(a) A person or governmental unit, acting jointly or severally, must be licensed by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to establish, conduct, or maintain a facility in this state.(b) An applicant for a license must submit a complete application form and license fee to HHSC through the online portal.(c) An applicant for a license must affirmatively show that:(1) the facility meets the standards of NFPA 101;(2) the facility meets the construction standards in Subchapter D of this chapter (relating to General Requirements for Facility Construction); and(3) the facility meets the standards for operation based on an on-site survey.(d) Before issuing a license, HHSC considers the background and qualifications of:(1) the applicant or license holder;(2) a controlling person of the applicant or license holder; and(3) an individual with five percent or more direct ownership interest in the applicant or license holder.(e) HHSC issues a license if it finds that the facility and any person described in subsection (d) of this section meets all requirements of this chapter. The license is valid for three years, as described in §551.15 of this subchapter (relating to Renewal Procedures and Qualifications). Each license specifies the maximum allowable number of residents to be cared for at any one time. The number of residents authorized by the license must not be exceeded.