Most Texas agents will go an entire career without touching TREC Form 47-0, Addendum for Property in a Propane Gas System Service Area. It only applies to a specific, fairly narrow situation: a property served by a regulated propane distribution system rather than a natural gas utility or an individually owned tank. When it does apply, though, it's a required statutory disclosure -- not optional boilerplate -- and skipping it creates real exposure.
This guide covers what the form says, when it's triggered, who has to give notice to whom, and how it's different from the propane-related addendum agents actually see more often: the Fixture Leases Addendum.
What is a "propane gas system service area"?
Texas Utilities Code Chapter 141, Subtitle C (Propane Gas Distribution Systems) regulates companies -- "distribution system retailers" -- that build and operate shared propane distribution lines to serve a subdivision or area, the same way a natural gas utility would, except the fuel is propane instead of piped natural gas. This is different from a homeowner's individually owned or leased propane tank sitting in the backyard; Chapter 141 is about a retailer running lines to multiple properties in a defined service area.
Under Utilities Code Section 141.010(a), the distribution system retailer is required to record a disclosure notice in the real property records of every county where it operates a system, including a service map of the subdivisions or areas it serves and a summary of customers' rights under the chapter.
When TREC 47-0 is required
Section 141.010(b) is the part that reaches into a real estate transaction: if a person sells or conveys real property located in one of these propane gas system service areas, they must give the purchaser written notice, and the buyer must acknowledge receipt at or before execution of a binding contract for the purchase of the property, or at closing. TREC 47-0 is the promulgated form used to satisfy that notice requirement -- it isn't a form TREC invented independently, it exists specifically to implement this statute.
The form itself is short: one page, a property address line, the statutory notice paragraph, and signature/date lines for buyer and seller. Critically, the form requires that a copy of the distribution retailer's recorded notice be attached to the addendum -- the form language references Section 141.010(a) directly and states the seller can obtain that recorded copy from the county clerk's office where the property is located, or from the distribution system retailer itself.
What the notice actually tells the buyer
The substance of the disclosure is that the property may be in a propane gas system service area, that there may be special costs or charges the buyer will have to pay before receiving propane service, and that there may be a lead time required to construct lines or other facilities to reach the property. The form advises the buyer to confirm with the distribution system retailer what those costs and timelines actually are before relying on propane service being available on day one.
Practical steps for agents
- Ask early, not at the table. If a listing is in a rural subdivision without natural gas utility service, ask the seller (or check county records) whether propane is delivered via a shared distribution system retailer rather than an individually owned tank. That distinction determines whether 47-0 applies at all.
- Get the recorded notice, not just the form. TREC 47-0 without the attached recorded copy referenced in Section 141.010(a) is incomplete -- the form itself says so. Pull it from the county clerk or ask the retailer directly.
- Don't confuse this with the Fixture Leases Addendum. If the seller has a leased (not owned) individual propane tank on the property -- common with a single tank serving one house rather than a shared distribution system -- that's a fixture-lease disclosure issue (TREC 52-1), not a Section 141.010 service-area issue. See our guide on TREC 52-1 for that scenario.
- Timing matters. The statute allows acknowledgment either before the contract binds or at closing -- but waiting until closing to surface a propane service-area issue for the first time is a bad experience for a buyer who assumed standard utility gas was available.