How to bid on Texas government contracts

Texas is hundreds of buyers, not one

There is no single place where "Texas government contracts" are let. State agencies and universities buy under state rules and post in one place. Every city, county, school district, municipal utility district and river authority buys for itself, under its own chapter of state law, and posts wherever it chooses. Most of the work a small trade contractor can perform - mowing, janitorial, roof repairs, paving, fencing, HVAC service - is bought by that second group. Knowing which kind of buyer you are looking at tells you where the notice lives, what you must register for and how the award is made.

State agencies: the ESBD and the CMBL

State agency and university solicitations are posted on the Electronic State Business Daily, which the Comptroller's office describes as the place that lists state contracts over $25,000. Anyone can search it without an account.

To be sent state bid notices instead of going to look for them, register on the Centralized Master Bidders List. The Comptroller describes the CMBL as the database state purchasers use to build their bid mailing lists, and the annual registration fee is $70. You choose the commodity codes for the work you do, and notices go to the email address on your profile, so keep it current. Being on the CMBL does not put you on a city's or a county's list; those are separate.

Cities, counties and school districts: the $100,000 line

Local governments must use a formal competitive process - sealed bids or sealed proposals, with public notice - once a contract passes a dollar threshold set in state law. That threshold doubled in 2025. Senate Bill 1173, in effect since September 1, 2025, raised it from $50,000 to $100,000 for municipalities (Local Government Code 252.021), counties (262.023), school districts (Education Code 44.031) and local construction contracts (Local Government Code 271.024).

This matters in two ways if you are small:

• Above $100,000 you will find a public notice, a sealed process and a fixed opening date. These are the bids that appear on public bid boards, including ours.
• Below it a local government can buy with far less formality, often by asking a few vendors it already knows for quotes. A lot of work between $50,000 and $100,000 that used to be advertised no longer has to be. A buyer asking for quotes starts with the vendors it already knows, so being on the purchasing department's vendor list, and having introduced yourself, matters more than it did. Register with the cities, counties and districts you can actually serve, and tell the buyer what you do.

Many local governments set their own lower thresholds or advertise smaller work anyway, so treat $100,000 as the point where state law requires the formal process, not as a rule about every purchase.

Where local notices are posted

A Texas city or district may post on its own purchasing page, on a commercial bidding portal it has contracted with, in the local newspaper of record, or all three. Engineers acting for utility districts and small cities often post civil work on plan-room services. There is no state law that puts all of it in one place, which is the reason sites like this one exist. When you find a notice anywhere other than the buyer's own site, follow the link to the official posting and work from that.

The veteran program that replaced HUB

For years Texas had a Historically Underutilized Business program, and older guides and many agency web pages still describe it. The Comptroller's program is now VetHUB, Veteran Heroes United in Business, and it certifies businesses owned by service-disabled veterans. The Comptroller's program FAQ says a VetHUB business must be at least 51 percent owned, managed and operated by Texas-resident service-disabled veterans with at least a 20 percent service disability, be primarily based in Texas and meet the SBA's size standards, and that certification is free.

If you held or were planning on a HUB certificate, check your status with the Comptroller instead of assuming it carries over. If a notice or a prime contractor asks about subcontracting plans, read what that document says today, not what the program used to be. Nothing here says whether your firm qualifies; the Comptroller decides that.

What Texas notices commonly ask for

The notice is the authority on every one of these, and they vary by buyer:

• Bonds. Public construction work commonly requires a bid bond with the bid and performance and payment bonds at award. If you have never been bonded, start that conversation with a surety before you find the job. How bonds work.
• Insurance. Stated minimum limits, with the buyer named on the certificate.
• Wage rates. Public works contracts usually include a wage rate schedule the contractor must pay at least. It is part of the bid documents; price from it.
• Required forms. Conflict-of-interest and interested-party disclosures, and statutory verifications the buyer attaches. A missing signed form is a common reason a low bid is set aside.
• Licenses. Trades licensed by the state, such as electrical, plumbing and HVAC, need a current license, and the notice says whose name it must be in.

How to start this month

1. Pick the five to ten buyers within the distance you will actually drive: your city, the neighboring ones, the county, the school districts, the utility districts.
2. Register as a vendor with each. Most are free and take minutes.
3. Register on the CMBL if state agencies or universities near you buy your trade.
4. Watch open bids for your trade in Texas - janitorial, roofing, landscaping, or everything in the state - and read two or three complete bid packages before you bid on one.
5. Go to a bid opening. They are public, and the tabulation tells you what the work actually goes for.