Buy only the limit your contract or Texas license actually names, and describe your work precisely so you are not priced as a cleanup firm. Then choose yearly or per job based on how often you need it, and have a broker shop several specialty markets at once. Contractors pollution liability is coverage for fumes, dust, spills, or mold caused by your work, and for most Texas trades it costs far less than owners expect. Who this is for: Texas contractors whose contract, general contractor, or state license now requires pollution coverage, or whose renewal came in high.
The short version
- Most trades can buy $1,000,000 of pollution coverage for roughly $1,500 to $5,000 a year on a national illustrative basis. Environmental trades pay more.
- Buy the limit the contract or your Texas license names. Asbestos, mold, and tank work have set $1,000,000 minimums.
- One project a year: buy a project policy. Several a year: a yearly policy is cheaper per job.
- Describe your work precisely. A plumber priced as a cleanup firm pays several times too much.
- Nearly all pollution policies come from specialty insurers, so Texas adds about 4.9 percent in tax and filing charges. Shopping several markets more than covers it.
Who in Texas is required to carry pollution coverage, and how much?
Most Texas contractors need pollution coverage only because a contract asks for it. Three trades are required by state rules to carry a set amount, and knowing which rule applies stops you over-buying.
| Texas trade | Rule | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| Asbestos abatement contractors and transporters | Texas Department of State Health Services, 25 TAC Section 296.45 | Liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence, meaning the most the policy pays for any one incident, and it has to include pollution coverage for asbestos exposure, from a company specifically authorized in Texas, with no lapse |
| Licensed mold cleanup companies (the state calls them mold remediation companies) | Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, 16 TAC Section 78.40 | Commercial general liability of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence. Standard general liability excludes mold, which is why mold cleanup companies buy a pollution policy to satisfy it |
| Registered underground storage tank contractors | Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, 30 TAC Section 30.315 | At least $1,000,000 of commercial liability insurance with the commission named as certificate holder |
| Everyone else | Your contract | Usually $1,000,000 per incident when required at all |
If none of those rows is you, the contract sets the number. Read the insurance section before you buy, and do not round up. Whether you need it at all is covered at do I need pollution insurance if I'm not an environmental contractor.
What does pollution coverage cost a Texas contractor?
The premiums below are national illustrative ranges for $1,000,000 of coverage, not Texas rates. Premium follows your sales as well as your trade, so a larger firm sits above the range and a very small one below it. Your claims history and the words on your application move it too.
| Contractor profile | Illustrative national premium, $1,000,000 limit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Plumbing or air conditioning contractor | $1,500 to $3,000 | Refrigerant, fuel, and sewage exposure, but low frequency |
| Excavation and site work contractor | $2,500 to $6,000 | Fuel spills, disturbed soil, hitting a buried tank |
| General contractor | $4,000 to $10,000 | Broad scope, subs' work, mold from water intrusion |
| Mold cleanup company | $6,000 to $15,000 | Mold is the whole job, and the state minimum applies |
| Asbestos abatement contractor | $10,000 to $25,000 | Highest hazard, and the state minimum applies |
One difference matters when you pick a limit. On most contractors pollution policies the lawyers' fees come out of the limit, unlike your general liability policy where defense is paid on top of it. A $1,000,000 pollution limit that spends $300,000 on defense leaves $700,000 to pay the claim, so buy the limit the contract names rather than the smallest one available. Nearly all pollution policies also come from surplus lines insurers, specialty companies that write what standard ones will not, and Texas adds about 4.9 percent in tax and filing charges on top of their premium.
Should I buy a yearly policy or one for a single project in Texas?
A project policy covers one job from start to finish, usually with a few years of cover for claims that surface after you leave. A yearly policy covers every job you touch that year. For most Texas contractors doing several jobs, yearly is cheaper per job. Buy a project policy when one job is far bigger or dirtier than your usual work, or when the owner demands limits you do not want to carry all year.
How do I keep from being priced as a hazardous waste company?
Pollution underwriters price the worst thing your application could mean, so a vague description gets the high rate. Be precise.
- Say what you do and do not do. "Commercial plumbing, no tank installation, no cleanup work" prices very differently from "plumbing and related services."
- Split your sales. Show the share of residential, commercial, and any work near fuel, chemicals, or old buildings.
- Name the exposure the contract cares about. Often it is one thing, such as mold from a roof leak or a fuel spill. Some insurers write a narrower, cheaper policy for that.
- Bring five years of loss runs (your claims history report) and any environmental training certificates your crew holds.
- Ask about a combined policy. Some markets write general liability and pollution together for plumbers, air conditioning contractors, and site work contractors, cheaper than two separate policies.
A broker who reaches several specialty pollution markets at once prices all of them from one application, and will show the Texas tax and filing charges separately. Where to buy is at my contract requires pollution insurance, where can I get it, and the national checklist is at how to find cheaper contractors pollution liability insurance.
What this looks like in real life
Illustrative example. It is typical of what we see and is not a promise of how any specific situation would be handled.
The setup: An excavation contractor in Beaumont wins a $700,000 site package at a warehouse next to a refinery. The general contractor requires $1,000,000 of pollution coverage, and the owner's agent, who has never placed one, comes back with a yearly quote of about $11,000, illustrative, from a single market that classed the work as environmental contracting.
What went wrong: The application said "excavation and site services near industrial facilities" with no split of sales and no note that the contractor does no cleanup or tank work.
What it cost: A broker rewrote the description, split the sales, and sent it to three pollution markets. The yearly policy came back at about $4,200, plus roughly $205 in Texas tax and filing charges. Two more jobs that year would need the coverage, so yearly beat a project policy. Saving: about $6,600.
The fix: Pollution pricing follows the words on the application. Describe the work exactly, show what you do not do, and make several markets compete.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How can I find cheaper contractors pollution liability insurance in Texas?
Buy only the limit your contract or Texas license requires, choose yearly or project coverage based on how many jobs need it, describe your work precisely so you are not priced as a cleanup firm, and have a broker shop several specialty markets at once.
Q: Does Texas require contractors to carry pollution insurance?
Only three trades: asbestos abatement contractors and transporters, licensed mold cleanup companies, and registered underground storage tank contractors. Everyone else buys it because a contract asks, and the contract sets the limit.
Q: How much does pollution insurance cost a Texas plumber or air conditioning contractor?
Roughly $1,500 to $3,000 a year for $1,000,000 of coverage on a national illustrative basis, depending on your sales, the work you describe, and your claims history. Some markets write it combined with general liability for less than two separate policies.
Q: Is a project pollution policy cheaper than a yearly one in Texas?
For one job a year, usually yes. For two or more the yearly policy costs less per job and is already in place when the next contract asks, so count the jobs before you decide.
Q: Why does my Texas pollution quote have extra tax on it?
Nearly all pollution policies come from specialty insurers, and Texas charges about 4.9 percent in tax and filing charges on those policies. It applies to almost every pollution buyer, so the way to lower it is to lower the premium.
Q: Can a general contractor in Texas make me carry pollution insurance?
Yes, by contract. Texas law does not require it for most trades, but a general contractor can make it a condition of the subcontract. Ask for the limit, and the wording that says when the coverage has to apply, in writing.
How Morrow helps
Morrow is a licensed independent commercial insurance brokerage that works with contractors and trades every day. Placing pollution coverage for a Texas contractor at the limit the contract actually requires, across several specialty markets, is a review we do at no charge.
- Free contract review. Send us the contract or bid documents and we mark up the insurance section in plain English, whether or not you buy anything from us.
- Free, instant certificates. Clients issue their own certificates of insurance online in about a minute, any hour, any day, at no charge.
- Markets you cannot reach online. One application, shopped across many insurance companies for general liability, workers comp, auto, umbrella, and pollution coverage.
One more thing. This article is general information and is not legal advice or a statement of coverage. Your contract and your policy wording control in every case. Requirements vary by customer, by state, and by insurance company, so have a licensed advisor review your own contract and your own policy before relying on any of it.
Last updated: Reviewed by the Morrow commercial lines team. Last updated September 2026.