Barndominium builders for the Highland Lakes and Central Texas
Your barndominium, on your land, built the way you pictured it. A clear-span great room under exposed trusses, a porch facing the water, a shop bay under the same roof. Barndominium builders, permits and ground for the Highland Lakes and the Austin side, in Travis, Williamson, Burnet, Llano, Bastrop and Caldwell counties. Share your county and the house you want. Each request goes to one independent builder, who decides which projects to take on.
Or call (512) 898-7204.
- Permit answers for six counties, each sourced and dated
- Asking commits you to nothing
- The builder's name is on the about page
Barndominium estimate, no charge
Put a price on the house you want
A minute of typing: the county, the kind of house, the timing.
Say which county your acreage is in and what should stand on it, a finished home, a shell, a shop with living quarters. It goes to one independent builder, who decides whether to take the project on.
First, your land
Tell us the county and the plan.
Six short questions, and "not sure yet" is a fine answer to what you want or when.
Then, the builder
It goes to one independent builder.
Your details go to one company and no lead list. They decide whether to take the project on, and their name is on the about page.
Last, the house
If they take it on, the plan and the price come in writing.
It is free, and you owe nothing for asking. Once you give the go-ahead, the pad, the frame, the porch and the finish go on the calendar, and at the end you get the keys.
This is what you are building
A house on your own acreage with the great room you cannot get in a subdivision, a porch you live on from April to October, and the shop under the same roof. The builder who takes your project builds it for your lot: the slab for your dirt, the porch facing your view, the shop sized for what goes in it.
The house on your land
Picture the finished house first
The permits and the dirt are below, for when you need them. This is what you are building.
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A clear-span great room
The frame carries the roof, so the living space runs wall to wall with no posts in it, under exposed trusses and a ceiling as tall as you want.
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A porch you live on
Eight to 12 feet deep on cedar posts, facing the water or the evening, the room a Central Texas house uses most from April to October.
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Glass that makes the land the point
Tall black steel-framed windows on the view side, so the granite, the oaks or the lake is in every room.
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A shell that keeps July outside
Closed-cell spray foam on the walls and the roof deck, and a standing-seam metal roof with the fasteners hidden.
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Room for the work and the toys
A shop bay or a covered RV bay under the same roof line, with a tall roll-up door, the truck on one side of a wall and the living room on the other.
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A slab built for your dirt
Granite, limestone and Blackland clay each ask for a different foundation, and the plans get engineered for the ground under them.
Each of these is worth raising with any builder who prices your lot.
Which build is yours?
Full turnkey barndominiums, post-frame homes on a slab, steel-frame shop houses, and shells you finish over time. Pick the one closest to your plan, or let the builder help you choose.
Why does the county decide more here than the builder does?
Because Texas gives out no license for home builders or general contractors, and beyond city limits it hands most house-building rules to each county. One county here permits every structure on unincorporated land and requires third-party inspections. Others keep no building department at all and handle a homesite through the septic, flood and driveway permits instead. One plan can need a plan review in one county and a septic permit and a culvert permit in the next county over.
Near the water there is a second layer. Around the Highland Lakes, the Lower Colorado River Authority regulates septic systems in a zone measured out from the shoreline, and inside it the river authority permits the system no matter the lot size or what the county would have said. On a lake lot, the first phone call is to learn which office holds your parcel. Each county page gives that county's answer with its source and date, and the chain at the top of each page puts all six side by side.
Office of the Texas Governor, Business Permit Office, Texas Business Licenses and Permits Guide, as read September 13, 2026.
LCRA On-Site Sewage Facilities Program, as read September 13, 2026.
LCRA On-Site Sewage Facilities Rules, Section 10.05(b), as read September 13, 2026.
What sort of ground will the house sit on?
Three kinds, and they change the build. West, in Llano and Burnet counties, the Llano Uplift puts pink granite and gneiss at or near the surface: rock in the trench for the septic, rock under the pad, and the same rock that makes the lake shorelines what they are. In the middle, western Travis and Williamson sit on the limestone of the Balcones Escarpment, thin soil over rock with the aquifer underneath. East, toward Bastrop and Lockhart, the Blackland Prairie clay shrinks and swells with the seasons and asks a slab to be engineered for it, and the Lost Pines around Bastrop sit on deep sand.
The ground changes the house, not the order of steps: a soil evaluation on your lot picks the septic system, and an engineer designs the slab for whatever is underneath. Sizing up a lot before you buy goes county by county.
The four things you can check before you sign
The county is the permitting authority on most lots. Near the lakes it may be the river authority instead. The soil evaluation comes first either way.
Whether your county permits and inspects a house at all, per that county's own site, with the date we read it.
The Colorado River and its creeks put a floodplain permit in play in every one of the six counties, and each county names its own floodplain administrator.
Construction-to-permanent loans and the appraisal question are where barndominium projects stall. Named programs, agency links, no figures.
The permits and the dirt, for when you need them
Everything a Central Texas build runs into before the frame goes up, one question at a time. Open what applies to your lot.
In what order do the county permits come on an unbuilt lot?
The order is not the same in all six counties, and running it backwards costs weeks.
Burnet County fixes it: the 911 address first, followed by the building permit and, last, the septic permit, and the county will not process an incomplete packet or issue the septic permit without the building permit. Your precinct commissioner has to approve the driveway on a county road access permit before the 911 address is assigned. Williamson County issues no building permit at all. What comes first there is a Certificate of Compliance issued by the County Engineer, which is the floodplain check, and the septic application will not be processed until that is done. A lot in a recorded subdivision may already carry one in its plat notes.
Bastrop County takes the development permit and the septic permit at the same time where there is no public sewer, with the driveway and the 911 address on the same application. Caldwell County will not issue its Residential Construction Permit until the paperwork around the lot is in: recorded plat or metes and bounds survey, deed, tax certificates showing taxes paid, a sketch of the structure, the approved 911 address, and the approved county septic permit. Travis County permits almost everything as development, structures, driveways, septic systems, land division, grading and clearing included. Llano County asks for seven to 10 business days on a review outside the floodplain and longer inside it.
Statewide, the office that permits septic systems has 30 days after your application and planning materials arrive to say yes or no, and a no comes in writing. Start the county permit answers and the septic permit walkthrough on the day the lot goes under contract. The long version of all of it is in building a barndominium in Central Texas.
TCEQ, Getting a Permit for an On-Site Sewage Facility, as read September 13, 2026.
Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.
Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, as read September 13, 2026.
Bastrop County Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.
Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, as read September 13, 2026.
Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.
Llano County Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.
What do you ask an independent builder when no one holds a state builder license?
The Texas Residential Construction Commission no longer exists: it was abolished, and its enabling Act lapsed on September 1, 2009, and no state roster replaced it, though a city or county may still have requirements of its own. These four questions do the work a license would. Write the answers down.
The trades under the builder are different. Septic installers, electricians and plumbers all hold state credentials you can check yourself on the agency's own public license search. What you are buying, a shell or a finished house, is a separate conversation: see shells versus turnkey, post-frame houses and steel-frame homes and shop houses.
Which inspections will you contract, and who performs them? In Travis and Bastrop counties three are required on a new house: foundation before the concrete is placed, framing and mechanical before drywall, and completion. The builder contracts them, not the county, and the inspector has to be one of six listed qualified persons.
Who is the septic installer and what is the license number? Every OSSF installer, apprentice, maintenance provider and maintenance technician in Texas is licensed or registered by TCEQ, Installer I for standard systems and Installer II for all types, and TCEQ runs a public lookup.
Who is the electrician and who is the plumber? Electricians are licensed through TDLR and non-exempt electrical work goes through a licensed electrical contractor. Plumbers hold state licenses from the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. Both agencies publish a license search.
Which county office issues each permit on my lot, and who files the applications, you or me?
Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, as read September 13, 2026.
Office of the Texas Governor, Business Permit Office, Texas Business Licenses and Permits Guide, as read September 13, 2026.
Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.154(a)(1), as read September 13, 2026.
Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.154(a)(3), as read September 13, 2026.
TCEQ, Occupational Licenses: On-Site Sewage Facilities (Septic Systems), as read September 13, 2026.
TCEQ, On-site Sewage Facilities: Information for Regulators, as read September 13, 2026.
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Electricians program, as read September 13, 2026.
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, as read September 13, 2026.
Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, as read September 13, 2026.
Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, as read September 13, 2026.
Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.
Bastrop County Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.
What does the contract have to carry where nobody inspects the house?
Three of the six inspect no house at all. Llano County runs no building department, no building code and no building inspector; what it issues is a development permit, which is also how the property gets its 911 address. Caldwell County's Residential Construction Permit is not a building code permit, and the county does not inspect framing or electrical work. Williamson County has adopted no residential building code for the unincorporated county and issues no certificate of occupancy.
Burnet is the fourth, and there it turns on the flood map. A Class A permit, clear of any flood hazard area, is application and payment only with no county inspection of the structure. The Class B permit, within a designated flood hazard boundary, needs an elevation certificate from a surveyor or a letter from an engineer, a site plan that marks the flood zone, and two inspections, one before the pour and one at finished construction.
So where the county checks nothing, the contract is the inspection. Name in it: the code edition by year, the way a Travis County application has to, since Bastrop's Commissioners Court set its standard by resolution on September 14, 2009 and Williamson has adopted none; who contracts and pays for inspections at foundation, framing and mechanical, and completion; whose name goes on the septic permit and which licensed installer builds the system; and who produces the elevation certificate where Burnet's Class B permit or Caldwell's two-foot finished floor rule calls for one. An owner-builder building their own primary residence, or acting as their own contractor on it, is not penalized for failing to give the statutory notices, but that is an exemption from a penalty, not protection. Those rules sit on the Burnet County and Caldwell County pages.
Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.157(c), as read September 13, 2026.
FEMA, Elevation Certificate FAQ, October 2023, as read September 13, 2026.
Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.154(a)(1), as read September 13, 2026.
Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.154(a)(3), as read September 13, 2026.
Llano County Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.
Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, as read September 13, 2026.
Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, as read September 13, 2026.
Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.
Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.
Bastrop County Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.
Why do two lots on the same road cost different amounts to build on?
Same road, same acreage, different cost to build, and the difference is usually underground or on a map.
Septic is the first split, and the county sets the minimum lot size, not the state. Travis County states no lot-size exemption of its own and sets one acre as the minimum for a home on a septic system. Bastrop County's minimum is half an acre with a public water supply and one acre without. Caldwell County's is one acre, and only a licensed installer may build the system there. The state's ten-acre exemption under 30 TAC 285.3 exists, but Burnet, Bastrop and Caldwell each permit every system regardless of acreage.
The Edwards Aquifer is the second, and among the six it reaches only Travis and Williamson. On the recharge zone there is no acreage floor: every regulated activity must have its Water Pollution Abatement Plan approved before any construction begins. On the contributing zone, a plan kicks in at five disturbed acres or when the work belongs to a larger plan to develop or sell land, and a site straddling the two is treated as recharge zone. So check the parcel on the TCEQ Edwards Aquifer Map Viewer before you make an offer, and read the Travis and Williamson aquifer page.
Floodplain freeboard is the third, and the number changes at the county line: one foot above base flood elevation in Burnet with two recommended in an A zone, two feet in Bastrop, a first finished floor two feet above the adjoining base flood elevation in Caldwell for a home inside or within 300 feet of a floodplain, and in Williamson a foot above base flood elevation with a FEMA elevation certificate filed after the slab pour and again at completion. What any of this costs is on the barndominium cost page. Start with land and lot evaluation.
TCEQ adopted rule text, 30 TAC Chapter 285, Rule Project No. 2021-030-285-CE, section 285.3, as read September 13, 2026.
TCEQ, Getting a Permit for an On-Site Sewage Facility, as read September 13, 2026.
TCEQ GIS metadata, Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone - Chapter 213 Rules (TSMS), quoting 30 TAC 213.3(8), as read September 13, 2026.
TCEQ, Water Pollution Abatement Plan page, as read September 13, 2026.
TCEQ, What Plans You Might Need, recharge zone branch, as read September 13, 2026.
TCEQ, Edwards Aquifer Protection Program: What Plans You Might Need, as read September 13, 2026.
TCEQ, What Plans You Might Need, contributing zone branch, as read September 13, 2026.
TCEQ, Edwards Aquifer Map Viewer page, as read September 13, 2026.
FEMA 467-1, Floodplain Management Bulletin: Elevation Certificate, as read September 13, 2026.
Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.
Bastrop County Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.
Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, as read September 13, 2026.
Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.
Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, as read September 13, 2026.
What is the one question that changes everything on a lake lot?
Is the lot inside LCRA's on-site sewage jurisdiction? Ask that before anything else.
TCEQ made LCRA an authorized agent for the state's on-site sewage facility rules inside LCRA's jurisdiction. That jurisdiction runs 2,200 feet around the upper Highland Lakes, meaning Buchanan, Inks, LBJ and Marble Falls, and 2,000 feet around Lake Travis. It is built from two layers: a Restricted Zone at each lake, plus a Water Quality Zone extending 2,000 feet horizontally beyond that Restricted Zone's outer boundary. LCRA is an authorized agent in Travis, Burnet and Llano counties and appears in none of the other three.
Inside that line, four things follow. A permit is required before any system is constructed or installed, whatever the lot size. Allow up to 30 days from the application date for a new system permit. An aerobic treatment unit needs a maintenance contract for its first two years, after which the owner may do the maintenance only after taking the class and passing the test. And an inspection is required on every transfer of ownership before LCRA approves the new owner for continued use, which catches buyers of an existing lake house.
One conflict is on the record and not resolved: LCRA's own pages put the Lake Travis zone at 2,000 feet, Travis County is reported to say 1,000 feet, and nothing on LCRA's site checked for this page says 1,000. Check your address on LCRA's searchable OSSF and watershed jurisdiction map, then call the office the map returns. Above the Regulated Pool Elevation a second rulebook applies: the Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance governs clearing, excavating, grading and building in the Lake Travis watershed in Travis County, the Colorado River watershed in Burnet County and part of Llano County. A single-family residence creating under 10,000 square feet of impervious cover and disturbing under one acre can file a written notification instead of a permit, and eleven local governments administer part or all of that ordinance, so an LCRA permit may not be the one that applies to you. Work through will my Highland Lakes lot work next.
LCRA On-Site Sewage Facilities Program, as read September 13, 2026.
TCEQ OARS county search, identical entry returned for Travis, Burnet and Llano counties, as read September 13, 2026.
LCRA On-Site Sewage Facilities Rules, Section 6, Area of Jurisdiction, as read September 13, 2026.
LCRA On-Site Sewage Facilities Rules, Section 10.05(b), as read September 13, 2026.
LCRA On-site Sewage Rules Frequently Asked Questions, as read September 13, 2026.
LCRA Water Quality Jurisdictions map, as read September 13, 2026.
LCRA Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance, Section 1, Title and Scope, as read September 13, 2026.
LCRA Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance program page, as read September 13, 2026.
LCRA Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance, Section 4.1(b), Written Notification, as read September 13, 2026.
LCRA Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance program page, Interlocal agreements, as read September 13, 2026.
Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.
Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.
Llano County Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.
How is financing a build different from buying a finished house?
Two things change: you borrow in stages, and the appraiser has less to work with.
Fannie Mae's Selling Guide recognizes single-closing construction-to-permanent financing, where the construction loan and the permanent mortgage close together and the construction loan converts automatically when building is finished. Texas Farm Credit states that it finances barndominiums and offers construction and homesite loans covering homes under construction and the homesite itself. Capital Farm Credit says it finances barndominiums and metal homes under its construction lending, and offers homesite loans for buying the lot with building deferred. The Veterans Land Board publishes exactly two loan programs for Veterans, Land Loans and Home Loans. USDA Rural Development runs two Section 502 programs in eligible rural areas, one lending directly to lower-income applicants and one backing approved lenders, with a property eligibility map you can check by address. Where a county adopts no residential building code, as Williamson has not, your lender's requirements may be the only outside standard on the job.
On the appraisal side, an appraiser selects comparable sales that match your property's physical and legal characteristics, because sales in the same area are the best indicator of value. Where few truly comparable sales exist, either because the improvements are unusual or because the neighborhood has few sales, the appraiser may use properties that are not truly comparable, as long as the analysis is documented and explained. What an appraiser may not do is manufacture a comparable by adding a vacant land sale to the contract price of a home. Ask your lender in writing, before you sign a build contract, how the appraisal will be handled and what happens if it comes in short. The detail is in financing and the appraisal gap.
Fannie Mae Selling Guide, as read September 13, 2026.
Texas Farm Credit, as read September 13, 2026.
Texas Farm Credit, as read September 13, 2026.
Capital Farm Credit, as read September 13, 2026.
Capital Farm Credit, as read September 13, 2026.
Texas Veterans Land Board, Texas General Land Office, as read September 13, 2026.
USDA Rural Development, as read September 13, 2026.
USDA Rural Development, as read September 13, 2026.
Fannie Mae Selling Guide, as read September 13, 2026.
Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, as read September 13, 2026.
Who is this site not for?
Three straight answers, so nobody wastes a call.
Not for a lot outside Travis, Williamson, Burnet, Llano, Bastrop or Caldwell County. Everything here is written to those six permit chains.
Not for anyone who has to break ground next week. In Travis or Williamson an Edwards Aquifer application takes as long as 30 days of administrative review plus 90 days of technical review, and construction cannot begin until approval issues.
Not for a lot inside city limits if you expect the county chain to apply. Georgetown, Leander, Liberty Hill, Marble Falls, Burnet, Llano, Bastrop and Lockhart each require their own permits, and the International Residential Code edition is not the same from city to city: Marble Falls is on the 2024 edition, Lockhart and the City of Bastrop on the 2018. If the fit is right, send your county and your plan. How this site is paid is on how this site earns, and the office list by county is in the county permit guide.
TCEQ Edwards Aquifer Protection Program home page, as read September 13, 2026.
TCEQ GIS metadata, Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone - Chapter 213 Rules (TSMS), quoting 30 TAC 213.3(8), as read September 13, 2026.
City of Georgetown Development Services, When do I need a Permit?, as read September 13, 2026.
City of Leander, Permits and Building Inspection, as read September 13, 2026.
City of Liberty Hill, Building Permits and Inspections, as read September 13, 2026.
City of Marble Falls FAQ, Do I need a permit within the city limit?, as read September 13, 2026.
City of Marble Falls Building Division, as read September 13, 2026.
City of Burnet Building Department, as read September 13, 2026.
City of Llano Code Enforcement Department, as read September 13, 2026.
City of Bastrop Building and Permitting, as read September 13, 2026.
City of Lockhart, Do I need a permit? FAQ, as read September 13, 2026.
City of Lockhart Council Packet, Ordinance 2021-39 (PDF, city-hosted), as read September 13, 2026.
The six counties covered here
Each county page gives that county's own permit answer with its source and date, plus the septic office, the floodplain administrator, and what the local ground does to a house.
What will it cost?
Only a builder who has walked your lot can price it. One Central Texas builder's working range per finished square foot is on the cost page, dated and named as one builder's figure, with the drivers that move it.
Where does the request go?
One independent builder receives your request. It is not sold to a lead list or sent to any other contractor.
What kinds of houses?
Turnkey barndominiums, post-frame homes, metal building homes and shop houses, shells a family finishes, and the lot evaluation and design work that comes first. Every home and barn type.
All six counties in one place
Six rows, one for each county, with every source a click away.
Each county's answer on a house permit, read on that county's own site and dated, next to its septic, flood and driveway offices and the number to phone. The county permit guide for all six counties.
Lot and permit questions
Will the county want a building permit for a barndominium here?
That turns on two things: the county your land lies in, and whether a city's limits take it in. Beyond city limits, Texas hands most house-building rules to each county, and these six do not agree. Every county page gives that county's own answer, with where it was read and when. Any lot without a sewer line needs a septic permit either way, and inside a city, the city's building department is the one that applies.
What happens if the build runs over budget partway through?
The fix comes before you sign, not partway through. A builder's per-square-foot price covers the building only. The septic system, driveway and culvert, power run, well or water meter, pad and any rock are priced on the site, on top of it, and rock found late becomes a change order. Get an itemized written scope with every allowance, finishes included, stated in dollars. A construction loan pays out in draws, so ask the lender how they are scheduled, who inspects before each one is released, and whether the loan can carry a contingency. Once work starts, get any change priced in writing before it is done. The financing guide covers the loan itself.
Who would build the house?
The builder whose contract you sign. Nothing gets built by this site. A request from here reaches one independent builder, whose name is on the about page, and whether to take a project is up to them. Texas has no state license for general contractors, so what protects you is the written contract, the engineered plans, and the county's permit record where the county keeps one.
Is a septic permit different near the lakes?
It can be. Close to the Highland Lakes, the Lower Colorado River Authority runs a septic program of its own in a zone near the shoreline; farther out, the county issues the permit. The septic permit page shows how to learn which office has your parcel.
What does a barndominium cost around Austin and the Highland Lakes?
Only the builder who walks your lot can price it. One Central Texas builder gave this site a working range per finished square foot, which the cost page shows with the date, and the rest depends on the site: septic, driveway, utilities, rock, the slab and the finish level.
Where does my request go after I press send?
To one independent builder, and never onto a lead list. Their name is on the about page, so you can know where your details land before you send them. Whether they take the project on is their call, and nothing is charged to you at any point.
Which places do these pages cover?
Travis, Williamson, Burnet, Llano, Bastrop and Caldwell counties: Georgetown, Liberty Hill, Leander, Burnet, Marble Falls, Llano, Bastrop, Lockhart and the land between them. Each county has its own page.
Will Llano County want a building permit for a barndominium?
Not a building permit. Llano County issues none and runs no building department, no building code and no building inspector. A new house there needs a county development permit, which is also how the property gets its 911 address, a septic permit from the county or from the Lower Colorado River Authority inside its water quality zone, and a floodplain development permit if any part of the lot is in a mapped special flood hazard area. Anything in the county right of way, driveways and culverts included, needs your precinct commissioner's written permission plus a road cut permit.
Does my septic permit come from the county or from LCRA?
It depends on where the lot sits. LCRA is a TCEQ authorized agent in Travis, Burnet and Llano counties, covering the Restricted Zones and Water Quality Zones around Lake Buchanan, Inks Lake, Lake LBJ, Lake Marble Falls and Lake Travis plus named cities and villages. It does not appear at all in Williamson, Bastrop or Caldwell, where the county program handles every system. Travis County has seven authorized agents in all and Burnet has eight, so the answer can change from one side of a road to the other. Check your address on LCRA's searchable OSSF and watershed jurisdiction map and confirm with TCEQ's county agent lookup before you assume which office you are dealing with.
I have more than ten acres. Does the state septic exemption apply to me?
Probably not here. The state exemption under 30 TAC 285.3 is narrow: a single-family house on at least 10 acres, built to every Subchapter D standard, creating no nuisance and not polluting groundwater, with every part of the system no closer than 100 feet to the property line, all effluent disposed of on the property, and no second home on that land. Local programs are allowed to be stricter, and they are. Burnet, Bastrop and Caldwell counties each permit every system regardless of acreage, which sets the state exception aside. Travis County states no lot-size exemption at all, and inside LCRA's jurisdiction a permit is required no matter the lot size.
Who approves the driveway onto my lot?
It depends on the county and on who maintains the road. In Llano County nothing goes in the county right of way, driveways and culverts included, without your precinct commissioner's written permission plus a road cut permit. In Burnet County the precinct commissioner issues a county road access permit and sets culvert location, length and diameter at a site meeting, and that approval has to be in hand before a 911 address is assigned. Williamson County Road and Bridge issues the permit for a new or modified driveway onto a county-maintained road and sizes the culvert. Travis County TNR permits a driveway onto a county-maintained road and issues none at all onto an unmaintained or unaccepted road. Bastrop puts the driveway on the same county development application, and Caldwell County's Unit Road Department issues it even on a tract exempt from platting. On a Farm to Market, Ranch Road or State Highway it is TxDOT.
What else does a Bastrop County lot have to clear?
Two things the county record raises only for Bastrop. The first is a Lost Pines Habitat Conservation Plan decision where the tract is in the covered area. The Houston toad has been federally endangered since its listing on October 13, 1970, critical habitat was designated in portions of Bastrop and Burleson counties on January 31, 1978, and range-wide audio surveys from 2006 to 2011 detected the toad in only nine counties, Bastrop among them. The second is fire. The 2011 Bastrop County Complex fire covered 32,400 acres, burned for 37 days and destroyed 1,660 homes and 36 commercial buildings, with 75 percent of it burning at extreme fire intensity. Texas A&M Forest Service defines three home ignition zones by distance from the house, Immediate at 0 to 5 feet, Intermediate at 5 to 30 feet and Extended at 30 to 100 feet, and publishes statewide data in the Texas Wildfire Risk Assessment Portal.
Does one house on a big lot need an Edwards Aquifer plan?
In Travis or Williamson County, it depends on the zone and the lot. A single-family residence may not need its own plan if it sits inside a master-planned community that already has an approved plan, or on more than five acres as the lot's single residence, or caps impervious cover at 20 percent of the legal property or less. Outside those conditions the recharge zone has no acreage floor: every regulated activity must have its Water Pollution Abatement Plan approved before construction. On the contributing zone, a plan kicks in at five disturbed acres or when the work belongs to a larger plan to develop or sell land. Check the parcel on the TCEQ Edwards Aquifer Map Viewer, and allow as long as 30 days of administrative review plus 90 days of technical review.
Have the land? Put a price on the house.
Asking is free and commits you to nothing. One independent builder receives your request. It is not sold to a lead list or sent to any other contractor.
Facts on this page last read September 13, 2026.