Last updated 2026-08-18
TL;DR
Texas regulates water well drillers through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) under Texas Water Code Chapter 32. You need a state license before you drill, deepen, or alter any water well. The exam runs through PSI, initial fees land around $111 to $333 depending on license class, and every well must be logged on TCEQ's online reporting system within 30 days of completion.
Do you need a license to drill wells in Texas?
Yes, you do. Texas Water Code Chapter 32 requires anyone who drills, deepens, plugs, or alters a water well for compensation to hold a license issued by TCEQ. The statute reaches water wells broadly: domestic, irrigation, municipal, and geothermal heat pump wells all fall under it. Unlicensed work is a Class C misdemeanor and carries civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation per day under Texas Water Code Section 32.074. [1]
There's a narrow exemption for a landowner who drills on their own property for their own use with their own equipment. That exemption disappears the moment money changes hands or an employee runs the rig. If you're building a drilling business, hiring drillers, or working on someone else's land, the license isn't optional.
Texas has two primary license classes for water well work. One is the Water Well Driller license, which authorizes the actual drilling. The other is the Water Well Pump Installer license, which covers pump installation and testing. You can hold both, but they take separate exams and separate fees. This article follows the driller path.
Which agency runs the well driller board in Texas?
Texas doesn't have a freestanding "well driller board" the way some states do. Licensing authority sits with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, TCEQ, and specifically its Water Well Drillers Advisory Council. The Council is a nine-member advisory body created by Texas Water Code Chapter 32 that recommends rules and advises staff. The actual licensing decisions and enforcement actions come from TCEQ itself. [1]
The relevant TCEQ division is the Water Well Drillers Program, housed under the Water Quality Division. Their mailing address and phone number sit on the TCEQ water well drillers page. For exam scheduling, TCEQ contracts with PSI Exams, which runs its own candidate handbook and scheduling portal.
When Texans say "well driller board," they almost always mean this combination: TCEQ as the licensing agency, the Advisory Council as the rule-recommending body, and PSI as the exam vendor. Knowing who handles which piece saves real time when you're chasing down a form or a fee.
How much does a well driller license cost in Texas?
TCEQ publishes a fee schedule for water well drillers and pump installers. As of the most recent published schedule, the numbers break down roughly like this: [2]
| Fee Item | Approximate Amount |
|---|---|
| Initial driller license application | $111 |
| Driller license renewal (2-year cycle) | $111 |
| PSI licensing exam fee | ~$74 per attempt |
| Duplicate license | $26 |
| Surety bond (minimum required) | $10,000 bond (~$100, $300/yr premium) |
Those figures come from TCEQ's fee rule under 30 Texas Administrative Code Section 30.15. Fee rules get updated through rulemaking, so confirm the current numbers directly with TCEQ or read 30 TAC 30.15 before you write a check. [3]
The surety bond is where people get surprised. Texas Water Code Section 32.016 requires every licensed driller to maintain a $10,000 surety bond or cash deposit with TCEQ before the license issues. A commercial surety bond for $10,000 runs roughly $100 to $300 a year depending on your credit, which is cheap, but the bond has to be in TCEQ's hands before you drill anything. [1]
Add it up for year one. Application fee, exam fee, and bond premium likely land you between $285 and $485 before you buy a bit or a foot of casing. That's not counting a drill rig, which is a separate conversation entirely.
What are the exam and experience requirements?
To sit for the Water Well Driller exam, TCEQ wants documented field experience. The standard path is two years working under a licensed Texas water well driller, covering a mix of drilling, casing, grouting, and well completion. You document that experience on TCEQ's experience verification form, signed by the licensed driller who supervised you. [4]
The exam is computer-based through PSI. It covers Texas groundwater law, well construction standards, grouting requirements, casing specifications, and plugging procedures. PSI's candidate handbook lists the content outline. Passing score is 70 percent. Fail it, and there's a mandatory waiting period before a retake, and you pay the fee again each attempt. [10]
Drillers already licensed in another state have a reciprocity pathway, but Texas doesn't hand it out automatically. You apply, TCEQ staff compare the other state's requirements to Texas standards, and they decide whether your out-of-state experience satisfies the Texas requirement. You still have to pass the Texas exam. There's no exam waiver.
Some applicants try to shortcut the experience requirement with a pump installer license first. That doesn't work. The driller and pump installer licenses run independent experience and exam tracks. Related work, separate credentials.
How long does getting a well driller license take in Texas?
The timeline has two independent pieces: the time to qualify by accumulating experience, and the time to process the application once you submit it.
On the qualification side, two years of supervised field experience is two years. There's no accelerated path unless you show up with verifiable out-of-state experience. Budget that time honestly.
On the processing side, TCEQ's published target for initial license applications is 30 days from receipt of a complete application. In practice, missing signatures, unverified experience, or a bond that hasn't cleared reset the clock. TCEQ staff send a deficiency notice and you have 60 days to fix it. An incomplete application is the single most common reason people wait longer than expected. [4]
Exam scheduling through PSI adds a week or two depending on open seats at your nearest test center. PSI runs testing sites across Texas, so you usually don't travel far, but rural areas may mean driving to a larger city.
Here's a realistic timeline for someone who already has two years of field experience, complete documentation, and a bond lined up: four to eight weeks from application to license in hand. That assumes a clean application. Starting from scratch with no experience, you're looking at a minimum of two years before you're even eligible to apply.
What well construction standards apply in Texas?
The technical rules for well construction in Texas live in 30 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 76, Water Well Drillers and Water Well Pump Installers. Chapter 76 sets minimum casing depths, annular space requirements, grout specifications, and surface completion standards for different aquifer types and well purposes. [5]
Grouting is where Texas gets strict. The state requires neat cement grout or bentonite grout for the annular space from total depth to surface, or to a specified depth above a confining layer, depending on the aquifer. Bentonite pellets, chips, and slurry all work under 30 TAC 76, but they have to meet specific hydration and mix requirements. Getting this wrong is the most common cause of license sanctions.
Every well completed, plugged, or altered has to be reported to TCEQ within 30 days of completion. The report goes through TCEQ's online Well Report System, and it has to carry the driller's license number, well location by legal description and GPS coordinates, casing specifications, grout type and volume, static water level, and pump test data if applicable. Incomplete reports get tracked, and repeated failures trigger enforcement. [6]
Drillers working near or across groundwater conservation district lines face district rules stacked on top of the state minimums. Texas has over 100 groundwater conservation districts, and their rules vary a lot. The Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts keeps a district locator, but you have to check each district's rules independently. [7]
How do you renew a Texas water well driller license?
Texas water well driller licenses run on a two-year cycle. TCEQ mails a renewal notice to your address of record roughly 90 days before expiration. Don't lean on that notice showing up. Your address has to be current with TCEQ, and enough people miss the letter that TCEQ's enforcement logs include expired-license violations from drillers who swear it never came.
Renewal takes the renewal fee (roughly $111, confirm with TCEQ), a current surety bond, and proof of continuing education. Texas requires six hours of continuing education per two-year renewal cycle. The CE has to come from an approved provider, and at least two of the six hours must cover well construction or groundwater quality topics. [4]
If your license expires, you have a 90-day grace period to renew without penalty. Past 90 days, you reapply as a new applicant, which means retaking the exam. That's not a threat, it's the actual rule in 30 TAC 30. Set a calendar reminder 120 days before your expiration date and treat it like a hard deadline.
What does the well report and grout log process look like?
After you finish a well, the 30-day reporting window is firm. TCEQ's Well Report System is web-based and needs your license credentials to log in. The system walks you through the required fields: well location, purpose, total depth, casing type and diameter, screen interval if any, grout type and placement method, static water level, and completion date.
The grout log section is where precision matters. TCEQ wants the grout type, mix ratio for cement grout, volume placed, placement method (tremie pipe, pump, or gravity), and depth intervals. If the numbers don't close, meaning the calculated annular volume doesn't roughly match what you report placing, a reviewer may flag the report for follow-up.
For drillers building systems for the first time, keeping a field grout log on paper during the job and transferring it to the online system later is the standard approach. WellDrillerPath's Well Board and Grout-Log Kit at /start gives you a working template built around TCEQ's reporting fields, which cuts time on the transfer step. TCEQ's own reporting system is the legal record; any paper log is just a working tool.
Wells drilled inside a groundwater conservation district also need reporting to the district, often on a different clock. Some districts require notice before drilling even starts. Check the district rules before the bit goes in the ground.
How does Texas compare to neighboring states on licensing requirements?
Texas sits in the middle of the pack regionally. More demanding than some states, lighter than others. Here's a quick comparison of the core requirements: [1][8][9]
| State | License Required | Exam Required | Experience Req. | Bond Required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | Yes (TCEQ) | Yes (PSI) | 2 years | $10,000 |
| Oklahoma | Yes (OWRB) | Yes | 2 years | $10,000 |
| New Mexico | Yes (OSE) | Yes | 2 years | $10,000 |
| Louisiana | Yes (LDNR) | Yes | 1 year | $15,000 |
| Arkansas | Yes (AOGC) | Yes | 1 year | $5,000 |
For drillers weighing reciprocity from Arkansas or Oklahoma, the experience thresholds are close enough that TCEQ's reciprocity review often goes smoothly. The Texas exam is still required. Colorado and California both run more complex multi-tier licensing structures than Texas.
The $10,000 bond is standard across most southwestern states. Texas's CE load of six hours per cycle is on the lighter end. Some states require 12 to 16 hours.
What enforcement actions does TCEQ take against drillers?
TCEQ's enforcement authority under Texas Water Code Chapter 32 includes license suspension, revocation, and civil penalties. The statute says TCEQ "may revoke or suspend a license issued under this chapter if the license holder violates this chapter or a rule adopted under this chapter." [1]
Common triggers for enforcement: drilling without a license, missing the 30-day well report deadline, inadequate grouting caught through TCEQ field inspections, misrepresentation on a license application, and letting the required surety bond lapse.
Penalties per violation can reach $10,000 per day under Texas Water Code Section 32.074. In practice, most first-offense administrative actions end in a notice of violation and a compliance schedule rather than the maximum penalty. The statute still gives TCEQ authority to move fast when contamination risk is on the table.
Enforcement records are public. TCEQ posts enforcement orders on its website. Checking a driller's license status and enforcement history before you hire them is straightforward through TCEQ's online license lookup. [6]
Where do you find the actual forms and submit your application?
TCEQ's water well drillers program page is the starting point. From there you download the initial license application, the experience verification form, the bond form, and the continuing education provider list. TCEQ updates forms periodically, so pull them fresh rather than reusing a copy you found in a forum.
Applications go to TCEQ's Water Well Drillers Program by mail. There's no fully electronic application submission as of the last TCEQ update, though you can pay fees online through TCEQ's STEERS system after the application is reviewed. [6]
For people early in the process, WellDrillerPath's resource kit at /start includes a checklist of required documents ordered by TCEQ's review sequence, which helps you catch missing pieces before mailing.
To compare the Texas process against other state structures, the guides for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Idaho cover how other states run their driller programs and what reciprocity paths exist.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a license for well driller in Texas?
Yes. Texas Water Code Chapter 32 requires a TCEQ-issued license before you drill, deepen, plug, or alter a water well for compensation. Drilling without a license is a Class C misdemeanor and carries civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation per day. The only narrow exemption is a landowner drilling on their own property for their own use with their own equipment and no employees involved.
How much does a well driller license cost in Texas?
The initial application fee is roughly $111, the PSI exam fee is about $74 per attempt, and Texas requires a $10,000 surety bond with a typical annual premium of $100 to $300 depending on your credit. First-year costs generally run $285 to $485 in fees and bond premium before equipment. Confirm current fees with TCEQ or at 30 TAC 30.15 before applying.
How long does getting a well driller license take in Texas?
Two years of supervised field experience is required before you're eligible to apply. Once you submit a complete application, TCEQ targets a 30-day processing window. Add one to two weeks for PSI exam scheduling. A clean application with all documentation in order typically produces a license four to eight weeks after submission. Incomplete applications stretch that out significantly.
What exam do Texas water well drillers have to pass?
TCEQ contracts with PSI Exams for the water well driller licensing exam. It's computer-based and covers Texas groundwater law, well construction standards, grouting, casing, and plugging procedures. The passing score is 70 percent. If you fail, you pay the exam fee again for each retake. PSI runs test centers across Texas; check candidate.psiexams.com for locations and scheduling.
Does Texas accept well driller licenses from other states?
Texas has a reciprocity process through TCEQ, but it's not automatic. TCEQ staff compare your out-of-state license requirements to Texas standards. You still have to pass the Texas exam; there is no exam waiver. Out-of-state field experience may satisfy the two-year requirement depending on TCEQ's evaluation. Contact TCEQ's Water Well Drillers Program directly to start a reciprocity review.
How do I report a completed well to TCEQ?
You submit a well completion report through TCEQ's online Well Report System within 30 days of completing, plugging, or altering the well. The report requires your license number, well location by GPS and legal description, casing specs, grout type and volume, static water level, and pump test data if applicable. Repeated late or incomplete reports can trigger enforcement action.
What is the surety bond requirement for Texas well drillers?
Texas Water Code Section 32.016 requires every licensed driller to maintain a $10,000 surety bond or cash deposit with TCEQ before the license is issued or renewed. A commercial surety bond typically costs $100 to $300 a year. The bond must name TCEQ as obligee and stay current through the license period. A lapsed bond puts your license at risk of suspension.
How many continuing education hours do Texas well drillers need?
Texas requires six hours of continuing education per two-year license renewal cycle. At least two of those hours must cover well construction or groundwater quality topics. CE has to come from a TCEQ-approved provider. If your license expires without CE done, you'll need to satisfy the requirement before renewal is processed. After 90 days past expiration, you must reapply as a new applicant and retake the exam.
Can a groundwater conservation district add rules on top of TCEQ requirements?
Yes. Texas has over 100 groundwater conservation districts, and their rules operate alongside state minimums, not instead of them. Some districts require advance notice before drilling starts, have stricter casing or grout rules, or impose district-specific reporting. You must comply with both TCEQ standards and any applicable district rules. Check the Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts' district locator before starting work in a new area.
What happens if a Texas well driller's license expires?
You have a 90-day grace period after expiration to renew without retaking the exam, but you cannot legally drill while expired. After 90 days, you must reapply as a new applicant, which means sitting the PSI exam again. TCEQ tracks licensed drillers, and drilling on an expired license counts as drilling without a license, triggering the same penalties as the unlicensed violation.
Who is on the Texas Water Well Drillers Advisory Council?
The Advisory Council is a nine-member body created under Texas Water Code Chapter 32. Members include licensed water well drillers, pump installers, a hydrologist or geologist, a public health official, and public members. The Council recommends rules and standards to TCEQ but has no final licensing or enforcement authority. TCEQ staff make the actual licensing decisions.
Are pump installers and well drillers licensed separately in Texas?
Yes, they're separate licenses with separate exams and separate fees. The Water Well Driller license covers drilling, deepening, and casing wells. The Water Well Pump Installer license covers pump installation, testing, and related work. You can hold both, but getting a pump installer license first does not reduce the experience or exam requirements for the driller license.
Where can I look up a Texas well driller's license status?
TCEQ's online license lookup lets you search by name or license number to verify a driller's current license status, class, and any public enforcement actions. The tool is available through TCEQ's water well drillers program page at tceq.texas.gov. Enforcement orders against licensed drillers are also posted publicly on TCEQ's enforcement database.
Does Texas require well drillers to carry liability insurance?
Texas Water Code Chapter 32 and 30 TAC Chapter 76 require the surety bond but do not mandate commercial general liability insurance as a licensing condition. That said, groundwater conservation districts may require proof of insurance before issuing a drilling permit, and many landowners and municipalities require it by contract. Confirm with each district and customer before assuming the bond alone is enough.
Sources
- Texas Legislature, Texas Water Code Chapter 32, Water Well Drillers: Texas Water Code Chapter 32 requires TCEQ licensure for anyone who drills, deepens, plugs, or alters a water well for compensation; establishes the Advisory Council; requires a $10,000 surety bond; and authorizes civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation per day under Section 32.074.
- TCEQ, Occupational Licensing Program (Water Well Drillers and Pump Installers): Initial driller license application fee of approximately $111 and renewal fee of approximately $111 per two-year cycle.
- Texas Secretary of State, 30 Texas Administrative Code Section 30.15, Fees: 30 TAC 30.15 establishes the fee schedule for TCEQ-issued licenses including water well drillers.
- Texas Secretary of State, 30 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 76, Water Well Drillers and Pump Installers: Two years of supervised experience required to apply; six hours of continuing education required per two-year renewal cycle; standards for licensing under Chapter 76.
- Texas Secretary of State, 30 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 76, Water Well Drillers and Pump Installers: 30 TAC Chapter 76 sets minimum casing depths, annular space requirements, grout specifications, and well completion standards for Texas water wells.
- TCEQ, Occupational Licensing and Well Report Program: TCEQ requires well completion reports submitted through the online Well Report System within 30 days of completion; enforcement orders posted publicly; license lookup available.
- Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts: Texas has over 100 groundwater conservation districts with rules that may add requirements on top of TCEQ state minimums.
- Oklahoma Water Resources Board, Water Well Driller Licensing: Oklahoma requires a water well driller license with two years experience and a $10,000 bond, comparable to Texas requirements.
- PSI Exams, Candidate Scheduling and Information Portal: PSI administers the Texas water well driller licensing exam; exam fee approximately $74 per attempt; passing score is 70 percent.