Texas Now Enforces the 2026 NEC. Licensing Exams Changed the Same Day.

Texas began enforcing the 2026 National Electrical Code as its statewide minimum standard on September 1. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation adopted the edition on July 28, and the agency's electrician licensing exams moved to 2026 NEC references on the same day the rule took effect. The 2023 NEC governed work in the state through August 31. The new edition is now the baseline for all commercial and industrial electrical installations in Texas.

The National Fire Protection Association approved the 2026 edition on September 9, 2025. Texas adopted it largely as published under the department's electrical rules in Title 16 of the Texas Administrative Code, with one amendment. The state struck the expiration date from Exception No. 2 to Section 210.8(F), which keeps listed heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment outside the outdoor ground-fault circuit interrupter requirement. Texas justified the change on nuisance tripping and the service interruptions that follow it. Without the amendment, that exception would have expired on the same date the new code took effect.

The 2026 edition renumbers material that commercial crews use daily. Branch circuit, feeder, and service load calculations move from Article 220 to Article 120. Energy management systems move from Article 750 to Article 130, relocating them into Chapter 1. Fire-resistive cable systems move from Article 728 to Article 772. Section 110.16 expands arc-flash marking to service and feeder equipment in general rather than a narrower list. Section 110.26 now measures working space egress with doors open at 90 degrees and measures depth from the front of the enclosure. Section 392.18 sets a minimum 12 inches of clearance above cable tray.

Which edition governs a given job turns on timing rather than on the calendar alone. Permits applied for on or after September 1 fall under the 2026 NEC. Where no permit is required, the code in effect on the date materials and equipment begin to be installed applies. Work permitted in August is still built and inspected to the 2023 NEC, so inspectors across Texas are enforcing two editions side by side until that backlog clears. Local amendments stack on top of the state minimum, including a North Central Texas Council of Governments amendment covering concrete-encased electrode inspection under Section 250.50.

The licensing consequence landed on the same date. The department's Examination Review Committee began updating exam references in November 2025, and the revised exams went live September 1. Candidates who tested before that date answered on the 2023 NEC. Continuing education volume did not change: individual license holders still complete four hours annually, roughly three on the NEC and one on Texas law, administrative rules, and electrical safety under NFPA 70E, with no final exam required by the department. Course content now tracks the 2026 edition for anyone renewing on or after September 1.

For anyone testing, renewing, or pulling a permit in Texas this fall, the 2023 NEC is no longer the reference. The article numbers moved with it.