Texting Customers Legally: The Federal TCPA Rules Every Trade Business Should Know

Two kinds of texts, two levels of risk

For a trade business, most texts fall into one of two groups:

• Service messages to a customer about a job they booked: “Your technician is on the way,” an appointment reminder, or an invoice link.
• Marketing messages: seasonal tune-up offers, discounts, “refer a friend” or other messages encouraging a purchase.

The federal rules treat these differently, and the stricter rules apply to marketing. If a single message mixes a reminder with an offer, treat it as marketing.

Consent: what the rule text says

From the Code of Federal Regulations, 47 CFR 64.1200 (FCC rules implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act), checked on eCFR October 30, 2026:

• Automated calls and texts to cell phones (64.1200(a)(1)). Calls made using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice to a cellular number are prohibited unless made for emergency purposes or with the called party’s prior express consent.
• Automated marketing (64.1200(a)(2)). If the message includes an advertisement or is telemarketing and uses an autodialer or prerecorded voice, it needs prior express written consent (with narrow exceptions that don’t usually apply to trade businesses).
• What “prior express written consent” means (64.1200(f)). A written agreement signed by the person, clearly authorizing the seller to send advertisements or telemarketing messages using an autodialer or prerecorded voice, and stating the phone number. It must clearly disclose that the person is not required to sign it, or agree to it, as a condition of purchasing anything. An electronic or digital signature counts to the extent valid under federal law or state contract law.

Whether a particular texting tool counts as an “automatic telephone dialing system” is a legal question. The simple, low-risk practice is to get clear written consent before sending any marketing text, whatever tool you use.

Calling and texting hours

64.1200(c)(1) says no telephone solicitation may be made to a residential telephone subscriber before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time at the called party’s location. Under 64.1200(e), the rules in paragraphs (c) and (d) also apply to telephone solicitations and telemarketing calls or text messages to wireless numbers, as described in the FCC’s order. If your customers are in more than one time zone, use their time zone, not yours.

The National Do-Not-Call Registry

64.1200(c)(2) prohibits telephone solicitations to a residential subscriber whose number is on the national do-not-call registry. The rule’s definition of “telephone solicitation” does not include a call or message:

• To a person who gave prior express invitation or permission, or
• To a person with whom the caller has an established business relationship.

The rule defines an established business relationship by reference to a purchase or transaction within the 18 months before the call, or an inquiry or application within the three months before the call. A customer’s request to stop calls from your business ends that relationship for telemarketing purposes, even if they keep doing business with you.

Your business must also keep its own internal do-not-call list. Under 64.1200(d), a residential subscriber’s request not to be called must be recorded when it is made and honored within a reasonable time, no more than ten business days.

Opt-outs: “stop” means stop

64.1200(a)(10) sets out how customers can revoke consent to texts and calls:

• A customer can revoke consent by any reasonable method.
• Replying “stop,” “quit,” “end,” “revoke,” “opt out,” “cancel,” or “unsubscribe” to a text is a reasonable method per se. Other words must also be treated as a revocation if a reasonable person would understand them that way (for example, “please don’t text me anymore”).
• Revocation requests must be honored within a reasonable time, not more than ten business days from receipt.
• You can’t designate a single exclusive way to opt out.
• If your texting system can’t receive replies, each text must clearly say so and give reasonable other ways to opt out.

Under 64.1200(a)(12), you may send one confirmation text that only confirms the opt-out request, with no marketing, as the only additional message.

A practical setup for a trade business

1. On your booking form or estimate, ask separately for permission to text about the job, and (if you want to send offers) a separate, unchecked box for marketing texts with the disclosure the rule requires. Keep a record of when and how each customer agreed.
2. Identify your business by name in every text.
3. Send marketing texts only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the customer’s time zone.
4. Make sure your texting tool processes “stop” and similar replies automatically, and that office staff know to honor opt-outs that come in by phone, email or in person.
5. Check your state’s own rules, or ask an attorney, before running any text promotion.

If you are choosing software that sends texts, add these questions to our field service software checklist: how does it record consent, and how does it handle opt-out replies?