Texas House bill by Rep. Gates regulates municipal certificates of occupancy

Passed bill authored by State Rep. Gary Gates aims to regulate how municipalities issue and acknowledge certificates of occupancy, ensuring acceptance of substitute documents without requiring original certificates, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the House, 59 Democrats and 86 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while one Democrat opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 11 Democrats and 20 Republicans voted in favor, with no opposing votes.

Gary Gates introduced the bill in the Texas House on Thursday, March 13, during the 89th regular legislative session.

Gates, a Republican, was elected to the Texas State House in 2020 to represent the state’s 28th House district, replacing previous state representative John Zerwas.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to the municipal issuance of a document verifying that a certificate of occupancy has been issued for certain buildings’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the Local Government Code to regulate how municipalities handle certificates of occupancy. It requires municipalities that issue these certificates to provide, upon request, a document acknowledging the issuance to the building owner. Importantly, the bill prohibits municipalities from adopting or enforcing ordinances or rules that mandate the requester to obtain or display an original certificate of occupancy. Instead, the municipality must accept the provided document as a valid substitute for the original certificate. The act takes effect immediately if it receives a two-thirds vote in both legislative houses or otherwise on Sept. 1, 2025.

The bill was co-authored by Rep. J.M. Lozano (Republican – District 43), Rep. Ryan Guillen (Republican – District 31), and Rep. Dennis Paul (Republican – District 129), along with 15 other authors.

The bill received its final legislative approval on Tuesday, May 20, and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday, June 20.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.