Texas Building Permit Guides

Texas has no single statewide building code and no state licence for general contractors. State law makes the International Residential Code the base code for homes in cities, and the International Building Code the base code for commercial buildings; each city picks the edition it uses and adds its own amendments by ordinance. The electrical code (the National Electrical Code, adopted by TDLR) and the energy code apply statewide. Many cities also ask contractors to register before they can file. Public and commercial projects with an estimated cost of $50,000 or more must be registered with TDLR for Texas Accessibility Standards review, and the city cannot accept the building permit application until the project is registered.

Outside city limits, Texas counties have only limited powers over building. Most counties issue no building permits for homes, reroofs or home solar systems, though some larger counties run their own development or building permit for new structures in unincorporated areas, so check the county first. Either way the work has to meet state rules. Electrical work must be done by a TDLR-licensed electrician to the state electrical code, unless the owner does the work on the home they live in. Air conditioning work needs a TDLR-licensed A/C contractor. Plumbing needs a plumber licensed by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, except work the owner does on their own homestead. The state energy code also applies.

Some counties have opted in to state home-building standards (Local Government Code chapter 233, subchapter F). There, a new house or duplex, or an addition that adds more than 50%, must follow the International Residential Code, and the builder must hire a licensed engineer, architect, inspector or ICC-certified inspector to inspect the foundation, the framing and the finished home. The county may ask for notice before work starts and after the final inspection, but it cannot require approval before work starts or charge a fee. Counties with more than 250,000 people, and counties next to them, may adopt a fire code; where they do, commercial buildings, public buildings and apartment buildings of four or more units need county fire code review and inspections.

Septic systems need a permit from the county or other TCEQ authorised agent, or from TCEQ where there is none. If the building is in a mapped flood zone, the county’s flood rules apply: if the work costs 50% or more of the building’s market value, the building must be brought up to current flood rules, and some counties add up the cost of work over several years, so check the county’s flood order before a reroof that follows other recent work.

For solar, the utility still has to approve the interconnection, whatever the county does. In areas with retail electric choice that is the wires company, not the retail provider; elsewhere it is the electric co-op or the city-owned utility.

Solar is permitted as its own record type in most Texas jurisdictions rather than rolled into a general building permit, and residential and commercial photovoltaic are usually separate records with different document sets. Solar thermal — passive water and pool heating — is a third, distinct record.

A photovoltaic submittal is reviewed on two tracks at once: structural (roof load path, attachment spacing, uplift) and electrical (conductor sizing, rapid shutdown, point of interconnection). A single-line diagram and a roof attachment detail are the items most often missing on a first submittal; some cities want the attachment detail sealed by an engineer.

Texas HOA law protects solar, with limits. Under Property Code §202.010, a property owners’ association may not ban or restrict solar devices, and a rule that does is void. It may still require prior approval, and it may bar panels that rise above the roofline, sit somewhere other than the roof or a fenced yard or patio, do not follow the roof slope, or have frames, brackets or visible wiring that are not silver, bronze or black. It may choose where on the roof panels go, unless the owner’s chosen spot would produce more than 10% more energy, using a free NREL modelling tool. Once those rules are met, it may not refuse approval unless it decides in writing that the panels would substantially interfere with neighbours’ use of their land. During the developer period in a development of fewer than 51 homes, the developer may still ban or restrict solar. Start the HOA request at the same time as the permit.

Senate Bill 1202 took effect on September 1, 2025. It added section 247.0025 to the Local Government Code for “home backup power installations”: a generator, battery storage, a standby system and related equipment that powers a one- or two-family home and is connected at 600 volts or less. For these projects, plan review and inspections can be done by a qualified third party instead of the city or county — a licensed engineer, an ICC-certified inspector, a certified electrical inspector or a licensed master electrician, but not the applicant or the person whose work is being checked. Work can start once the reviewer sends the city or county a notice approving the plans; the reviewer must report results within 15 days of finishing each review or inspection, and the city or county must then issue the approval, permit or certificate within three business days. The city or county is not liable for these reviews, and the reviewer is liable for negligent work. The definition also lists “an electric generating facility”, so it may cover a solar array with no battery; that has not been tested, so ask the city or county how it applies the law. Since September 1, 2025, cities also may not add local electrical code amendments that regulate how a home backup energy system (up to 50 kW, or 100 kWh of storage) is installed or inspected.

Utility interconnection runs alongside the building permit, not inside it. Most utilities give permission to operate only after the final electrical inspection passes, and in areas with retail electric choice you apply to the wires company, not the retail provider. Since September 1, 2025, a home solar sale or lease contract must say who will get the permit and the utility’s approval.

A roof covering replacement requires a permit in most Texas municipalities. Repairs below the local threshold may not, but the threshold is scope-specific and set locally — confirming it with the building department before tear-off is cheaper than an after-the-fact permit.

Texas has no statewide product approval system like Florida’s. Compliance runs against the code edition the city has adopted and its local amendments, which can change from city to city in the same county. On the coast, windstorm rules add a second layer: the designated catastrophe area covers 14 coastal counties and parts of Harris County east of Highway 146, and there most new building, roof replacements and major repairs need a TDI windstorm inspection and certificate of compliance (WPI-8) for the building to qualify for Texas Windstorm Insurance Association cover. TDI publishes product evaluations for this. Outside that area, WPI-8 does not apply.

Hail is a major risk across inland Texas, and many insurers offer a discount for impact-resistant roofs. Under Property Code §202.011, an HOA may not ban shingles designed to resist wind and hail, to save energy, or to generate solar power, provided they look like the shingles allowed in the subdivision, are at least as durable and good quality, and match the look of nearby homes.

Reroof inspections are typically sequenced by the jurisdiction, commonly a decking or nail-off inspection before the covering goes down and a final afterward. Covering the deck before the required intermediate inspection means tearing it back open.