a governmental entity;

(4) a pest control inspection conducted by a person regulated under Chapter 1951; or

(5) demolition of a structure after a fire or other disaster.

Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 205, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Amended by:

Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 493 (S.B. 1255), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2025.

Citation: Tex. Occ. Code Ch. 1958, Sec. 1958.002. Scope of Authority.

Read on the official site ↗ See it in the full Tex. Occ. Code Ch. 1958

Citations