Do I need a building permit? Barndominium rules in Travis, Williamson, Burnet, Llano, Bastrop and Caldwell counties

Williamson County has no county building permit to get at all. Texas sets no statewide rule here, because the county building code standards in state law apply only where a county has first voted to opt in. The table above carries the current status for all six. A county that issues no building permit is not a county that regulates nothing: septic, floodplain, driveways and land division are permitted across the six, and Travis and Williamson counties sit in the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program. Start with the county office named in your capsule below, before you sign a build contract.

Because the state made the county building code optional, and the option has conditions. The subchapter that sets residential building standards in unincorporated areas applies only to a county that has first adopted a resolution or order opting in, and that is either within 50 miles of an international border or above the stated population threshold. It is opt-in, not automatic. A county that never opted in has no residential building code to enforce, so it has nothing to issue a building permit against.

In a county that did opt in, the standard is fixed by statute. New residential construction in the unincorporated area has to meet the International Residential Code as published May 1, 2008, or the IRC version in force in that county seat. Even then the law stops short of gatekeeping. The subchapter does not let a county require permission before any construction begins, and it creates no zoning power. Several of the six counties below require a permit that is not a building permit. They are permitting the lot, the septic system, the driveway and the floodplain, which are separate authorities, and leaving the structure to code standards and to your contract.

There is no state license on the builder either. Texas issues no state license for general contracting, though a city or county may still have requirements of its own, and the Texas Residential Construction Commission no longer exists: it was abolished, and its enabling Act lapsed on September 1, 2009. No state agency inspects the house. The checks that exist are the ones your county attaches to another permit and the ones you buy. That is the first thing to understand before building a barndominium in Central Texas.

Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.152, as read September 13, 2026.

Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.153(a), as read September 13, 2026.

Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.153(d), 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 Sunset Advisory Commission, as read September 13, 2026.

Yes, in effect, and it is the strictest of the six. The county says any development in Travis County requires a permit, and it defines development broadly. The list includes structures and buildings, driveways, anything done in the county right of way, on-site sewage facilities, dividing land, and mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation and clearing land to prepare a site. Scraping a pad before the permit issues is itself the regulated act.

The application for a new single-family home states which International Residential Code year the build will follow. Where a professional builder does the work, at least three inspections are required: foundation before the concrete is placed, framing and mechanical before drywall, and completion of the residence. The builder contracts those inspections with a third-party inspector, and the county does not perform them. A manufactured home still needs the permit but is exempt from the inspections. These residential construction standards apply to work begun after September 1, 2009.

Travis County TNR Development Services issues the basic development permit, or a special flood hazard area permit where the lot is in the floodplain. TNR is also the state's authorized agent for septic in the unincorporated county, with the Lower Colorado River Authority taking lots near Lake Travis, and the county states no lot-size exemption at all. Every system in its jurisdiction is covered whatever the size of the lot, and the minimum lot size for a home on septic is one acre. Driveways onto a county-maintained road go through TNR and state roads through TxDOT, and the county issues no permit at all for a driveway onto an unmaintained or unaccepted road. Travis is also one of the regulated Edwards Aquifer counties, so on the western side of the county the aquifer plan comes before the site work.

TCEQ GIS metadata, Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone - Chapter 213 Rules (TSMS), quoting 30 TAC 213.3(8), as read September 13, 2026.

Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.

No building permit, but a development permit that does much of the same work. Anything developed in unincorporated Bastrop County needs a county development permit, and the county names single-family homes, manufactured homes, RVs and tiny homes. The permit class is set by the parcel's relationship to the mapped 100-year floodplain, so floodplain review sits inside the development permit rather than beside it. Where there is no public sewer, the development permit and the septic permit are applied for at the same time, and the driveway and the 911 address ride on the same county application.

The county issues neither building permits nor certificates of occupancy, and it performs no building inspections itself. It did something else. Its Commissioners Court adopted residential building code standards by resolution on September 14, 2009, so a new house in the unincorporated county has to meet the code that resolution brought in, and three inspections are required at three points: foundation, framing and mechanical, and completion, contracted by the builder with a private qualified inspector.

Septic is Bastrop County Environmental and Sanitation. Every installation or modification needs a county permit regardless of acreage, which sets aside the state acreage exception, and the minimum lot size is half an acre with a public water supply or one acre without one. In the floodplain the county requires two feet of freeboard above base flood elevation, extended to some Zone X areas where base level engineering has set flood depths, with a surveyor certifying the elevation. If your tract falls in the covered area, a Lost Pines Habitat Conservation Plan decision is part of the path, because the seasonally moist sandy soils of the Lost Pines are critical habitat for the Houston toad, federally endangered since its 1970 listing.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as read September 13, 2026.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Bastrop State Park, as read September 13, 2026.

Bastrop County Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.

Yes, in two classes, and the septic permit waits on it. Burnet County issues building permits outside city limits and will not issue the septic permit without one. A Class A permit covers a site clear of any flood hazard area. It is application and payment only, with no county inspection of the structure. The Class B permit covers a site within a designated flood hazard boundary and asks for more: 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.

The order is fixed and the county will not process an incomplete packet. The 911 address comes first, followed by the building permit and, last, the septic permit. Driveway approval has to be in hand before the 911 address is assigned, and it comes from the county commissioner for your precinct on a county road access permit. The commissioner sets culvert location, length and diameter at a site meeting. A driveway onto a Farm to Market, Ranch Road or State Highway goes to TxDOT instead.

Septic is Burnet County Development Services, or LCRA inside its water quality zone. The county permits and inspects every on-site system whatever the size of the tract, which sets aside the state acreage exception. The county publishes a link to LCRA's jurisdiction map and does not say which lake lots fall inside it, so search your own address on that map rather than guessing. In an A zone the county requires one foot of freeboard above base flood elevation and recommends two. A plat is required unless every lot in the split is over 10 acres with no new streets, and even an exempt split is registered with Development Services.

LCRA Water Quality Jurisdictions map, as read September 13, 2026.

Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.

Not a building permit, but a Residential Construction Permit, and it is a paperwork review rather than a code inspection. Caldwell County requires one for a new home outside city limits under the Development Ordinance that governs the unincorporated county. The county does not inspect framing or electrical work. What it reviews is the lot: the recorded plat or a metes and bounds survey, the deed, tax certificates showing current taxes paid, a sketch of the proposed structure, the approved 911 address, and the approved county septic permit.

The gate that catches buyers is legal status. The parcel has to be an original tract, a legally platted lot, or a tract exempt from platting, or the permit does not issue. Close on land without checking that and the build stops at the county counter.

Septic is the Caldwell County Sanitation Department, the state's authorized agent, and it requires an application, permit and inspection whatever the size of the tract. The minimum lot size is one acre, and only a licensed installer may build the system, which is a license you can verify before you sign anything. The same office runs floodplain: the Director of Sanitation is the county Floodplain Administrator, and every piece of construction or other development needs a floodplain development permit in the mapped flood zones, manufactured homes included. A home inside or within 300 feet of a floodplain must have its first finished floor at least two feet above the adjoining base flood elevation, with an elevation certificate. Driveways go through the Caldwell County Unit Road Department, and that permit applies even on a tract exempt from platting.

TCEQ, Occupational Licenses: On-Site Sewage Facilities (Septic Systems), as read September 13, 2026.

Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, as read September 13, 2026.

No. Llano County issues no building permits and runs no building department, no building code and no building inspector. Its development pages and its permit portal list development, septic, RV park, manufactured home, plat and road cut applications and nothing else, and the words building permit appear nowhere in the county's own on-site sewage order, subdivision regulations or flood damage prevention order.

What a new house does need is a county development permit, which is also how the property gets its 911 address, a septic permit, and a floodplain development permit where any part of the lot sits in a mapped special flood hazard area. Llano County Development Services runs all three. The county asks for seven to 10 business days on a review outside the floodplain, and longer for floodplain work, septic and commercial projects.

Septic is the county as the state's authorized agent, permitting every system whatever the tract size, or LCRA inside its water quality zone. The county's subdivision rules point lots inside that zone at LCRA's rules, and LCRA's septic rules name five lakes: Lake Buchanan, Inks Lake, Lake Lyndon B. Johnson, Lake Marble Falls and Lake Travis. Nothing may be installed on a county right of way, driveways and culverts included, without the precinct commissioner's written permission, plus a county road cut permit. Read what is missing from that list carefully. Nobody in Llano County looks at your foundation, your framing or your wiring unless you hire the inspection yourself.

LCRA On-Site Sewage Facilities Rules, Section 6, Area of Jurisdiction, as read September 13, 2026.

Llano County Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.

A Certificate of Compliance from the County Engineer. Williamson County states that Texas counties have not been given general zoning authority by the state legislature, so it does not deal with most site plans or issue building permits except for health and safety issues, and it has no authority to zone property for land use or to issue a certificate of occupancy. It has also not adopted the optional county residential building code standards, so it sets no building code for the unincorporated county and inspects no houses.

Before a new home goes up, the County Engineer's office issues the Certificate of Compliance. That is the floodplain check, and it must be issued before a septic application will be processed. A lot in a recorded subdivision may already carry one in its plat notes, so read the plat before you apply for anything.

The County Engineer also runs the septic program, with applications through the county's online portal only. Williamson County holds septic authority alone across the entire county, with no city or special district separately authorized and no LCRA role. In or next to the 100-year floodplain a floodplain development permit is required, the structure sits at least a foot above base flood elevation, and a surveyor files a FEMA elevation certificate two times, after the slab pour and again at completion. Driveways onto a county-maintained road go through Road and Bridge, which sizes the culvert, and a 911 address from county GIS and Addressing comes before a county permit application. Williamson is also a regulated Edwards Aquifer county, and only a registered sanitarian or a professional engineer may design a septic system over the recharge zone.

TCEQ OARS county search, Williamson County (CNTY_CD 246), 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.

Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, as read September 13, 2026.

Everything except the structure. In all six counties the lot is regulated even where the house is not, and these are the approvals that stop a build cold.

Two items on the list below carry a warning. LCRA's own pages put the Lake Travis septic zone at 2,000 feet, while Travis County is reported to say 1,000 feet, and nothing checked on LCRA's site says 1,000. That conflict is recorded, not resolved, so do not reason from a distance at all. Search your address on LCRA's map and ask the county. And on the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone there is no acreage floor. The five acre trigger is a contributing zone concept only. Details on the septic side are in the septic permit guide for a Central Texas barndominium.

• Septic. A permit is needed before anyone builds, installs, alters, extends or repairs a system, and local programs may be stricter than the state minimum. The state exemption at 30 TAC 285.3 for a single-family house on at least 10 acres carries hard conditions, and Travis, Burnet, Bastrop, Caldwell and Llano counties permit every system whatever the tract size anyway. Inside LCRA's jurisdiction a permit is required no matter the lot size. Check who your authorized agent actually is in TCEQ's county lookup before you assume; LCRA appears in Travis, Burnet and Llano counties and not in Williamson, Bastrop or Caldwell.

• Floodplain. A permit is required before construction or development begins inside any Special Flood Hazard Area, and the local floodplain administrator is responsible for making sure development complies and that permits are applied for. The FEMA Flood Map Service Center is the official public source, searchable by address, place name or coordinates.

• Driveway and right of way. All six counties control the connection to the road. In Burnet and Llano counties that means the precinct commissioner in writing, not a clerk, and Travis County issues no permit at all for a driveway onto an unmaintained or unaccepted road.

• Platting. Llano, Burnet, Williamson and Caldwell counties require a plat where land outside city limits is divided, and Travis County counts dividing land as development that needs a permit. In Burnet and Caldwell counties an exempt tract still has to be registered or still needs every other permit.

• Edwards Aquifer, in Travis and Williamson counties only. On the recharge zone every regulated activity must have its Water Pollution Abatement Plan approved before any construction begins, with no acreage floor. On the contributing zone, the Contributing Zone Plan kicks in once five acres of ground are disturbed or as part of a larger development plan. A single-family residence may be outside it if its lot tops five acres and holds that one residence alone, or impervious cover stays at or below 20 percent, or the site is inside a master-planned community that already has an approved plan. Check the parcel on the TCEQ Edwards Aquifer Map Viewer and call the TCEQ Austin Regional Office, phone (512) 339-2929.

• Stormwater. The TPDES Construction General Permit TXR150000 covers construction that disturbs an acre or more, or part of a larger common development plan that will. Below one acre no coverage is required.

• Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance. It covers the Lake Travis watershed in Travis County, the Colorado River watershed in Burnet County and a portion of Llano County, above the Regulated Pool Elevation. A development permit is required if impervious cover will exceed 10,000 square feet and/or land disturbance will exceed one acre; under both, a single-family residence goes the written notification route instead. Eleven local governments administer part or all of it under interlocal agreements, so the permit that applies may not be LCRA's.

TCEQ, Getting a Permit for an On-Site Sewage Facility, as read September 13, 2026.

TCEQ adopted rule text, 30 TAC Chapter 285, Rule Project No. 2021-030-285-CE, section 285.3, as read September 13, 2026.

TCEQ publication RG-472, On-Site Sewage Facility Rules Compilation, 30 TAC 285.10(b)(4), as read September 13, 2026.

TCEQ On-Site Activity Reporting System, search by county, 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 10.05(b), as read September 13, 2026.

LCRA Water Quality Jurisdictions map, as read September 13, 2026.

LCRA On-Site Sewage Facilities Program, as read September 13, 2026.

FEMA glossary, Permit for Floodplain Development, as read September 13, 2026.

FEMA, NFIP Floodplain Management Requirements study guide, Unit 7, as read September 13, 2026.

FEMA Flood Map Service Center, 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 Edwards Aquifer Protection Program home 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, Water Pollution Abatement Plan page, as read September 13, 2026.

TCEQ, Edwards Aquifer Private Residences page, as read September 13, 2026.

TCEQ, Edwards Aquifer Map Viewer page, as read September 13, 2026.

TCEQ, Stormwater Discharges from Construction Activities: Am I Regulated?, 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, Required notifications and permits, 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.

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.

Llano County 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.

The builder hires the inspector, not the county. In a county covered by the state code standards, a new house or duplex on a vacant lot takes at least three inspections: foundation before the concrete is placed, framing and mechanical before drywall, and one on completion. The builder contracts for those inspections, and the inspector has to be one of six listed qualified persons. The builder may use one inspector throughout or a different one at each stage.

On the ground that means three different situations across the six counties. Travis and Bastrop counties both require the three inspections and both say plainly that the county does not perform them. Burnet County inspects twice itself, one before the pour and one at finished construction, but only under a Class B permit within a designated flood hazard boundary; a Class A site gets no inspection of the structure. Williamson, Llano and Caldwell counties inspect no structure at all, and Williamson and Bastrop counties also issue no certificate of occupancy, so there is no final county sign-off to wait for.

If you are the owner-builder, one duty lifts and none of the rest do. An owner-builder building their own primary residence, or acting as their own contractor on it, is not penalized for failing to give the required notices. The notice obligation falls away. Septic, floodplain, driveway and plat approvals and any county development permit apply exactly as before, and so does the code standard the house is supposed to meet. What changes is that there is now nobody between you and a mistake in the slab. Hiring an inspector at those same three stages is the only check left on the work.

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.

Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.157(c), as read September 13, 2026.

Office of the Texas Governor, Business Permit Office, Texas Business Licenses and Permits Guide, 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.

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.

Llano County Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.

Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, as read September 13, 2026.

Inside city limits a city issues the permit and a code edition applies. The counties above govern unincorporated land only. Here is what the cities across the six counties require inside their limits.

A city extraterritorial jurisdiction, the unincorporated strip a city regulates outside its limits, is the part people get wrong. What the city regulates out there varies by city, so the list below runs city by city.

Two more reach further than people expect. Austin's extraterritorial jurisdiction reaches into four counties: Travis, Williamson, Hays and Bastrop. And any property with water frontage on Lake Austin or its tributaries is inside Austin Water's septic jurisdiction no matter how the lot or the house or the drainfield sits. Confirm your jurisdiction in writing before you price a build.

• Georgetown requires a permit before anyone builds, enlarges, alters, repairs, moves or demolishes a building, or changes what it is used for, or to work on electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing systems, under the 2021 International Residential Code effective November 1, 2023.

• Leander requires a permit before any construction starts inside the city limits, under the 2021 IRC for One and Two-Family Dwellings along with the 2023 National Electrical Code as the city amended it.

• Liberty Hill requires a building permit whenever building work alters a structure or adds a new one on the property, under the 2021 IRC, and the permit expires after 180 days unless construction continues or an extension is granted.

• Marble Falls requires a building permit for all construction inside the city limits, with new construction on its list, under the 2024 IRC and the 2023 National Electric Code.

• Burnet requires a building permit for any building work that alters a structure or adds a new one on the property, with dwellings first on the list, under the 2021 International Codes, the 2021 IRC among them, the 2021 Fire Code and the 2023 National Electrical Code, for new permits received on or after April 1, 2025.

• Llano's Code Enforcement Department issues building, plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits and inspects all permitted work, under the 2021 IRC and the 2021 National Electric Code.

• Bastrop requires residential permits under the International Residential Code and publishes a checklist for Infill Development New Residential Construction, working from the 2018 IRC with the 2023 National Electric Code.

• Lockhart requires a permit for most building work that alters a structure or adds a new one, with a new dwelling first on its list, under the 2018 IRC adopted by Ordinance 2021-39.

• In the Leander ETJ the only permits required are for signs and water or wastewater connections. No City building permit is required there.

• In the Marble Falls one mile ETJ the city regulates signs, subdivision of land, non-point source pollution and water quality, and issues no building, electrical or mechanical permits.

• In the Liberty Hill ETJ, subdivision and sign rules apply, platting and stormwater permits may be required, and City building permits are not required unless a development agreement is in place for the property.

• In the Georgetown ETJ the city regulates subdivision, stormwater, utility evaluation, driveway permits and sign permits, and its building permits do apply when the City is the water, wastewater or electric provider, covering new construction, plumbing, electrical and utility connections.

• In the Lockhart ETJ, city subdivision and signage rules apply, not the full city code.

• Bastrop holds subdivision authority inside its limits and throughout its ETJ, with an interlocal agreement giving Bastrop County review of part of it.

City of Georgetown Development Services, When do I need a Permit?, as read September 13, 2026.

City of Georgetown Development Services, Adopted Building Code, as read September 13, 2026.

City of Georgetown Development Services, Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) and City Limits, as read September 13, 2026.

City of Leander, Permits and Building Inspection, as read September 13, 2026.

City of Leander, Building Codes, as read September 13, 2026.

City of Liberty Hill, Building Permits and Inspections, as read September 13, 2026.

City of Liberty Hill, Frequently Asked Questions (Planning and Development), 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 Marble Falls FAQ, Do I need a permit outside the city limit?, as read September 13, 2026.

City of Burnet Building Department, as read September 13, 2026.

City of Burnet, Burnet Code Adoption 2021 (PDF, city-hosted), 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 Bastrop Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.

City of Bastrop Development Process, 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.

City of Lockhart Construction Standards and Contractor License Information, as read September 13, 2026.

City of Austin Planning, Jurisdictional Matters, as read September 13, 2026.

Austin Water, On-Site Sewage Facilities, as read September 13, 2026.

The contract is the code enforcement. Texas issues no state license for general contracting, though a city or county may still have requirements of its own, and the Texas Residential Construction Commission no longer exists: it was abolished, and its enabling Act lapsed on September 1, 2009. You are hiring an independent builder, and in Williamson, Llano and Caldwell counties no public official will look at the work. So write the checks into the agreement instead of assuming them.

None of this is exotic. Every item above is either a document the county already requires or a license the state already issues. Ask for them in writing before the first payment, and keep the certificates. If you want the lot side checked first, that is what land and lot evaluation is for, and the shell and turnkey decisions sit with turnkey barndominium construction.

• Name the code edition. State which International Residential Code year the build follows, in the contract, the way Travis County's own application does. In an opted-in county the standard is the IRC as published May 1, 2008 or the version in force in the county seat, so pin the edition rather than leaving it open.

• Name the three inspection stages: foundation before concrete, framing and mechanical before drywall, and completion. Say who schedules them, who pays, and that the reports come to you.

• Name the inspector's qualification. The inspector has to be one of six listed qualified persons, and the builder may use one throughout or a different one each time. Require the qualification in writing and require notice before each stage is covered up.

• Require trade license numbers and verify them yourself. Plumbers hold state licenses from the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, which runs a public license lookup. Electricians are licensed through TDLR, which runs a license search of its own, and non-exempt electrical work has to run through a licensed electrical contractor. The septic installer must be licensed or registered by TCEQ, with Installer I covering standard systems and Installer II all system types, and TCEQ publishes that lookup too.

• Require the elevation certificate where a floodplain permit applies, and name both filings where the county asks for two. Land surveyors, architects and engineers authorized by law certify it. It sets the flood insurance premium rate, documents compliance with the local floodplain ordinance, and supports a map amendment request.

• Make the county approvals conditions of payment. The 911 address, the driveway approval, the septic permit and the county development or construction permit are all documents with a date on them. Tie the draw schedule to those dates, not to a verbal assurance.

Office of the Texas Governor, Business Permit Office, Texas Business Licenses and Permits Guide, as read September 13, 2026.

Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, as read September 13, 2026.

Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.153(a), 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.

Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, as read September 13, 2026.

Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, 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.

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.

FEMA 467-1, Floodplain Management Bulletin: Elevation Certificate, as read September 13, 2026.

FEMA, Elevation Certificate FAQ, October 2023, as read September 13, 2026.

Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, as read September 13, 2026.

Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, 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.

Work the lot before the house. Each of these steps is a gate on the next one in at least one of the six counties, and doing them out of order is what costs months.

Two counties publish their sequence outright. In Burnet County the 911 address comes first, followed by the building permit and, last, the septic permit, with driveway approval ahead of the address. In Williamson County the Certificate of Compliance has to be processed before the septic application. Caldwell County will not issue the construction permit without the 911 address and the approved septic permit in the packet, and Bastrop County takes the development permit, septic, driveway and address on one application.

The office names, permit lists and review windows for all six counties sit in the Central Texas barndominium permit directory. Call the office before you call a builder.

• Confirm which county the parcel is in, and whether it is inside a city's limits or that city's extraterritorial jurisdiction. This single answer decides who permits the house.

• Confirm the tract's legal status: an original tract, a legally platted lot, or a tract exempt from platting. Caldwell County refuses the permit without it, and Llano, Burnet and Williamson counties require a plat when land outside city limits is divided.

• Check the parcel against three maps: the FEMA Flood Map Service Center for the flood hazard area, the TCEQ Edwards Aquifer Map Viewer if you are in Travis or Williamson County, and LCRA's address-searchable jurisdiction map if you are near the lakes.

• Look up your septic authorized agent in TCEQ's county search, because the agent, not the county line, decides who writes the permit. Then apply. The permitting authority has to say yes or no to the application and its planning materials within 30 days of receiving them, and a no comes with written reasons and a right of appeal to the body above it.

• Get the driveway approved by the precinct commissioner or the county road department, and by TxDOT on a state road.

• Apply for the county development, building or residential construction permit, in whatever order that county publishes.

• Only then sign the build contract, with the code edition, the inspection stages and the license verifications written into it.

FEMA Flood Map Service Center, as read September 13, 2026.

TCEQ, Edwards Aquifer Map Viewer page, as read September 13, 2026.

LCRA Water Quality Jurisdictions map, as read September 13, 2026.

TCEQ On-Site Activity Reporting System, search by county, as read September 13, 2026.

TCEQ, Getting a Permit for an On-Site Sewage Facility, as read September 13, 2026.

Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, 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.

Llano County 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.