Hiring a General Contractor in San Antonio: Strike Team and Code Compliance

If you are looking for a registered general contractor in San Antonio, start with how the city checks permits and licenses on the job. San Antonio's Development Services Department runs a Strike Team that checks construction for missing permits and unlicensed work. Knowing what it looks for is the simplest way to keep a remodel from stalling.

Texas has no statewide general contractor license, so San Antonio homeowners verify two separate credentials: city contractor registration with Development Services for the residential scope, and state trade licenses for the electrical, plumbing and air conditioning work.

What a Registered General Contractor in San Antonio Actually Holds

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation licenses specific trades, including electricians and air conditioning and refrigeration contractors, but its list of licensing programs has no general contractor or home builder license. The Texas Residential Construction Commission was abolished when its law expired on September 1, 2009. Plumbers are licensed by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners.

When you hire a registered general contractor in San Antonio for residential work, the city side of that credential is registration through Development Services:

Both city registrations require an FBI national background check and a liability insurance certificate naming the City of San Antonio. The city lists minimums of $300,000 per occurrence for Home Improvement Contractors and $500,000 per occurrence for Residential Building Contractors. A Residential Building Contractor, or one agent affiliated with it, must also hold a Residential ICC Certification or another certification approved by the Building Official. The city states there are no license or registration requirements for commercial general contractors, so these rules are about homes.

What the Strike Team Is

The Strike Team is part of the City of San Antonio Development Services Department. In a January 18, 2023 presentation to the Greater San Antonio Builders Association, its building chief described its focus as building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and life-safety concerns.

The same presentation reported 8,645 locations visited, 6,652 locations in violation, 25,090 completed inspections and 5,759 consultations. The slide did not state the period those totals cover, but they show how often the team finds problems once it looks.

What It Looks For

That presentation listed:

• Work without permits.
• A building permit with no permits for the trades.
• Work outside the scope of the permit.
• A minor-repair permit used for a new addition or open floor plan.
• Door and window permits used for a full remodel.
• Contractors with expired licenses or no license.

What Enforcement Can Look Like

The same presentation listed administrative hearing officer citations of $300 for a first violation, $500 for a second and $1,000 for a third; contractor suspensions of 30 to 180 days; and cancellations that leave a contractor unable to do business in the city. It also showed enforcement that required removing fixtures, drywall or concrete to expose trade work for inspection.

Those figures come from the city's 2023 presentation. Current penalties are set by the city.

Strike Team vs Code Enforcement: San Antonio Code Compliance

San Antonio code compliance runs through two different groups inside Development Services, and it helps to know which one you are dealing with. The Strike Team focuses on construction: building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and life-safety concerns on jobs that may lack permits or licensed contractors. Code Enforcement Services handles property issues such as property maintenance, graffiti and vacant buildings.

To report a code concern, call 3-1-1 or 210-207-6000, or use the city's online 311 system. If you received a notice about construction work, read it closely to see which group issued it and what it asks you to expose, correct or permit.

How to Keep a Project Permitted

1. Pull every permit the work needs, including the trade permits, not just the building permit.
2. Verify that permits were actually pulled, whether you are the owner, the general contractor or a trade.
3. Describe the full scope of work on the permit.
4. Call for every inspection before work is covered.
5. Use licensed trade contractors for new electrical, plumbing and HVAC components, as the city's residential permit guidance requires.

The city's guidance says a building permit is typically required to build, remodel, repair or demolish a structure. New homes, room additions over 1,000 square feet and two-story additions also go to the city's plans examiners, a review the city says typically takes three business days. Homeowners can apply for specific permits on their own home, but the city says a homeowner can only apply for a plumbing permit for an existing residence.

What Usually Does Not Need a Permit

The city publishes a No Permit Required list. It includes cabinets and countertops, carpet and wood or laminate flooring, replacing broken window glass only, replacing existing doors, and sidewalks and driveways inside your property line. Sheds and playhouses qualify only when the floor area does not exceed 300 square feet and the structure meets setback rules. In historic, neighborhood conservation or corridor districts, even exempt work can face design and material restrictions.

The list is narrow. Once a project moves walls, adds circuits or fixtures, or changes the structure, plan on permits. The Strike Team list shows where remodels go wrong: minor-repair and door-and-window permits stretched to cover bigger jobs. Before you start, see which permits a bathroom remodel in San Antonio usually involves and how electrical code updates affect San Antonio remodels.

How to Check a Contractor's License and City Registration

Look up electricians and air-conditioning contractors in the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation license search, and plumbers through the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. Confirm that the license holder is the company doing your work and that the permit lists them.

For the city side, use the Development Services contractor search, which lets you find a contractor by the type of work and browse the Registered, Registered Plus and Premier categories. Contractors whose registration is canceled or suspended are placed on the city's Contractor Sanctions Report, so check that list too. For plumbing, TSBPE says a Responsible Master Plumber supervises the plumbing work done under the company's contracts and must maintain at least $300,000 of general commercial liability insurance.

You can check C.S.W. Power Solutions the same way: Texas Electrical Contractor TECL #31793 and Responsible Master Plumber RMP #46592, listed on our licenses and certifications page.

Questions to Ask Before You Sign or Pay a Deposit

1. Which city registration do you hold, Home Improvement or Residential Building, and does it fit this scope?
2. Who will do the electrical, plumbing and air conditioning work, and what are their state license numbers?
3. Which permits will you pull, and will each one describe the full scope of work?
4. Who calls for inspections, and will I get copies of the permits and inspection results?
5. If an inspector finds a problem, who pays to correct it?

A registered general contractor in San Antonio who coordinates the trades should answer every question in writing before work starts. Use the answers to compare bids for a general contractor in San Antonio. For structural projects such as room additions, both the Residential Building registration and plan review apply.

Buying or Selling a Home With Past Remodel Work

Unpermitted work can surface when a house changes hands. The Strike Team's 2023 presentation included actual cases of work beyond the scope of permits and work without permits in homes for sale, including an accessory structure. If you are buying, ask the seller for permit numbers and final inspection records for any remodel, addition or trade work, and confirm them with Development Services at 210-207-1111. If you are selling, sorting out permits before you list avoids negotiating around them later.

If Work Was Already Done Without a Permit

If you bought a home with unpermitted work or a project stalled, start with the facts: what was done, by whom, and which permits exist. The city decides what must be exposed, corrected and inspected. A qualified contractor can review the scope and quote the work needed to bring it into compliance; see Strike Team compliance.

Electrical and plumbing corrections still need licensed trades, so ask who will handle them. Our licensed electricians in San Antonio and plumbing team work under the state licenses listed above.