What does barndominium design in Texas actually include?
Four things. The building: floor plan, elevations, sections, and the structural design of the frame and the foundation. The site: where the house, the driveway, the septic field and any well land, and the distances between them. The exhibits each office asks to see. And the written scope, which says what is in the package and what is not.
Texas does not require a state license to work as a general contractor, and local city or county requirements may still apply. The Texas Residential Construction Commission was abolished and its enabling Act expired on September 1, 2009. That puts the weight on paper. Your drawings and your written scope are the description of the house both sides work from later, so treat them as contract documents and get the exclusions listed. The full run from raw land to move in is in the guide to building a barndominium in Central Texas.
Plan review is not automatic either. The optional county residential code standards apply only to a county that has adopted a resolution or order opting in, and that is within 50 miles of an international border or above the stated population threshold. Even there, a county cannot require permission before construction starts. Where the standards apply, the builder contracts the inspections, and the inspector must be one of six listed qualified persons. So the check on your drawings is the inspector your builder hires.
Source: Office of the Texas Governor, Business Permit Office, Texas Business Licenses and Permits Guide, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.152, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.153(d), read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.154(a)(3), read 2026-09-13.
Who draws and seals barndominium design plans in Texas?
Fewer signatures are fixed in law than people expect. Texas does not require a state license to work as a general contractor, so settle the structural seal in writing: ask the office that will take your permit application whether it requires a sealed structural design, and ask your designer who seals the foundation and frame drawings.
Land surveyors, architects and engineers authorized by law certify the elevation information on a FEMA Elevation Certificate, the flood insurance program tool used to set the premium rate and document compliance with community floodplain rules. In Williamson County a septic system over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone has to be designed by a registered sanitarian or a professional engineer.
The trades carry public records. Plumbers are licensed by the state through the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, and electricians through TDLR, with non-exempt electrical work done through a licensed electrical contractor. Any on-site sewage facility installer or maintenance provider must be licensed or registered by TCEQ. Each has a public lookup, so match the name on the plan to the state record.
Building your own primary residence, or acting as your own contractor on it, you are not penalized for failing to give the statutory notices. That removes the notice penalty and nothing else.
Source: Office of the Texas Governor, Business Permit Office, Texas Business Licenses and Permits Guide, read 2026-09-13.
Source: FEMA 467-1, Floodplain Management Bulletin: Elevation Certificate, read 2026-09-13.
Source: FEMA, Elevation Certificate FAQ, October 2023, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Electricians program, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, Occupational Licenses: On-Site Sewage Facilities (Septic Systems), read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, On-site Sewage Facilities: Information for Regulators, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.157(c), read 2026-09-13.
Source: Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, read 2026-09-13.
Does a Central Texas county review your plans before you build?
Mostly no. Outside city limits no county here checks your drawings against a building code before you pour, and where a county does read paper it is the lot, flood and septic paperwork. What each one asks for:
Travis County, the strictest of the six: a permit for any development, including structures, driveways, work in the right of way, septic, dividing land and clearing or grading. The application states the IRC year, and a professional builder contracts three third party inspections the county does not perform.
Bastrop County: a development permit for all development, but no building permit and no county inspection. Commissioners Court adopted residential building code standards by resolution on September 14, 2009, so the three builder-contracted inspections apply.
Burnet County: building permits outside city limits in two classes. Class A, outside a flood hazard area, is application and payment with no inspection. Class B, inside one, adds an elevation certificate or engineer's letter, a site plan showing the flood zone, and two inspections. No building permit means no septic permit.
Williamson County: no building permits except for health and safety issues, no residential building code, no house inspections. A Certificate of Compliance from the County Engineer comes first, and the septic application waits on it.
Llano County: no building department, no building code, no inspector. A house needs a development permit, which also assigns the 911 address, plus septic and floodplain permits.
Caldwell County: a Residential Construction Permit that is not a building code permit, with no framing or electrical inspection. It reviews the plat or survey, deed, tax certificates, a sketch of the structure, the 911 address and the septic permit.
Source: Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Bastrop County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Llano County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, read 2026-09-13.
What changes if the lot is inside a city or an ETJ?
Inside city limits the city permit governs and its adopted edition is the code year on your drawings. Georgetown, Leander, Liberty Hill, Burnet and Llano are on the 2021 International Residential Code, Marble Falls on the 2024 IRC, and Bastrop and Lockhart on the 2018 IRC. Each requires a permit before construction, and Liberty Hill's expires after 180 days unless work continues or an extension is granted.
Extraterritorial jurisdiction is a separate question. Leander's ETJ requires only sign and water or wastewater connection permits, and Marble Falls issues no building permits in its one mile ETJ. Liberty Hill requires no city building permit there unless a development agreement is in place. Georgetown's building permits do apply in its ETJ when the City is the water, wastewater or electric provider. Lockhart's ETJ is subdivision and signage only, and Bastrop holds subdivision authority throughout its ETJ. Austin's extraterritorial jurisdiction reaches into four counties, Travis, Williamson, Hays and Bastrop, so a rural feeling parcel can sit inside a city's reach.
Source: City of Georgetown Development Services, When do I need a Permit?, read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Georgetown Development Services, Adopted Building Code, read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Leander, Permits and Building Inspection, read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Leander, Building Codes, read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Liberty Hill, Building Permits and Inspections, read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Liberty Hill, Frequently Asked Questions (Planning and Development), read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Marble Falls FAQ, Do I need a permit within the city limit?, read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Marble Falls Building Division, read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Marble Falls FAQ, Do I need a permit outside the city limit?, read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Burnet Building Department, read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Burnet, Burnet Code Adoption 2021 (PDF, city-hosted), read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Llano Code Enforcement Department, read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Bastrop Building and Permitting, read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Bastrop Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Bastrop Development Process, read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Lockhart, Do I need a permit? FAQ, read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Lockhart Council Packet, Ordinance 2021-39 (PDF, city-hosted), read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Lockhart Construction Standards and Contractor License Information, read 2026-09-13.
Source: City of Austin Planning, Jurisdictional Matters, read 2026-09-13.
How does the ground change the design, granite in the west and clay in the east?
It changes the pad, the drainfield and the driveway before it changes the floor plan. In the western counties the rock sits close to the surface. The Llano Uplift is a large granite batholith and the major structural feature of central Texas, with Precambrian granites and metamorphic rocks forming the central dome, and Burnet and Llano are core counties of it. At Inks Lake State Park pink Valley Spring gneiss juts up through the limestone, and around that core the Edwards Plateau carries shallow soils underlain by limestone.
East and southeast the problem inverts. The Blackland Prairies are named for deep, fertile black soils at 300 to 800 feet, and Houston Black soil cracks 0.5 to 4 inches wide from the surface down 12 inches or more when dry. In the Post Oak Savannah beside it, uplands are sands and sandy loams, bottomlands clay or clay loams, and a dense clay pan almost impervious to water underlies all soil types at only a few feet deep.
Four questions come out of that. What depth to rock does the foundation design assume at your pad, not the neighbor's? What does the drainfield become if excavation hits rock? What does a culvert take where rock is at the surface, a question for the precinct commissioner in Burnet and Llano counties? And where a clay pan sits a few feet down, what does the plan do with runoff?
Source: Texas Water Development Board, Report 360 Chapter 9, Paleozoic Aquifers of the Llano Uplift, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Water Development Board, Report 360 Chapter 9, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas Ecoregions, read 2026-09-13.
Source: USDA NRCS, Official Series Description, Houston Black Series, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Llano County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
What does the septic design add to the plan set?
A second site plan, competing with the house for the same ground. A permit is required to construct, install, alter, extend or repair an on-site sewage facility, and local programs may be stricter than the state minimum. The authority must approve or deny the planning materials and application within 30 days of receipt, with a written explanation on denial and an appeal to its supervisory body.
The state acreage exemption rarely helps here. Rule 30 TAC 285.3 exempts a system on a tract of ten acres or larger, but only where it serves the single dwelling on that tract, meets all Subchapter D standards, keeps every part at least 100 feet from the property line and disposes of effluent on the property. Rule 30 TAC 285.10 lets a local entity adopt stricter standards, and those control. In this area they do. Travis County states no lot-size exemption at all, at a one acre minimum. Bastrop County permits every installation regardless of acreage. Caldwell County requires an application, permit and inspection at any tract size, with only a licensed installer building the system.
Which office reads the design depends on the address. The Lower Colorado River Authority is an authorized agent in Travis, Burnet and Llano counties and does not appear in Williamson, Bastrop or Caldwell. It regulates systems within a 2,200 foot zone around the upper Highland Lakes and a 2,000 foot zone around Lake Travis, each a Restricted Zone plus a Water Quality Zone reaching 2,000 feet beyond it. A permit is required there at any lot size, an aerobic unit carries a required maintenance contract for the first two years, and a new system permit takes up to 30 days. LCRA's pages put the Lake Travis zone at 2,000 feet while Travis County is reported to say 1,000 feet, so confirm with both offices before the drainfield is drawn. Travis County alone has seven authorized agents.
Source: TCEQ, Getting a Permit for an On-Site Sewage Facility, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ adopted rule text, 30 TAC Chapter 285, Rule Project No. 2021-030-285-CE, section 285.3, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ publication RG-472, On-Site Sewage Facility Rules Compilation, 30 TAC 285.10(b)(4), read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Health and Safety Code Sec. 366.032(b), read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, Occupational Licenses: On-Site Sewage Facilities (Septic Systems), read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ OARS county search, Travis County (CNTY_CD 227), read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ OARS county search, identical entry returned for Travis, Burnet and Llano counties, read 2026-09-13.
Source: LCRA On-Site Sewage Facilities Program, read 2026-09-13.
Source: LCRA On-Site Sewage Facilities Rules, Section 6, Area of Jurisdiction, read 2026-09-13.
Source: LCRA On-Site Sewage Facilities Rules, Section 10.05(b), read 2026-09-13.
Source: LCRA On-site Sewage Rules Frequently Asked Questions, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Bastrop County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, read 2026-09-13.
Does the Edwards Aquifer decide the site plan in Travis and Williamson counties?
On the recharge zone it decides the schedule too. The Edwards Aquifer Protection Program covers eight Texas counties, two of them here. In the Austin region it covers Williamson, Travis and Hays counties, handled by the TCEQ Austin Regional Office at (512) 339-2929.
The zone sets the filing. The recharge zone is where the aquifer rock units crop out, plus nearby outcrops with caves, sinkholes, faults or fractures that could let surface water in. Any regulated activity there needs an approved Water Pollution Abatement Plan before construction starts, with no acreage floor. The contributing zone is the watershed upgradient, where a Contributing Zone Plan is triggered at five acres of disturbance. Below that, no plan. A site sitting partly on each is treated entirely as recharge zone.
Administrative review takes up to 30 days and technical review 90 days, and construction cannot begin until approval issues. A single family residence may not need its own plan if it sits in a master community with an approved plan, or on a lot larger than five acres with only that residence, or keeps impervious cover to 20 percent or less of the legal property. That last one is a design decision, so ask the TCEQ Austin Regional Office how impervious cover is counted, and check the parcel in the TCEQ Edwards Aquifer Map Viewer.
Source: TCEQ GIS metadata, Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone - Chapter 213 Rules (TSMS), quoting 30 TAC 213.3(8), read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ Edwards Aquifer Protection Program home page, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ GIS metadata, quoting 30 TAC 213.3(25), read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ GIS metadata, quoting 30 TAC 213.22(2), read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, Water Pollution Abatement Plan page, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, What Plans You Might Need, recharge zone branch, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, Contributing Zone Plan page, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, Edwards Aquifer Protection Program: What Plans You Might Need, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, What Plans You Might Need, contributing zone branch, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, Edwards Aquifer Private Residences page, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, Edwards Aquifer Map Viewer page, read 2026-09-13.
What do the lake and floodplain rules ask of the site plan?
Above the lakes, two totals on your drawings decide it. The Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance regulates buildings, roads and paved areas, plus clearing, excavating, grading and depositing fill, across the Lake Travis watershed in Travis County, the Colorado River watershed in Burnet County and a portion of Llano County. An LCRA development permit is required if impervious cover will exceed 10,000 square feet and/or land disturbance will exceed one acre. A single family residence under both files a written notification instead, and over 10,000 square feet of cover but under an acre of disturbance that route stays open only if the site meets the downstream buffer guidelines in the LCRA Technical Manual. Eleven local governments administer part or all of the ordinance, so the permit may not be LCRA's. One acre is also the federal line: construction general permit TXR150000 covers disturbing one acre or more.
A mapped flood zone adds a permit, an elevation and a certificate. A permit is required before construction or development begins inside any Special Flood Hazard Area, and the floodplain administrator is responsible for compliance and for making sure permits are applied for. Look the parcel up at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, then name the person who will sign your Elevation Certificate before the foundation is designed.
Freeboard and certificate timing are county decisions. Burnet County requires one foot above base flood elevation, recommends two in an A zone, and moves the whole permit to Class B. Bastrop County requires two feet. Caldwell County requires the first finished floor two feet above the adjoining base flood elevation within 300 feet of a floodplain. Williamson County requires a foot, with an elevation certificate filed after the slab and at completion. Travis County requires one before framing and a finished-construction certificate within 30 days.
Source: LCRA Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance program page, read 2026-09-13.
Source: LCRA Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance, Section 1, Title and Scope, read 2026-09-13.
Source: LCRA Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance program page, Required notifications and permits, read 2026-09-13.
Source: LCRA Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance, Section 4.1(b), Written Notification, read 2026-09-13.
Source: LCRA Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance program page, Interlocal agreements, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, Stormwater Discharges from Construction Activities: Am I Regulated?, read 2026-09-13.
Source: FEMA glossary, Permit for Floodplain Development, read 2026-09-13.
Source: FEMA, NFIP Floodplain Management Requirements study guide, Unit 7, read 2026-09-13.
Source: FEMA Flood Map Service Center, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Bastrop County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Does wildfire or nesting season change where the house sits?
Wildfire is a siting input here. The 2011 Bastrop County Complex wildfire covered 32,400 acres and destroyed 1,660 homes. Texas A&M Forest Service defines three home ignition zones by distance: Immediate 0 to 5 feet, Intermediate 5 to 30 feet, and Extended 30 to 100 feet, with tree crowns at least 18 feet apart in the intermediate zone and the mature canopy no closer than 10 feet to the home. Those are siting numbers, not landscaping numbers, so put the house where the zones can exist.
Two protected species move dates rather than drawings. The golden-cheeked warbler breeds only in mixed Ashe juniper and deciduous woodlands of central Texas, arriving from January to March and leaving in late summer, so if your lot carries that woodland the clearing window belongs on the schedule. The endangered Houston toad lives in the seasonally moist sandy soil of the Lost Pines, detected from 2006 to 2011 in only nine counties including Bastrop, so ask Bastrop County Development Services whether your tract needs a Lost Pines Habitat Conservation Plan decision.
Source: Texas A&M Forest Service, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas A&M Forest Service, read 2026-09-13.
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, read 2026-09-13.
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Bastrop State Park, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Bastrop County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Stock plans, a package, or drawings made for your lot?
A floor plan can come from anywhere. Four parts of the set cannot, and those four are where a cheap package turns into a second set of drawings.
Financing reads the same documents. An appraiser selects comparable sales that match the subject property's physical and legal characteristics, and where few truly comparable sales exist may use properties that are not truly comparable, if the analysis is documented and explained. An appraiser may not manufacture a comparable by adding a vacant land sale to the contract price of a home, which comes up on construction-to-permanent deals, and Fannie Mae's Selling Guide recognizes single-closing construction-to-permanent financing. Ask your lender what the plans and specifications have to show for the appraisal it will order.
No price appears on this page. What a building runs, and what the lot work adds on top, is in the Central Texas barndominium cost guide.
The code year on the application. Travis County asks the application to state the IRC year, and a covered county's standard is the IRC as published May 1, 2008, or the version in force in that county seat.
The foundation, drawn for the soil at your pad. Ask the engineer what soil information a stock detail was based on.
The septic design, drawn for the drainfield your lot can hold, under the authorized agent covering that address.
The flood elevation and the site plan, drawn from the parcel's mapped zone, its impervious cover total and its disturbed area.
Source: Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.153(a), read 2026-09-13.
Source: Fannie Mae Selling Guide, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Fannie Mae Selling Guide, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
What should you ask an independent builder before the drawings start?
Texas does not require a state license to work as a general contractor, so these questions are the screen. Get the answers in writing before money changes hands. Which of them sit inside a price and which stay yours to arrange is the shell or turnkey question, worked through on the shells versus turnkey page.
Which code year are these plans drawn to, and who contracts the inspections? Where the county standards apply the builder contracts them, and the inspector must be one of six listed qualified persons.
Who seals the foundation design, and was the soil investigation taken on this pad?
Who prepares the septic planning materials, and which authorized agent are they going to? TCEQ's county lookup names every agent and the area it serves.
Is the septic installer licensed or registered by TCEQ? Are the plumber and the electrician in the TSBPE and TDLR lookups?
If any part of this lot is in a Special Flood Hazard Area, who signs the Elevation Certificate and at what stage?
If the lot is on the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, when does the plan get filed, given 90 days of technical review before construction can start?
What is not in this package? The exclusions are where the second set of drawings comes from.
Source: Office of the Texas Governor, Business Permit Office, Texas Business Licenses and Permits Guide, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.154(a)(3), read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ On-Site Activity Reporting System, search by county, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, Occupational Licenses: On-Site Sewage Facilities (Septic Systems), read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Electricians program, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ Edwards Aquifer Protection Program home page, read 2026-09-13.
What should you check on the lot before you pay for a designer?
Start with the parcel, not the plan. Pull the address at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center for the flood zone, the TCEQ Edwards Aquifer Map Viewer if the lot is in Travis or Williamson County, and LCRA's address-searchable septic and watershed jurisdiction map near the Highland Lakes or Lake Travis.
Then call the office that permits your county: Development Services in Llano, Burnet, Bastrop and Caldwell counties, Travis County TNR, or the Williamson County Engineer. Ask what it requires before construction and what has to be approved first. A lot review before drawings is cheaper than a redesign after them, and what it looks at is on the land and lot evaluation page. The counties and towns covered are listed on the service area page.
Source: FEMA Flood Map Service Center, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, Edwards Aquifer Map Viewer page, read 2026-09-13.
Source: LCRA Water Quality Jurisdictions map, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Llano County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Bastrop County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, read 2026-09-13.
Also on this site: barndominium construction and do I need a building permit in Central Texas.
Questions people ask
- Do you need a building permit for a barndominium in Central Texas?
- It depends on the county and on whether the lot is inside a city. Travis County requires a permit for any development, including structures, driveways, septic and site clearing. Burnet County issues Class A and Class B building permits outside city limits. Bastrop and Caldwell counties require a county permit that is not a building code permit. Williamson County issues no building permits but requires a Certificate of Compliance from the County Engineer first, and Llano County requires a development permit that also assigns the 911 address.
- Who has to seal or certify a barndominium plan set in Texas?
- Texas does not require a state license to work as a general contractor, and the Texas Residential Construction Commission was abolished when its enabling Act expired on September 1, 2009. Land surveyors, architects and engineers authorized by law certify elevation information on a FEMA Elevation Certificate. In Williamson County a septic system over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone must be designed by a registered sanitarian or a professional engineer. For the structural seal, ask the office that takes your permit application what it requires.
- Can you use a stock barndominium plan on a Central Texas lot?
- You can start from one, but parts of the set have to be drawn for the parcel. The permit application states a code year, and in a covered county that is the International Residential Code as published May 1, 2008 or the version in force in the county seat. The foundation has to answer the soil at your pad, whether that is shallow soil over granite and limestone in the west or Houston Black clay that cracks 0.5 to 4 inches wide when dry in the east.
- How long do the plan-stage approvals take?
- A septic permitting authority must approve or deny planning materials and the application within 30 days of receipt. LCRA asks for up to 30 days on a new system permit inside its jurisdiction. An Edwards Aquifer application takes up to 30 days of administrative review and 90 days of technical review, and construction cannot begin until approval issues.
- Does the design itself decide whether extra permits apply?
- Yes, in two places. Above the Highland Lakes an LCRA development permit is required if impervious cover will exceed 10,000 square feet and/or land disturbance will exceed one acre, and a single family residence under both can proceed on a written notification instead. On the Edwards Aquifer a single family residence may avoid its own plan if it keeps impervious cover to 20 percent or less of the legal property, sits on a lot larger than five acres with only that residence, or sits in a master community with an approved plan.
Four fields, no email
Get a free estimate on design and plans
Your county and what you want to build. Free. No obligation. No fee to you at any point.
Tell us where the land is and what you want to build: the pad, the septic, the shell, the finish. Your request goes to one independent builder, and taking the project is their call.