Scott Norman has spent more than two decades working at the intersection of housing policy and real-world construction. As CEO of the Texas Association of Builders and the association’s head lobbyist, he carries a perspective that most builders simply don’t get regular access to. He knows what happens in committee rooms, who’s filing the bills, and what those decisions actually cost by the time they reach a job site.
Scott grew up in East Texas, studied at UT Austin, then went to law school in Houston. He came back to Austin for what was supposed to be a six-month stint working for a state senator. That was over 30 years ago. He’s been a block away from the Capitol ever since — first as a legislative staffer, then as general counsel to a statewide engineering association, eventually landing at TAB in 2003. He’s been CEO since 2008.
The Texas Association of Builders represents roughly 10,000 member companies across 27 local home builders associations statewide. The membership covers the full range of the industry — builders, developers, remodelers, lenders, suppliers, title companies, and more. The number one reason the association exists, Scott will tell you plainly, is advocacy. Getting the right voices into the right conversations at the Capitol and in the agencies that shape how homes get built and what they cost.
“Most of these people — decision makers at all levels of government — are usually trying to do whatever they’re trying to do for good reasons, altruistic reasons. But the entire legislature, outside of many of them, have been in a home, maybe live in a home. They have not built a home, and they do not have the experience, expertise, background, our perspective on what it takes and the difficulty to do this.”
That gap between good intentions and real-world impact is exactly where TAB operates. One of the clearest examples is the statute of repose. Texas builders used to carry a liability tail of up to 12 years after a project closed. Working across several legislative sessions, TAB helped push through a bill that reduced that window to six years — provided the builder gives a written contract and warranty. It was the first time that statute had been amended in relation to the home building industry, and it has already started influencing conversations in other states.
Then there’s the shot clock legislation — a push to hold local governments accountable for how long they can sit on permit applications and development plan reviews.
“Some of the worst examples are two and three years before projects can get going, if they ever do. […] You go borrow money for a project, trying to build a new development — and if you’re caught up in a local government black hole of not getting approval, but you’re paying your monthly loan to the bank on a development loan, it can get very costly. We’ve had projects go under and not happen. Houses not get put on the ground because of this.”
Getting a defined timeline for government response is one of the practical ways TAB works to bring down the cost of housing at the source. Those costs matter more than most people realize. According to the National Association of Home Builders, 25 percent of the cost of a home traces back to regulatory burden — roughly two thirds of that hitting during the development phase alone. Texas A&M estimates that for every thousand-dollar increase in the median home price in Texas, 22,000 Texans are priced out of the market.
The conversation also gets into something many builders haven’t fully factored in yet: data centers. These projects compete directly with residential development for land, water, and power infrastructure. Local governments see the property tax revenue and the economic development angle, which makes them attractive. What that means for available lots and grid capacity in high-growth corridors is a question TAB is actively working through at the legislative level.
Workforce runs as another long thread through this episode. Scott talks about the years spent pushing for career and technical education funding in Texas schools. This past legislative session, TAB helped secure $850 million for Texas State Technical College through a constitutional amendment that passed with almost 70 percent of the vote. The average age of a licensed electrician in Texas was recently 59. A licensed plumber, 62. Part of addressing that gap is shifting how the general public thinks about the industry in the first place.
“A lot of people don’t realize whatever building they’re sitting in was built by humans — built outside in the mud with natural materials. A lot of people just think all these buildings around them — they don’t really ever think about how they appear. They weren’t just always here.”
And for the people who do enter the trades, the career ceiling is a lot higher than most outsiders assume.
“So many of our members and people in the trades — the subcontractors that have their companies — some of their companies are multi-million dollar companies. They started out as tradespeople, maybe had one crew, turned that into three, turned it into ten, and they may have hundreds of crews in multiple cities across the state, companies making multiple millions of dollars doing this.”
Scott also walks through what TAB membership looks like in practice — the local association structure, the policy committees, the HomePAC political action committee, and the Texas Builders Foundation, which funds scholarships for people entering the trades and construction-related fields. He also offers a two-word answer to what builders actually do for a living.
“Building futures is what our members do. You’re building futures for your workforce that’s working for you by employing them. You’re building futures by building communities. You’re building futures for the people living in those homes — where they’re going to work, eat, pray, live, raise a family. And you’re building future wealth, because you are putting improvements on the ground that are going to grow in value over time.”
If you’re anywhere near San Antonio in late July, the Sunbelt Builders Show is worth your attention. It’s the 25th edition, back at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on the Riverwalk, July 22nd and 23rd. Hundreds of builders and exhibitors, education sessions, keynote speakers, the Star Awards, and Michael will be there hosting live from the floor.
More at texasbuilders.org.
ABOUT SCOTT NORMAN
M. Scott Norman, Jr. is the CEO of the Texas Association of Builders, the second largest home builders association in the nation, representing nearly 10,000 members and their companies across the state. TAB member companies are responsible for more than 758,000 jobs and over $71.5 billion annually to the Texas economy.
An East Texas native and sixth-generation Texan, Scott earned his BA in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin and his law degree from South Texas College of Law. He has been active in Texas state government for over 30 years as a Capitol staffer, association executive, and registered lobbyist.
Scott is a founding board member of the Texas Builders Foundation and was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott in 2026 to the Texas Jobs Council. He also serves on the board of Operation Finally Home, a nonprofit that has completed and donated over 340 home projects in 33 states to military heroes, first responders, and their families.
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