Guides & rules

Questions to Ask an Austin Electrician

We publish what the rules actually say about electrical work across the Austin metro — sourced, dated, and specific to your permit office and your utility. The work itself is carried out by electricians licensed by the state.

By Charles Kiptoo (Not a licensed electrician)·Published 12 August 2026·Updated 12 August 2026

Four questions do most of the work: what is your contractor licence number, is this permitted work and who pulls the permit, which code edition will it be inspected under, and can I have the scope in writing.

Before anyone visits

“What is your TECL number?” The contractor licence belongs to the business, and state rules already require the number on advertising, vehicles, proposals and invoices. Ask for it, then check it yourself on the state register rather than accepting a photograph of a card.

“Do you work in my city and my utility's territory?” Two different questions in this metro. Permits come from the city; anything touching the service involves the utility, and territory does not follow city limits.

About the work itself

“Is this permitted work, and are you pulling the permit?” If the answer is that a permit is not needed, ask which published exemption they are relying on. If the answer is that you should pull it yourself as the homeowner, understand what you are taking on — and note that Austin's homestead permit cannot cover work on the main electric service, which is exactly what a panel or service upgrade is.

“Which code edition will this be inspected under?” Austin is on the 2023 National Electrical Code with local amendments, and the 2026 edition takes effect on 1 September 2026. On anything scheduled near that date it is a fair question.

“Has a load calculation been done?” For anything adding significant load — a charger, a spa, a heat pump — this is arithmetic on your actual house, not a rule of thumb about the age of the panel. Ask to see it.

On an older house

“What is the branch wiring made of?” In cables installed from 1965 into the mid-1970s it may be aluminium. If it is, the follow up matters more than the first answer:

“Which of the three recognised repairs is this?” The federal regulator recognises complete replacement with copper, the COPALUM method, and the AlumiConn connector. It explicitly does not consider twist-on pigtailing or fitting CO/ALR devices to be acceptable permanent repairs. A quote offering either of the latter is offering something the regulator has already rejected.

On paper, before you pay anything

“Can I have the scope in writing?” What is included, what is excluded, and what happens to the price if something is found once a wall or a panel is open. Open-ended scope is where remodel-adjacent electrical work goes wrong.

“What does your proposal have on it?” State rules require an electrical contractor's proposals, invoices and written contracts to carry the business name, address, phone number and licence number, along with the department's regulatory notice. A written proposal missing those is a small signal worth noticing.

“Who inspects, and when do I see the result?” On permitted work, the city's inspection is the approval. Ask how you will know it passed.

One question worth asking us

“What do you get out of this?” Fair question. We are paid by the contractor when we introduce you. We carry out no electrical work and hold no electrical licence — the electricians we put you in touch with do the work under their own. Everything we publish is sourced and dated so you can check it against the authority rather than against us.