Metal building contractors in Travis County, and the office that permits the building

The city line picks the office. Inside Austin, a building permit is required for any building or structure erected, enlarged or altered within the city's zoning jurisdiction, and a commercial building is reviewed by Development Services under the 2024 International Building Code with Austin's amendments, in force since July 10, 2025. The site plan comes first: a site plan, a site plan correction or a site plan exemption has to exist before the commercial building permit application, and the two run together only on an approved concurrent review request. From July 15, 2026 the department's target for new construction is seven business days up to 10,000 square feet, 10 business days from 10,001 to 25,000 and 20 business days above that.

Outside every city limit in Travis County, the county requires a Development Permit, and the county defines development to include buildings and other structures, driveways, right-of-way work and on-site sewage facilities. A commercial project that is not a dwelling files the Development (Non-Residential) permit with a construction cost estimate and a site plan, both sealed by a Texas-licensed engineer, and a pre-construction meeting sets which inspections apply. A commercial establishment also needs the Fire Marshal building permit before construction, which the next section covers. The two branches sit side by side with their sources in the switch at the top of this page; the split in full, against what Williamson County lists, is on metal building permits in Austin and Travis County.

A lot in Austin's extraterritorial jurisdiction goes to the county desk: the city states that it does not issue new construction permits in its ETJ and sends those applicants to the county, and the county's non-residential checklist asks for a city signature or permit before a county permit issues in any city's ETJ. Bee Cave's page lists new construction and structural changes among the work that needs its permit, and West Lake Hills says first comments on a complete commercial application take up to four weeks; both print with their sources in the cities table below. Pflugerville, Lakeway, Manor, Lago Vista, Jonestown, Sunset Valley and Rollingwood run their own permits, and this page states nothing about what each asks, because their pages were not read.

SourcesCity of Austin Development Services, commercial plan review, read 2026-09-20; City of Austin Development Services, site plans, exemptions and corrections, and Land Development Code 25-5-2 on Municode (Supp. No. 174), read 2026-09-20; City of Austin Development Services, building technical codes, read 2026-09-20; City of Austin Development Services, relocation permit, and City of Austin Planning, jurisdictional matters, read 2026-09-20; Travis County TNR Development Services, Commercial Site Plan, read 2026-09-20; Travis County Fire Marshal, permits and plan reviews, and Travis County Code Chapter 201, read 2026-09-20; Travis County TNR, non-residential development checklist, read 2026-09-20.

Less than the name suggests at the development desk, and a full code review at the Fire Marshal's. The county pages read state no building code edition for the development permit and describe no structural plan review by the development office. What the Non-Residential Development Checklist, revised May 11, 2023, does set are site triggers: a stormwater pollution prevention plan at one acre or more of disturbance, possible permanent water quality controls above 10,000 square feet of new impervious cover, an environmental resource inventory above 10,000 square feet of disturbance, a 45 percent impervious cover limit unless the driveway is on a state road, and a traffic impact analysis determination worksheet for a new county driveway. The FY2026 fee is $137 per non-residential application plus $1.99 per $1,000 of construction valuation outside the Austin ETJ, or $66 plus $1.99 inside it, rising on October 1, 2026 to $158 plus $2.29 per $1,000 ($76 inside the ETJ) with a new $15 IT service fee; a pre-development meeting is $543 on the new schedule.

The Fire Marshal is where a commercial metal building's plans get read against a code. Travis County Code Chapter 201, the county fire code adopted under Local Government Code Chapter 233, Subchapter C, requires plan review and a Fire Marshal building permit before construction or substantial improvement of any commercial establishment, public building or multifamily building of more than three units in the unincorporated county. The chapter was replaced effective January 1, 2026, adopts the 2021 International Fire Code with local amendments, adopts the International Building Code by reference, and makes the Fire Marshal both the county fire code official and the building code official. The definition of commercial establishment leaves out private garages, carports, sheds and agricultural buildings, so an equipment barn or a garage on a house lot is not on its list; a warehouse, a shop that runs a business or a retail building is.

The clock and the fee come from the same chapter and the statute behind it. Local Government Code 233.063 has the commissioners court issue or deny the permit within 30 days of the application, with no action in 30 days counting as approval, and the Travis County page repeats both. Permit fees are tiered by construction value from an ICC valuation table: $790 under $200,000, $790 plus $1.75 per $1,000 from $200,000 to under $1,000,000, $2,800 plus $1.00 per $1,000 from $1,000,000 to under $5,000,000, and $10,900 plus $0.50 per $1,000 at $5,000,000 or more. Plans go in as digital 24 by 36 PDFs stamped by a Texas licensed engineer through tcfmopermits.com, carrying a TNR development permit application number, so the development permit application is filed first. The final inspection begins within two business days of a written request, and a Certificate of Compliance is required before the building opens to the public. The office is at 700 Lavaca Street, Suite 1101, Austin, (512) 854-4621.

SourcesTexas Legislature Online, Local Government Code Chapter 233, county regulation of housing and other structures, read 2026-09-20; Travis County TNR Development Services, Commercial Site Plan, read 2026-09-20; Travis County TNR, non-residential development checklist, read 2026-09-20; Travis County TNR, FY2026 and FY2027 development related fee schedules, read 2026-09-20; Travis County Fire Marshal, permits and plan reviews, and Travis County Code Chapter 201, read 2026-09-20.

One department, three desks, all reached at (512) 854-4215. The floodplain desk is Travis County Code Chapter 464: a development permit is required before any construction or development in the unincorporated county, an A permit as the basic development permit and a B permit as the Special Flood Hazard Area permit, both through the Floodplain Administrator with scaled plans showing topography, the structures, the floodplain location and lowest floor elevations. The county has floodplain jurisdiction only outside city limits, the Administrator can issue a stop work order, and a violation is a Class C misdemeanor at up to $500 per day. The county pages read do not name the person who holds the title.

The septic desk is Travis County Development Services, the TCEQ authorized agent for on-site sewage facilities in unincorporated Travis County and in cities with interlocal agreements. TCEQ calls the local permitting authority an authorized agent and keeps no static list of them by county. Within 1,000 feet of Lake Travis the Lower Colorado River Authority holds the septic permitting authority, with a county development permit still required; TCEQ's directory lists LCRA for the restricted and water quality zones of Lake Travis and for Jonestown, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Briarcliff and Volente, at (512) 578-3216. A commercial system files the Non-Residential OSSF application separately from the development or driveway permit, with a soil evaluation, a plot plan showing wells within 150 feet, a 25-year floodplain statement, a maintenance affidavit for an aerobic or drip system, and an environmental resource inventory when developing an acre or more. FY2026 fees: a private sewage permit up to 500 gallons a day is $712 plus $125 per additional 500 gallons, an engineered construction permit up to 500 gallons a day is $1,262, plus a $10 TCEQ state fee; on October 1, 2026 those become $819 and $1,452.

The driveway desk depends on who maintains the road. A driveway onto a maintained Travis County road needs a Travis County Driveway Permit, usually issued with the non-residential development permit, at $165 in FY2026 and $190 from October 1, 2026. Rural culverts are corrugated metal pipe of at least 18 inches, or a 15 by 21 inch oval, with concrete safety end treatments, and a commercial driveway runs 12 to 25 feet wide. The county issues no driveway permit on a road it does not maintain, and a driveway onto a state highway is a TxDOT permit: Form 1058 goes to the Austin District, and the district has to execute it and take its 24 hours of notice before anything moves on the state right of way. Utility work in the county right-of-way is a separate utility installation permit with an engineer-sealed plan and a restoration bond of at least $5,000.

SourcesTexas Commission on Environmental Quality, getting a permit for an OSSF such as a septic system, read 2026-09-20; Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, OARS authorized agent record, Lower Colorado River Authority, read 2026-09-20; Texas Department of Transportation, Access Management Manual, chapter 2 section 4, permits, and the Use of Right of Way by Others Manual, access driveways, read 2026-09-20; Travis County TNR, floodplain maps, and Travis County Code Chapter 464, read 2026-09-20; Travis County TNR Development Services, commercial on-site sewage facility permit, read 2026-09-20; Travis County TNR Development Services, commercial driveway permit, read 2026-09-20.

It reaches part of the county, and only TCEQ's official maps say which parcels. TCEQ names Travis among the eight counties in its Edwards Aquifer Protection Program, handled with Williamson and Hays by the Austin Regional Office at (512) 339-2929, and says that before building on the recharge, transition or contributing zones the plan has to be reviewed and approved by the program first. The definition the construction general permit carries for Travis County, citing 30 TAC 213.3, is all areas except the Colorado River watershed above a point 1.3 miles upstream from Tom Miller Dam: the ground where runoff flows downgradient to the recharge zone, upstream and generally north and northwest of it.

A Contributing Zone Plan is required for any regulated activity in the contributing zone under 30 TAC 213.21, approved before construction begins, and TCEQ's decision page asks whether the work is a regulated activity and whether it will disturb at least five acres or is part of a larger plan of development or sale; if not, its page says no plan is needed. Whether one lot is inside the line is a map question TCEQ answers only with the official maps it keeps in its offices and a viewer it labels informational and not suitable for legal, engineering or surveying purposes; no page read describes a written parcel determination, so the confirming call goes to the regional office. The plan, the clock and the fee form are on the Edwards Aquifer contributing zone guide.

One more district reaches part of Travis County and stops at the wellhead. The Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District covers 430 square miles in parts of Travis, Hays and Caldwell counties, registers every well inside it and permits a new Edwards or Trinity well, and its pages describe nothing that reaches a building owner who is not drilling or owning a well.

SourcesTexas Commission on Environmental Quality, Edwards Aquifer Protection Program, read 2026-09-20; Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, TPDES general permit TXR150000, 2023 construction general permit, Part I.B definitions, read 2026-09-20; Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Edwards Aquifer Protection Program, what plans you might need, and the Contributing Zone Plan page, read 2026-09-20; The agency pages were read and describe no written parcel determination.Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Edwards Aquifer map viewer, read 2026-09-20; Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, well permits and forms, read 2026-09-20.

Both questions are answered by the office before the statute gets a say. Inside Austin, all plans for work in a building over 5,000 square feet are sealed by a professional engineer, new construction lists structural plans with a site-specific geotechnical report, and the TDLR registration confirmation is part of the commercial application. Outside the cities, the county wants the site plan and the cost estimate sealed by a Texas-licensed engineer, and the Fire Marshal's plans arrive stamped by one. So on a commercial metal building in Travis County a Texas professional engineer is on the sealed sheets whichever desk has the lot.

The statute matters for the small building no office reads. Occupations Code 1001.056 exempts from engineering licensing the plans for a one-story building of no more than 5,000 square feet with no clear span over 24 feet on the narrow side, provided no engineering services are offered to the public, and where such a building spans over 24 feet only the roof supporting members have to be engineered or pre-engineered; a private dwelling, a garage pertinent to one, and a private farm, ranch or agricultural building are exempt as well. An architect is a separate question, and Occupations Code 1051.606 exempts a privately owned commercial building of no more than two stories or 20,000 square feet, or a warehouse with limited public access. A metal shop on a house lot in the unincorporated county usually sits inside both exemptions; a warehouse usually sits outside the first.

The $50,000 line runs on estimated construction cost, not on the office. TDLR says a project whose total estimated cost is under $50,000 is not submitted for registration or plan review, though the Texas Accessibility Standards still apply to it, and a project of $50,000 or more submits a full set of construction documents under its Rule 68.50. Government Code 469.102 puts the duty to submit on the design professional with overall design responsibility, by the 20th day after the plans are issued, stops the owner applying for a local building permit until those plans are in, and stops a local permit official from accepting a permit application for a building subject to the line unless registration is verified. In Travis County that puts the TDLR submission ahead of the city or the county application, whichever desk has the lot.

SourcesCity of Austin Development Services, commercial building plan review and inspection permit fees (FY 2025-26) and the commercial building application checklist, read 2026-09-20; Texas Legislature Online, Occupations Code Chapter 1001, engineers, read 2026-09-20; Texas Legislature Online, Occupations Code Chapter 1051, architects, read 2026-09-20; Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Architectural Barriers frequently asked questions, read 2026-09-20; Texas Legislature Online, Government Code Chapter 469, elimination of architectural barriers, read 2026-09-20; Travis County TNR Development Services, Commercial Site Plan, read 2026-09-20; Travis County Fire Marshal, permits and plan reviews, and Travis County Code Chapter 201, read 2026-09-20.

The ground changes at a line that runs roughly along MoPac, and the slab design changes with it. The 1974 Soil Survey of Travis County puts the county astride the Balcones Escarpment, with elevation running from 400 feet in the east to 1,400 feet in the west: western soils formed over limestone, dolomite, interbedded limestone and marl, central soils over chalk, marl and limestone, eastern soils over clay, chalky marl and silty clay. The Bureau of Economic Geology's Geologic Wonders of Texas page on Central Texas puts the escarpment in Austin generally parallel to MoPac, with the fault zone extending two to five miles east of it, deep soils on the east side and thin, rocky ones on the west.

East of that line, the 1974 survey groups the Blackland Prairie associations as mainly clays with high shrink-swell potential, highly corrosive to pipes and poorly suited to septic systems; the Houston Black-Heiden association is about 21 percent of the county, and Houston Black is a deep clay that cracks when dry, is very slowly permeable when wet, and runs clay to 104 inches in the representative profile. The survey's own sentence is that shrinking and swelling causes much damage to building foundations, roads and other structures. On that ground the foundation engineer designs for movement first and load second. The Occupations Code follows the same clay: section 1001.056(c) withdraws the small-building engineering exemption for a residential slab on expansive soil unless the work meets the International Residential Code as applied in the jurisdiction.

West of the line, the same survey puts the Brackett association, shallow gravelly calcareous loams over interbedded limestone and marl, at about 38 percent of the county, and describes Tarrant soils as about eight inches of stony clay over limestone with rock covering 25 to 85 percent of the surface; for that ground it names breaking and moving massive limestone for site leveling, street grading or septic systems as the main urban limitation. A footing there has rock to bear on, and every beam trench is an excavation. Either side of the line the order is the same: a soil boring on the lot, the manufacturer's column reactions, the foundation design, then the slab with the anchor bolts set before the steel arrives, step by step on the slab and foundation guide.

SourceTexas Legislature Online, Occupations Code Chapter 1001, engineers, read 2026-09-20.

Four utilities, sorted by where the lot is. In Austin Energy territory a commercial project, or any project over 350 amps single-phase or 225 amps three-phase, gets its site plan approved by Development Services first, then files an intake request in the Austin Build + Connect portal with an Electric Service Planning Application for every metered address, an AutoCAD site plan, a riser diagram and an address verification report. Austin Energy Design then produces the design with a preliminary time frame and estimated fees, the customer builds the civil work and metering, the city electrical permit and inspection follow, and service is requested at (512) 494-9400. A service availability letter comes back within two weeks of the request; the pages state no fixed design fee and no day count.

New Austin Water connections are installed by the property owner from a tap plan that only a Texas licensed professional engineer may submit, through the same portal, after the Utility Permitting Office at 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive, (512) 972-1000 option 3, determines new connections are needed. No building permit issues until the tap fees are paid, the owner needs a right-of-way permit before installing the connections, and a lot platted after October 1, 2023 pays impact fees of $4,800 for water and $2,900 for wastewater per service unit. On an ETJ lot that Austin Water or Austin Energy serves, the standalone trade permits for those connections are still the city's.

Past the city utilities, Pedernales Electric Cooperative's tariff lists Travis among the counties it may serve and Austin among its franchise cities. A location with no service is staked by the applicant, applied for at a district planning office at (877) 372-0391 with the $50 membership, $50 establishment and $200 system impact fees, designed once by PEC, and priced only after the account exists and a field meeting has taken place. Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative describes its territory as running from Travis County to Washington County and runs a retail center at Manor; new service starts with a line design appointment at (800) 842-7708, a load over 200 amps needs an electric load analysis, and a non-residential general service applicant pays the estimated extension costs above $350 per service. Which cooperative has the lot is the cooperative's answer, not this page's.

SourcesAustin Energy, apply for electric service, and the City of Austin Utilities commercial fees and deposits page, read 2026-09-20; Austin Water, new service connections, the utility permitting office, and rates and fees, read 2026-09-20; City of Austin Development Services, relocation permit, and City of Austin Planning, jurisdictional matters, read 2026-09-20; Pedernales Electric Cooperative, service for individual residential or commercial locations, and the tariff and business rules, read 2026-09-20; Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative, line extensions, line design appointment, and the commercial developers package (revised June 4, 2024), read 2026-09-20.

On the same commercial metal building, the three county desks give three answers, and none of them borrows another's. Williamson County, to the north, lists no county building permit, no building code and no certificate of occupancy on its own pages; what it asks for is a $25 Certificate of Compliance verifying no 100-year floodplain at the site, and a Fire Marshal fire code permit for a commercial establishment under the 2018 International Fire Code. Bastrop County, to the east, issues a development permit for any external development but says it issues no building permits or certificates of occupancy and has no county building code for commercial use, and lists no fire marshal or fire code at all. Travis County is the one of the three whose county desk reads a commercial building's plans against a building code, and it does that through the Fire Marshal.

The whole path from the jurisdiction question to the finished building, across all six counties, runs in order on Building a metal building in the Austin area.

SourcesTravis County TNR Development Services, Commercial Site Plan, read 2026-09-20; Travis County Fire Marshal, permits and plan reviews, and Travis County Code Chapter 201, read 2026-09-20; Travis County TNR Development Services, commercial on-site sewage facility permit, read 2026-09-20; The source was read and does not list this.Williamson County, frequently asked questions, infrastructure and developers, read 2026-09-20; Williamson County, floodplain management, and the Certificate of Compliance form, read 2026-09-20; Williamson County Fire Marshal, construction permits, and the Williamson County Fire Code, second edition, read 2026-09-20; Williamson County, on-site sewage facilities, and the OSSF program fee sheet, read 2026-09-20; Bastrop County Development Services, and the Development Services application fees, read 2026-09-20; Bastrop County Development Services, environmental and sanitation, and the application fees, read 2026-09-20.