Texas Backflow Laws, Rules and Requirements

The short version

• If a property has a cross-connection that could contaminate the public water supply, Texas requires an air gap or backflow prevention assembly at the connection, sized to the hazard.
• Every required assembly must be tested when installed and at least once every 12 months by a TCEQ-licensed Backflow Prevention Assembly Tester using a gauge calibrated within the past year.
• The test is recorded on TCEQ Form 20700 (or an approved equivalent) and filed with the water supplier, which keeps it for at least three years.
• A customer service inspection by a licensed inspector is required before water is turned on at new construction and after major plumbing changes.
• Cities and water utilities enforce these rules locally and may add stricter ones.

Who regulates backflow in Texas

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) writes the rules for public water systems in Title 30 of the Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 290, Subchapter D (Rules and Regulations for Public Water Systems). Backflow requirements sit in §290.44 (water distribution), §290.46 (minimum acceptable operating practices) and §290.47 (appendices, including the hazard table). TCEQ also licenses the people who do the work: backflow prevention assembly testers and customer service inspectors. The public water system — your city water utility, water supply corporation or MUD — is the party TCEQ holds responsible for making sure customers comply, so it runs the local cross-connection control program, sends the notices and collects the test reports. The Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners licenses plumbers, who install assemblies; installation is plumbing, testing is a TCEQ license.

30 TAC §290.44(h) — the core rule

The subsection is titled Backflow, siphonage. Its opening sentence is the whole principle:

“No water connection from any public drinking water supply system shall be allowed to any residence or establishment where an actual or potential contamination hazard exists unless the public water facilities are protected from contamination.”

The rest of it, paraphrased:

• (h)(1)(A) Where a hazard exists, protection must be installed at the meter as an air gap or a backflow prevention assembly. The type required depends on the hazard, as listed in §290.47(f).
• (h)(1)(B) Protection at the meter is not required if the property has an adequate internal cross-connection control program — which must include annual inspection and testing by a licensed tester of all assemblies used for health-hazard protection, with test reports kept by the water purveyor, who remains responsible for compliance.
• (h)(2) Industrial and non-potable connections need backflow protection unless water system officials have no sanitary control over them.
• (h)(3) Overhead bulk water fill stations must have an air gap between the fill hose and the receiving tank.
• (h)(4) All backflow prevention assemblies required by the rules must be tested upon installation and annually by a licensed backflow prevention assembly tester. Testers must have completed approved training, passed the exam and hold a current license (h)(4)(A); may test domestic, commercial, industrial and irrigation connections, and fire lines only if employed by an Approved Fireline Contractor; test gauges must be verified for accuracy annually in accordance with USC or AWWA standards (h)(4)(B); and test reports must be on TCEQ Form 20700 or an approved equivalent (h)(4)(C).
• (h)(5) An assembly at the service connection is in addition to, not a substitute for, internal protection.
• (h)(6) No assembly is required where no contamination hazard exists.

30 TAC §290.44(h), as amended effective December 21, 2023.

§290.47(f) — which assembly for which hazard

Appendix F, Assessment of Hazards and Selection of Assemblies, is the table the rest of the rules point to. It lists premises that require isolation at the service and internal connections that require protection at the fixture, gives each a hazard rating, and names the minimum assembly. Abbreviations: AG air gap, RPBA reduced pressure principle assembly (RPZ), DCVA double check valve assembly, PVB pressure vacuum breaker, AVB atmospheric vacuum breaker.

Premises requiring isolation at the service connection

Internal connections requiring protection

Condensed from Figure: 30 TAC §290.47(f). The figure notes that AVBs and PVBs may isolate health hazards only in backsiphonage-only situations, and that premises with greater toxicity may require RPBA isolation at the service in addition to fixture protection. Consult the figure itself for the complete list.

§290.46(j) — customer service inspections

A customer service inspection (CSI) is a one-time inspection of a customer’s private plumbing for cross-connections, potential contamination hazards and illegal lead materials. The rule says plainly that it “is not a plumbing inspection” — it is limited to protecting the public water supply. A CSI certificate is required:

• before continuous water service is provided to new construction;
• on an existing service when the water supplier has reason to believe cross-connections or other contaminant hazards exist; and
• after any material improvement, correction or addition to the private water distribution facilities.

It may be performed only by a plumbing inspector or water supply protection specialist licensed by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, or by a customer service inspector licensed by TCEQ (course, exam and current license). The certificate is TCEQ Form 20699 or a form the executive director has approved.

Test reports and record keeping

• Test results go on TCEQ Form 20700, Backflow Prevention Assembly Test and Maintenance Report, or a local form approved as equivalent. The form records the assembly’s location, make, model, size and serial number, the readings from each test, pass/fail, repairs made, the tester’s name and license number and the gauge’s make, serial and calibration date.
• The form’s instructions state the test must be done no more than 12 months from the last test date, using the USC FCCCHR field test procedures (10th edition).
• A signed original goes to the public water supplier; the customer keeps a copy.
• Under §290.46(f), the water system must keep backflow assembly test and maintenance records for at least three years. Keeping your own copies for the same period is the easy way to answer a notice.

Tester licensing

A TCEQ Backflow Prevention Assembly Tester (BPAT) license requires a 40-hour approved course, a written exam at a TCEQ-approved testing center and a hands-on practical administered by the training provider. The license is valid for three years and renews with 24 hours of continuing education, 8 of which must be hands-on. A BPAT may test and repair assemblies on domestic, commercial, industrial and irrigation service; fire lines only while employed by an Approved Fireline Contractor. Test gauges must be calibrated for accuracy every year. Many cities additionally require testers to register with the city and file a copy of the license and gauge calibration certificate before reports will be accepted.

Glover Backflow Testing holds BPAT license BP0004744, plus Class ‘A’ Water (WO0023088) and Wastewater (WW0037848) operator licenses. You can verify any TCEQ occupational license through the TCEQ licensing search.

Fire lines

Water-based fire protection systems are a cross-connection and require an assembly — a DCDA for plain-water systems, an RPDA where antifreeze, foam or an auxiliary supply is involved. Testers on fire lines must be employed by an Approved Fireline Contractor; TCEQ’s regulatory guidance RG-345, Backflow Protection on Water-Based Fire Protection Systems, sets out how the rules apply. The State Fire Marshal and the TSBPE also have jurisdiction over sprinkler work. We coordinate with your sprinkler contractor on those; we test everything else on the property.

City and water-provider programs

TCEQ sets the floor. Your water supplier runs the program, and programs differ. As examples of what to expect in our service area:

• Dallas Water Utilities requires testers to register with Building Inspection and file test reports electronically through the SwiftComply portal (since November 2022). High-hazard assemblies are tested annually; irrigation assemblies are tested at installation, repair or replacement. A failed assembly must be repaired and retested within 30 days.
• Fort Worth, Denton, Decatur, Gainesville, Wichita Falls and the surrounding cities and water supply corporations each maintain a cross-connection control ordinance, an approved-tester list and their own report submission method (paper, email or an online portal). Most require annual tests on all assemblies, including irrigation, and send a notice 30–60 days before the anniversary.
• Consequences for a missed test vary: reminder letters, then notices, administrative fees, and ultimately termination of water service, which the rules authorize a water system to do to protect the supply.

We keep current registrations with the cities we work in and file the report for you. If you are in a city not listed, tell us and we’ll register before the visit.

What a property owner has to do

1. Know what you have. Irrigation? Fire line? Boiler? Chemical feed? Each is a cross-connection with a required assembly type. If you are not sure, a hazard survey or CSI will tell you.
2. Get it installed right by a licensed plumber or irrigator, at the height and location the assembly type requires, then have it tested on installation.
3. Test every 12 months by a licensed tester registered with your water supplier, before the anniversary date on your notice.
4. Repair failures within the deadline (typically 30 days) and retest.
5. Keep your test reports for at least three years.
6. Get a customer service inspection from a licensed inspector for new construction and after major plumbing work, before the water is turned on.

Sources

• 30 TAC §290.44(h), Backflow, siphonage — text at Cornell LII; official code at the Texas Secretary of State.
• 30 TAC §290.46(j), Customer service inspections, and §290.46(f), Records — text at Cornell LII.
• 30 TAC §290.47(f), Assessment of Hazards and Selection of Assemblies — section at Cornell LII (figure attached).
• TCEQ Form 20700, Backflow Prevention Assembly Test and Maintenance Report — tceq.texas.gov (PDF).
• TCEQ Occupational Licensing, Backflow Prevention Assembly Tester — tceq.texas.gov/licensing/licenses/bpatlic.
• TCEQ RG-345, Backflow Protection on Water-Based Fire Protection Systems — tceq.texas.gov (PDF).
• Dallas Water Utilities, Backflow Test Reports — dallascityhall.com.
• USC Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research, Manual of Cross-Connection Control, 10th ed. — fccchr.usc.edu.