How Texas regulates mobile home moves: licensing, how to look a mover up, USDOT rules and transport permits.
Researched from public sources, last checked March 14, 2026.
Texas licenses mobile-home movers. The primary regulator is TX Dept. of Housing & Community Affairs.
Last verified July 2026
A manufactured home moving through Texas travels under a TxDMV Manufactured Housing permit: a single-trip permit for a one-off move, an annual permit for movers running regular routes, or a house-move permit once the home is wider than 20 feet. All three come from the TxDMV Motor Carrier Division. The standard 30-, 60-, and 90-day overwidth permits that cover other wide loads don't apply to manufactured housing, so a home always moves on the manufactured-housing permit specifically.
Source: Texas DMV · Motor Carrier Division
Texas requires an oversize permit for any load wider than 8 feet 6 inches. A manufactured home is almost always wider than that, so in practice a permit is required for essentially every home move in the state.
Source: Texas Transportation Code · TxDMV OS/OW permits
Texas sets escort rules for manufactured homes separately from other wide loads. For a home between 16 and 18 feet wide, one escort vehicle is required — running ahead of the home on two-lane roads, and behind it on divided highways. Above 18 feet wide, two escorts are required, one in front and one behind. A home taller than 17 feet also travels with a height-pole escort to check overhead clearances along the route.
Source: 43 TAC §219 · TxDMV Motor Carrier Handbook
Most of Texas sits in HUD Wind Zone I. Fifteen Gulf-Coast counties are Wind Zone II, where homes are built to withstand stronger coastal winds. There's no statewide seismic requirement. One rule surprises people: a Wind Zone I home built on or after September 1, 1997 can't be installed in a Zone II county. Homes built before that date are grandfathered and can be placed in any zone.
Zone II counties: Aransas, Brazoria, Calhoun, Cameron, Chambers, Galveston, Jefferson, Kenedy, Kleberg, Matagorda, Nueces, Orange, Refugio, San Patricio, Willacy.
Source: Texas Occupations Code §1201.256 · HUD
A manufactured home in Texas is installed by an installer licensed through the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA), who files a Notice of Installation once the home is set. Before a home can be sold or exchanged, it needs either its original HUD label or a Texas Seal.
Source: Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs
Homes built before June 15, 1976 are classified as 'mobile homes' rather than manufactured homes. A pre-1976 home without a Texas Seal needs one before it can be sold, and individual cities are allowed to prohibit installing a pre-1976 mobile home — so whether one can be placed depends on local rules.
Source: Texas Occupations Code §1201.008
The transport permit belongs to the mover. It's issued to the licensed carrier and tied to their USDOT number or TDHCA license, and it can't be handed off to another company. This is one of the things a concierge move takes off your plate: the licensed mover carries the permit, not you.
Source: Texas DMV
The installation side is handled by a TDHCA-licensed installer, who files the Notice of Installation (Form T, also called MHD Form 1026) with the state. Transport and installation are two separate licensed roles — the mover gets the home there, and the installer sets and certifies it.
Source: TDHCA · Form T / MHD 1026
65 companies in our records hold a Texas credential for mobile home work.
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