What does land evaluation before building in Texas actually cover?
Five questions, worked in order, because each answer changes the next. Is the parcel legally buildable? Will a septic system fit, and who permits it? How does a vehicle get from a public road onto the lot? Is any part of the tract in a mapped flood hazard area? Which agency reviews the site before dirt moves? A house plan answers none of those. The tract answers all five, from public records and a walk.
Paper first. Caldwell County will not issue its Residential Construction Permit unless the parcel is an original tract, a legally platted lot, or a tract exempt from platting, and the packet has to carry 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. Burnet County requires a plat unless every lot in the split is over 10 acres with no new streets, and it registers even an exempt split with Development Services. Llano County requires a plat where land outside city limits is divided into two or more parts. If your tract was cut out of a larger place, ask the county whether it was platted or exempt before you spend another dollar.
Then access. In Burnet County the precinct commissioner sets culvert location, length and diameter at a site meeting, and driveway approval has to be in hand before the 911 address is assigned. In Llano County nothing may be installed on a county right of way, driveways and culverts included, without the precinct commissioner's written permission plus a road cut permit. Travis County issues no permit at all for a driveway onto an unmaintained or unaccepted road, and where it does permit one the approach is concrete, meets the road at about 90 degrees, and uses corrugated metal culvert pipe at least 18 inches across. Williamson County Road and Bridge sizes the culvert. Bastrop County folds the driveway into the same development application. TxDOT approves a driveway onto a Farm to Market, Ranch Road or State Highway.
The output is not a drawing. It is a short list of constraints the design has to respect and a list of offices to call, in order. Design and plans follows from that, not the other way around.
Source: Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, 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.
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.
Source: Bastrop County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Does land evaluation before building in Texas change from granite to clay?
Yes, and sharply. Three different grounds sit under these six counties, and they fail in opposite directions.
Llano and Burnet counties sit on the Llano Uplift, a large granite batholith that is the major structural feature of central Texas, with Precambrian granites and metamorphic rocks forming the central dome. At Inks Lake State Park in Burnet County, on the east edge of the uplift, pink Valley Spring gneiss pushes up through the limestone. On ground like that the excavator is the variable. Site items, meaning septic, driveway, power, water, rock and the pad, get priced on the site itself rather than inside a per square foot number for the building, which is the split the cost guide covers. Ask an independent builder what happens if the trencher hits rock, and whose number moves.
The Edwards Plateau is the next ground: shallow soils underlain by limestone, many springs, stony hills, steep canyons. Faulting along the Balcones Fault Zone followed the uplift of that plateau, and streams crossing the zone recharge the aquifer where permeability is enhanced by dissolution of limestone. The Edwards Aquifer Protection Program covers eight Texas counties, and Travis and Williamson are two of them.
Then clay. The Blackland Prairies are named for deep, fertile black soils, gently rolling to nearly level at 300 to 800 feet, with most of the original prairie plowed. Houston Black soil cracks 0.5 to 4 inches wide from the surface down 12 inches or more when dry, and it formed in clayey residuum weathered from calcareous mudstone of Upper Cretaceous age, mainly on 1 to 3 percent slopes. Ask how the slab is engineered for soil that moves that much. The Post Oak Savannah is oak woodland patches in grassland, gently rolling to hilly at 300 to 800 feet, with sandy uplands, clay bottomlands, and a dense clay pan almost impervious to water only a few feet down. That pan is a drainfield question for whoever permits septic in your county.
Water follows the rock. In the uplift the minor aquifers are the ones to ask about: the Ellenburger-San Saba covers parts of 16 counties there, and the Hickory Aquifer carries radionuclides derived from the Precambrian granite of the uplift. If a well is the water plan, ask the driller which aquifer the tract draws from and what the water is tested for.
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: USGS, Karst Aquifers: Edwards Balcones Fault Zone Aquifer, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ GIS metadata, Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone - Chapter 213 Rules (TSMS), quoting 30 TAC 213.3(8), 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: Texas Water Development Board, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Water Development Board, read 2026-09-13.
Where can a septic system actually go on your lot?
Answer that before you pick a house site. A permit is required to construct, install, alter, extend or repair a septic system, and local programs may be stricter than the state minimum. Where a local standard is stricter and gives greater public health and safety protection, that stricter local standard controls. 30 TAC 285.10 lets a local entity adopt those stricter standards, each one justified in writing on public health and safety grounds and reviewed by the TCEQ executive director.
The state has an acreage exemption and most of these counties set it aside. 30 TAC 285.3 exempts a system from planning materials, permit and inspections when it serves a single family dwelling on a tract of ten acres or larger, meets all Subchapter D construction standards, causes no nuisance or groundwater pollution, keeps every part at least 100 feet from the property line, disposes of effluent on the property, and is the only dwelling on the tract. Travis County states no lot-size exemption at all. Bastrop, Caldwell, Burnet and Llano counties each permit every system whatever the tract size. That is five of the six, so confirm the exemption with your county rather than relying on it.
Minimum lot size is a separate gate. Travis County sets one acre for a home on a septic system. Bastrop County sets half an acre with a public water supply and one acre without one. Caldwell County sets one acre and allows only a licensed installer to build the system.
Know which office is the authorized agent before you file. An authorized agent runs its program under the order approved by the TCEQ executive director, and a delegation to a city covers only that city's incorporated area, so the county is usually the answer outside city limits. Travis County has seven agents, Burnet eight, Caldwell five, Llano three, Bastrop two (the county everywhere except the City of Bastrop), and Williamson exactly one, the county, covering all of it. TCEQ's On-Site Activity Reporting System returns every agent in a county with the area each one serves. The permitting authority has 30 days to approve or deny the planning materials and application, with a written explanation on denial and an appeal to its supervisory body. Installers must be licensed or registered by TCEQ, Installer I for standard systems and Installer II for all types, and TCEQ runs a public lookup.
Source: TCEQ, Getting a Permit for an On-Site Sewage Facility, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Health and Safety Code Sec. 366.032(b), 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: 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, 30 TAC 285.10(a), 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: TCEQ On-Site Activity Reporting System, search by county, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ OARS county search, Travis County (CNTY_CD 227), read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ OARS county search, Williamson County (CNTY_CD 246), read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ OARS county search, Burnet County (CNTY_CD 27), read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ OARS county search, Llano County (CNTY_CD 150), read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ OARS county search, Bastrop County (CNTY_CD 11), read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ OARS county search, Caldwell County (CNTY_CD 28), 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.
Source: Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Llano County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, read 2026-09-13.
Is your lot inside an LCRA zone near the Highland Lakes?
Check this first if the tract is near water. TCEQ designated LCRA as an authorized agent for the state's on-site sewage rules inside LCRA's jurisdiction, and there a permit is required before constructing or installing any on-site sewage facility, no matter the lot size.
LCRA regulates on-site sewage facilities within a 2,200 foot zone around the upper Highland Lakes and a 2,000 foot zone around Lake Travis, built from a Restricted Zone at each lake plus a Water Quality Zone extending 2,000 feet horizontally beyond that Restricted Zone's outer boundary. Five lakes are named in the rules: Buchanan, Inks, Lyndon B. Johnson, Marble Falls and Travis. LCRA appears as an authorized agent in Travis, Burnet and Llano counties only, and not in Williamson, Bastrop or Caldwell. One number is in dispute: LCRA's own pages say the Lake Travis zone is 2,000 feet, Travis County is reported to say 1,000 feet, and nothing on lcra.org checked for this site says 1,000 feet. Confirm your address with both offices. LCRA's address-searchable jurisdiction map is at waterquality.lcra.org/ossf, and Burnet County links to that map without saying which lake lots fall inside it.
Allow up to 30 days from submission for a new system permit, not counting design or site complications. An inspection is required on every transfer of ownership before LCRA approves a new owner for continued use, which matters when you buy a tract that already has a system. An aerobic treatment unit needs a maintenance contract for the first two years, after which the owner may do the work only after taking the class and passing the test.
The watershed ordinance is a second layer. It regulates buildings, roads, paved storage areas and parking lots plus any land-disturbing activity including clearing, excavating, grading, contouring and depositing fill, across 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. 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 file a written notification instead. Eleven local governments administer part or all of the ordinance, so the LCRA permit may not be the one that applies. Separately, the state construction stormwater permit TXR150000 starts at one acre of disturbance. For lake lots, read will my Highland Lakes lot work.
Source: LCRA On-Site Sewage Facilities Program, 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 Rules, Section 10.05(b), read 2026-09-13.
Source: LCRA On-Site Sewage Facilities Rules, Section 6, Area of Jurisdiction, read 2026-09-13.
Source: LCRA Water Quality Jurisdictions map, read 2026-09-13.
Source: LCRA On-site Sewage Rules Frequently Asked Questions, read 2026-09-13.
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: Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Does the Edwards Aquifer program reach your lot?
It reaches two of the six. The Edwards Aquifer Protection Program covers eight Texas counties, and Travis and Williamson are two of them, handled in this region by the TCEQ Austin Regional Office at (512) 339-2929.
Three zones, three answers. The recharge zone is where the aquifer's rock units crop out, plus nearby outcrops with caves, sinkholes, faults or fractures that could let surface water in. The contributing zone is the watershed upgradient of it, generally north and northwest: in Travis County all areas except the watersheds draining to the Colorado River above a point 1.3 miles upstream from Tom Miller Dam, and in Williamson County all areas except the watersheds draining to the Lampasas River above Stillhouse Hollow dam. The transition zone lies south and southeast of the recharge zone.
On the contributing zone a Contributing Zone Plan is triggered when activities disturb at least five acres, or are part of a larger plan of development or sale. Below that, no Edwards Aquifer plan is needed there. On the recharge zone there is no acreage floor at all: a Water Pollution Abatement Plan is required for any regulated activity and must be approved before construction starts. A site sitting partly on each is treated entirely as recharge zone. A single-family residence may not need its own plan if it is in a master community with an approved plan, sits on a lot larger than five acres as the only residence, or keeps impervious cover to 20 percent or less of the legal property.
Time it. Administrative review takes up to 30 days, technical review of a complete application takes 90 days, and construction cannot begin until approval issues. Check the parcel yourself on the TCEQ Edwards Aquifer Map Viewer and print the map for the application. In Williamson County a septic system over the recharge zone has to be designed by a registered sanitarian or a professional engineer.
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 GIS metadata, quoting 30 TAC 213.3(34), 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, 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, 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.
Source: Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, read 2026-09-13.
Does the floodplain map decide where the house sits?
Often it does. A permit is required before construction or development begins inside any Special Flood Hazard Area, and the floodplain administrator is responsible for making sure development complies and that permits are applied for. Search the address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, the official public source for National Flood Insurance Program flood hazard information, before you make an offer. The Elevation Certificate sets the flood insurance premium rate, documents elevation for compliance, and supports a LOMA or LOMR-F request. Land surveyors, architects and engineers authorized by law certify the elevation information on it.
Each county adds its own rules on top of that.
Burnet County: a Class A permit covers a site outside any flood hazard area and is application and payment only. A Class B permit covers a site inside one and needs an elevation certificate from a surveyor or an engineer's letter, a site plan showing the flood zone, and two inspections, pre-pour and finished construction. One foot of freeboard above base flood elevation is required and two feet recommended in an A zone.
Travis County: full architectural and site plans, lowest floor elevations, a flood venting plan, an elevation certificate before framing starts, a finished-construction certificate within 30 days, and no effect on the base flood elevation.
Bastrop County: 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. Floodplain review is built into the development permit rather than being separate.
Caldwell County: 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.
Williamson County: a floodplain development permit in or next to the 100-year floodplain, a structure at least a foot above base flood elevation, and a FEMA elevation certificate filed twice, after the slab and at completion.
Llano County: a floodplain development permit for any development in a mapped special flood hazard area, and a longer review than the county's usual seven to 10 business days.
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: FEMA 467-1, Floodplain Management Bulletin: Elevation Certificate, read 2026-09-13.
Source: FEMA, Elevation Certificate FAQ, October 2023, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, 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.
Source: Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Llano County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
What does each of the six counties ask before a house goes up?
Texas counties have limited authority here, and the six are not alike. Subchapter F applies only to a county that has first adopted a resolution or order opting in and is either within 50 miles of an international border or above a stated population threshold. In a covered county, new residential construction in the unincorporated area must meet the International Residential Code as published May 1, 2008, or the version in force in that county seat. The subchapter does not let a county require permission before construction starts and creates no zoning power. At least three inspections are required on a new house or duplex on a vacant lot: foundation before concrete, framing and mechanical before drywall, and on completion. The builder, not the county, contracts them, and the inspector must be one of six listed qualified persons.
Travis County, the strictest of the six: any development requires a permit, and development includes structures, driveways, work in the county right of way, septic, dividing land, and grading, excavation and clearing to prepare a site. Three third-party inspections where a professional builder does the work.
Bastrop County: a development permit for all development in the unincorporated county, including a single-family home, manufactured home, RV or tiny home. No county building permit, no certificate of occupancy and no county inspections, but Commissioners Court adopted residential building code standards by resolution on September 14, 2009, and the builder contracts the three inspections.
Burnet County: building permits outside city limits in two classes set by flood hazard status, and the county will not issue the septic permit without the building permit first.
Caldwell County: a Residential Construction Permit under the county Development Ordinance. It is a paperwork and lot-status review, not a building code permit, and the county does not inspect framing or electrical work.
Llano County: no building permits, no building department, no building code and no building inspector. A new house needs a county development permit, a septic permit, and a floodplain development permit where any of the lot is in a mapped special flood hazard area.
Williamson County: no building permits, no certificates of occupancy and no residential building code adopted for the unincorporated county. A Certificate of Compliance from the County Engineer comes first, and it has to be in hand before a septic application will be processed.
Source: Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.152, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.153(a), 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)(1), read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.154(a)(3), 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: Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Llano County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, read 2026-09-13.
What else is on the lot that a house plan will not show?
Habitat and fire. Both are public record, and both read the same before closing as after. The Houston toad has been federally endangered since October 13, 1970, range-wide audio surveys from 2006 to 2011 detected it in only nine counties including Bastrop, and critical habitat was designated in portions of Bastrop and Burleson counties on January 31, 1978. The seasonally moist sandy soils of the Lost Pines, over 75,000 acres of loblolly pine across parts of five counties and the westernmost stand in the United States, provide critical habitat for it. Bastrop County's own permit list includes a Lost Pines Habitat Conservation Plan decision where the tract is in the covered area, so ask Bastrop County Development Services whether yours is. The golden-cheeked warbler nests and breeds only in mixed Ashe juniper and deciduous woodlands of central Texas, arriving from January to March and leaving in late summer, so ask the county office that issues your development permit what it wants to see before you clear woodland like that.
Fire is the other one. The 2011 Bastrop County Complex wildfire covered 32,400 acres, 75 percent of it burning at extreme fire intensity, destroyed 1,660 homes and 36 commercial buildings, and burned for 37 days. Texas A&M Forest Service defines three home ignition zones by distance: Immediate at 0 to 5 feet, Intermediate at 5 to 30 feet, and Extended at 30 to 100 feet, out to 200 feet where available. In the intermediate zone tree crowns should be at least 18 feet apart with the mature canopy no closer than 10 feet to the home. In the extended zone spacing is at least 12 feet from 30 to 60 feet out and at least 6 feet from 60 to 100 feet out. On a wooded tract those distances help set where the house can sit, which is a siting decision rather than a landscaping one. Statewide planning data and maps come from TxWRAP, the Texas Wildfire Risk Assessment Portal.
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: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas A&M Forest Service, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas A&M Forest Service, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas A&M Forest Service, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Bastrop County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
What order do the checks happen in?
Several counties enforce one, and a packet filed out of order comes back.
Burnet County: 911 address first, then the building permit, then the septic permit. Driveway approval has to be in hand before the 911 address is assigned, and the county will not process an incomplete packet.
Williamson County: the Certificate of Compliance from the County Engineer before construction and before a septic application is processed. Septic applications go through the county portal only, and the 911 address from county GIS and Addressing comes before a county permit application.
Caldwell County: the 911 address, then the septic permit, which is one of the papers the Residential Construction Permit requires.
Bastrop County: the development permit, septic permit, driveway permit and 911 address are on the same county application, with septic applied for at the same time where there is no public sewer.
Llano County: the development permit doubles as the 911 address application, with seven to 10 business days asked for a review outside the floodplain and longer inside it.
Travis County: the site work itself is permitted, so grading, clearing, the driveway and dividing land are permit items, not preliminaries.
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: Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Bastrop County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Llano County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Is a lot evaluation the same as a survey, a soil test or a builder's site visit?
No. They answer different questions, and a tract usually needs more than one.
A survey draws the boundary and produces certified elevation where flood is in play, since land surveyors, architects and engineers authorized by law certify the Elevation Certificate. It does not tell you whether a septic system fits.
A soil and site evaluation for septic answers the drainfield question and feeds the permit. In Williamson County a system over the Edwards recharge zone has to be designed by a registered sanitarian or a professional engineer.
A lot evaluation reads across all of it: legal status, access, septic, flood, aquifer, habitat and fire. It turns separate answers into one buildable envelope and a call list in the right order.
A site visit from an independent builder tells you what that builder would do there. Texas does not require a state license to work as a general contractor, and the Texas Residential Construction Commission was abolished with its enabling Act expiring on September 1, 2009. Useful input, and not the county's answer.
Source: FEMA, Elevation Certificate FAQ, October 2023, read 2026-09-13.
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: Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, read 2026-09-13.
What should you ask an independent builder about your lot?
Ask about the site, not the shell. These are the questions that move money on a tract.
Which county office have you filed in here, and who signs off on what?
Who contracts the inspections, and who is the inspector? In Travis County a professional builder contracts three third-party inspections, at foundation before concrete, framing and mechanical before drywall, and completion. In Bastrop County the builder contracts three private inspections at the same three stages.
What happens if the trencher hits rock, and whose number moves?
How is the slab engineered for this soil?
Who designs the septic system and who installs it? Installers must be licensed or registered by TCEQ, Installer I for standard systems and Installer II for all types, and TCEQ publishes a license lookup.
Which licensed plumber and which licensed electrician are on the job? Plumbers are licensed by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, electricians by TDLR, non-exempt electrical work goes through a licensed electrical contractor, and both agencies publish a license search.
Am I the owner-builder on paper? An owner-builder building their own primary residence, or acting as their own contractor on it, is not penalized for failing to give the notices, so know which role you are in before you sign.
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 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: Texas Local Government Code Sec. 233.157(c), 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.
How do you get a lot evaluated before building in Central Texas?
Three moves, and the first two cost nothing. Pull the address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, on the TCEQ Edwards Aquifer Map Viewer if the tract is in Travis or Williamson County, and on LCRA's jurisdiction map at waterquality.lcra.org/ossf if it is anywhere near the lakes. Then call the county: Development Services in Llano, Burnet, Bastrop and Caldwell, the County Engineer's Office in Williamson, TNR Development Services in Travis. Ask two questions. What does this parcel need, and in what order?
Then walk the tract with an independent builder who already has those answers in hand. That is a different conversation than one starting with a floor plan. The shell against turnkey decision changes how the site items land, and that is covered in shells versus turnkey. For the whole sequence read how a Central Texas barndominium build runs end to end, and pick your county on locations.
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: Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Also on this site: barndominium construction.
Questions people ask
- Do I still need a septic permit if my tract is over ten acres?
- Almost certainly yes in these counties. The state rule exempts a system serving one single family dwelling on a tract of ten acres or larger, but only when it meets every Subchapter D construction standard, keeps all parts at least 100 feet from the property line, disposes of effluent on the property, causes no nuisance or groundwater pollution, and is the only dwelling on the tract. Travis County states no lot-size exemption at all, and Bastrop, Caldwell, Burnet and Llano counties permit every system whatever the tract size. Confirm with your county before you count on the exemption.
- Does Texas license home builders?
- No. Texas does not require a state license to work as a general contractor, and the Texas Residential Construction Commission was abolished with its enabling Act expiring on September 1, 2009. Local city or county requirements may still apply. The trades are different: septic installers must be licensed or registered by TCEQ, plumbers are licensed by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, and electricians are licensed by TDLR, with non-exempt electrical work done through a licensed electrical contractor.
- How long do the approvals take?
- Plan in 30 day blocks. The septic permitting authority has 30 days to approve or deny the planning materials and application. LCRA asks for up to 30 days on a new system permit, not counting design or site complications. An Edwards Aquifer application takes up to 30 days of administrative review plus 90 days of technical review, and construction cannot begin until approval issues. Llano County asks for seven to 10 business days on a review outside the floodplain and longer for floodplain, septic and commercial work.
- Which of the six counties is hardest to build in?
- Travis County is the strictest of the six. Any development there requires a permit, and the county counts structures, driveways, work in the county right of way, septic, dividing land, and grading, excavation and clearing as development. Llano and Williamson counties issue no building permits, which is not the same as no review: Llano requires a county development permit, a septic permit and a floodplain development permit, and Williamson requires a Certificate of Compliance from the County Engineer before a septic application is processed.
- My lot is near a Highland Lake. What changes?
- LCRA becomes the septic authority inside its zones, which run 2,200 feet around the upper Highland Lakes and 2,000 feet around Lake Travis, and a permit is required there before any on-site sewage facility is built, no matter the lot size. One distance is disputed: LCRA's pages say 2,000 feet at Lake Travis while Travis County is reported to say 1,000 feet, so confirm your address with both offices. The Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance is separate and requires an LCRA development permit above 10,000 square feet of impervious cover and/or one acre of land disturbance.
- Does a lot evaluation tell me what the build will cost?
- No. It gives you the constraints and the call list. Site items, meaning the septic system, driveway, power, water, rock and the pad, are priced on the site itself and sit outside any per square foot figure for the building. Cost is handled separately in the cost guide.
Four fields, no email
Get a free estimate on land and lot evaluation
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.