Guides · Owner gate
Texas names the seat most states leave implicit: the Responsible Master Plumber — the master whose license a company actually runs on.
The RMP must be a Texas Master Plumber in good standing. The company carries at least $300,000 in liability insurance. The application runs $225, renewal $300 — and the rule with teeth: one company at a time. A master cannot responsibly-master two shops; a second company needs a second master.
The work done under the license: its code compliance, its permits, its supervision chain down to registered apprentices whose hours the RMP's shop certifies. That is why “renting” an RMP who never appears is not a loophole but a liability transfer in the wrong direction — the board disciplines the company and the master, and the customers' claims follow the paper.
Expect to pay for it as what it is: a licensed, liable, scarce role. Put the arrangement in writing against the board's rules — duties, hours, notification on exit — because when the seat empties, the company's legal right to operate empties with it.
The owner gate for your situation: owner gate checker. Texas's full system: Texas ladder page.
