How to Sell an Electrical Business in Texas (2026)

Texas electrical shops sell for 2.5 to 13 times earnings, depending on size. Anyone can own the company outright.

• No licensed ownership is required. The company needs a master electrician of record, who can be an owner or an employee.
• A new owner applies for a new license. The state’s contractor license doesn’t pass to a buyer.
• Texas takes nothing from your gain. The state constitution bans a tax on an individual’s capital gains.

Is Now a Good Time to Sell?

Yes. Home service groups are buying Texas shops that do electrical work, and two of them entered the state by buying one.

• Champions Group bought a North Texas shop in January 2026. Lex does heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical work.
• ResiXperts entered Texas through Fort Worth. Its first Texas deal, in October 2024, was Hart HVAC and Electric.
• The work keeps growing. Panel upgrades, generators and charging stations all need a licensed crew.

What Electrical Businesses Sell For in Texas

Smaller shops are priced on what the business pays you. Once a manager runs the crews, buyers price off profit instead.

No named source publishes electrical prices for Texas alone, so these are national figures. Ask anyone quoting a Texas-only number where it came from.

Test your own figures and value an electrical business.

What Moves Your Number

• Service agreements. Recurring work prices far better than project work, because a buyer can count on it.
• A second master electrician on staff. If you’re the only one, the buyer has to find a replacement before you can leave.
• Whether the crews run without you. That switch moves you from one pricing method to a better one.

For the full tier detail, see electrical sale multiples and electrical valuation by size.

Who Is Allowed to Own Your Company

Anyone. In Texas the business itself holds the electrical contractor license, and no rule reserves any share of it for a licensed electrician.

What the law requires is a person. Under Occupations Code 1305.159, a contractor must be a master electrician or employ one.

• Owner or employee. The licensing department says the master electrician “may also be the business owner.”
• One company each, with one exception. A master electrician can be assigned to only one contractor, unless they own more than 50% of the business.
• Compare New York City. It sets no ownership share either, but one licensed electrician can represent only one business.

The 50% rule isn’t an ownership requirement. It only lets a master who owns most of a company qualify others too. A hired master qualifies one.

The Day Your Master Electrician Leaves

When your master electrician of record leaves, the licensing department gives you thirty business days to notify it and name a new one.

We found nothing saying the company can keep doing electrical work during those 30 days. Treat it as a deadline to replace, not as time off.

• If the master is you, stay on until your buyer’s master is assigned. Put that in the purchase agreement.
• A roll-up needs a master for every shop. A hired master already assigned to their company can’t cover yours too.
• Insurance goes with the license. The department requires at least $300,000 of liability cover per occurrence.

Your Buyer Applies for a New License

A Texas electrical license “is not transferable,” under Occupations Code 1305.165. The department’s own FAQ applies that to a sale.

If the company is sold to a different owner, the new owner must apply for a new license. The FAQ doesn’t say whether buying your shares counts, so ask the department about your structure.

Your vans carry the license number. Section 1305.166 puts the business name and license number on both sides of every company vehicle, in letters at least two inches high.

How Long a Master License Takes

Under section 1305.153, a master needs 12,000 hours of training, two years holding a journeyman license, and the exam. A buyer without one hires one.

One State License, Every City

A Texas electrical license is valid throughout the state. Cities still issue permits and can require you to register, but they can’t make a state licensee sit a city exam.

• No city registration fee. Section 1305.201 bars cities from charging a licensed electrician any fee but a building permit fee.
• Houston is stricter than the state. Since April 2022 a master electrician can register only one contracting business with the city.
• Expect to re-register. When the master of record changes, update every city where the shop pulls permits.

The Back-Tax Certificate

Texas has no advance form like New York’s. Instead, Tax Code 111.020 makes the buyer hold back enough of the price to cover tax you owe.

The hold-back ends when you produce a receipt or a certificate saying nothing is due. Here’s how the Comptroller’s certificate works.

1. You and the buyer request it together, on Form 86-114. Both of you sign.
2. Request it before closing. After that it no longer protects the buyer.
3. It’s free. A clean account usually clears in about 10 business days.
4. An audit of your records can stretch that to 90 days.

Only the buyer is protected. You still owe anything that surfaces later, so clear it before you sign rather than after.

The Tax on Your Vans

Selling all your operating equipment in one deal is exempt from sales tax. Vehicles aren’t covered, and the Comptroller says so plainly.

The buyer owes motor vehicle tax of 6.25% on each van and truck, under Tax Code 152.021. Expect a fleet buyer to price that in.

Unemployment Tax Travels With the Business

A buyer who takes over your business also takes on any unemployment tax you still owe the state, under Labor Code 204.086. No certificate covers it, so settle it first.

What You Will Owe in Taxes

Nothing to the state. Texas bans an income tax on individuals, and since November 2025 its constitution also bans a tax on an individual’s capital gains.

• Compare Pennsylvania’s flat 3.07%. On a $1 million gain, that’s $30,700 you keep in Texas.
• Compare New York City. A seller there pays about $107,260 in state and city tax on the same gain.
• Federal tax still applies. Expect 15% to 20% on the gain, plus a 3.8% investment income tax.
• Your vans and tooling are different. Anything you already wrote off is taxed again at your regular federal rate.
• The company can still owe franchise tax. If it closes after an asset sale, a final report is due within 60 days.

For the structure detail, see asset sale versus stock sale tax for electrical.

Who Buys Texas Electrical Businesses

• Champions Group bought Lex Cooling, Heating, Plumbing & Electrical, a North Texas shop founded in 2004, in January 2026.
• ResiXperts bought Hart HVAC and Electric of Fort Worth in October 2024.
• The SEER Group bought Swan Electric, Plumbing, Heating & Air of Sunnyvale in April 2025, its 42nd acquisition.
• Texas buyers buy Texas contractors too. Sterling Infrastructure of The Woodlands bought CEC Facilities Group of Irving in 2025, though at a far larger size than most shops.
• Individual buyers borrow. The SBA caps its main program at $5 million.

For the tradeoffs, see investor-backed versus strategic electrical buyers.

An investor-backed offer arrives in parts. What gets held back, and the stake you keep.

How Long It Takes

For the detail on each stage, see how long it takes to sell an electrical business.

How to Get Your Shop Ready

• Name the next master electrician of record. If it’s you, agree who replaces you and when.
• Check whether your foreman could qualify. The bar is 12,000 hours and two years as a journeyman.
• Get three years of clean books with your personal spending separated out and documented.
• Grow the service side. Recurring work prices better than project work every time.
• Get out of the middle. Build a layer between you and the daily work, and write down how things are done.
• Clear your state tax and unemployment tax accounts before the certificate request goes in.

Are You Ready to Sell? Score Your Business

Should You Use a Broker, a Marketplace, or Sell Direct?

A buyer who knows you have no alternative has no reason to open with their best number.

Those numbers hold in Texas too. See every fee a broker charges, and what selling without a broker takes instead.

Electrical Broker Fee Calculator

Selling an Electrical Business in Houston

Houston adds one rule the rest of Texas doesn't have, and it matters most to buyers growing by acquisition.

• One master, one Houston business. State law lets a majority-owner master qualify several companies. Houston's city registration doesn't.
• Ask a Houston buyer who registers your shop. Their current master can't cover it with the city.
• The 0% still applies. The ban on taxing your gain is in the Texas constitution.

Selling an Electrical Business in Dallas-Fort Worth and Elsewhere

Four of the deals on this page were North Texas companies, and two buyers used the region to enter the state.

• Multi-trade shops draw the most interest. Lex, Hart and Swan all paired electrical work with heating and cooling.
• Your license works in every city. A Texas electrical license is valid throughout the state.
• Registration still varies. Check the rules in each city where you pull permits before you list.

Frequently Asked Questions

Next Steps

1. Name the master electrician of record who takes over, and agree when.
2. Ask every buyer whether their master electrician is already assigned to another contractor.
3. Clean up three years of books, and request your Certificate of No Tax Due with your buyer before closing.
4. List every city where you pull permits, so the registrations can move on day one.
5. Pick your route before you talk to anyone. There are six routes that skip the commission, and four are free.
6. Send us your details for a free valuation. We match Texas electrical businesses with vetted buyers before you commit.

Selling in another state? See our guides on how to sell an electrical business in California, in New York, in New Jersey and in Pennsylvania.