TRAVIS COUNTY BUILDING PERMITS: A CONTRACTOR'S GUIDE

COUNTY VS CITY — WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

If your job site is inside Austin city limits, you deal with the City of Austin's Build + Development Services. That's the ABC portal at abc.austintexas.gov.

If your job site is in Travis County but outside any incorporated city — no city address, rural land, unincorporated subdivisions — you're dealing with Travis County instead. Two completely separate permitting authorities with different applications, different reviewers, and different timelines.

There's a third situation: Austin's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). This is land outside city limits but within Austin's 2-mile buffer. In the ETJ, some development requires both county and city review depending on the project type. This is where things get complicated and a lot of contractors get surprised.

WHAT NEEDS A TRAVIS COUNTY PERMIT?

Travis County requires permits for most structural work in unincorporated areas. That includes:

• →New construction — residential and commercial
• →Additions that increase square footage
• →Structural alterations, including load-bearing wall removal
• →Electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work (depending on project scope)
• →Manufactured and modular home installations
• →Accessory structures over 200 sq ft
• →Pools and water features

Some things don't require a county permit — painting, flooring, like-for-like fixture replacements, and most cosmetic work. When in doubt, call Travis County Development Services at (512) 854-4215 before you start.

HOW TO APPLY FOR A TRAVIS COUNTY PERMIT

Travis County Development Services handles permits online through their permitting portal. You can find it at tcds.travis.com or through the Travis County website.

Unlike Austin's BDS, Travis County still handles a fair amount of permitting in-person or via email submission for larger projects. The online system has improved significantly over the past couple years, but complex commercial projects sometimes get routed to staff review manually.

What you'll generally need for a residential new construction permit:

• →Completed permit application with property owner info
• →Site plan showing setbacks, easements, and drainage
• →Construction drawings (floor plans, elevations, foundation plan)
• →Energy code compliance documentation (ACCA Manual J for HVAC if applicable)
• →Septic system information if not on city sewer
• →Valuation of the project (used to calculate permit fees)

HOW LONG DO TRAVIS COUNTY PERMITS TAKE?

Travis County is generally faster than the City of Austin for residential work, but it varies.

These are current estimates — Travis County posts their actual review times on their website and they adjust based on staff load and submission volume. Summer tends to be slower. Winter is usually faster.

THE ETJ SITUATION — READ THIS BEFORE YOU PULL A PERMIT

If your project is in Austin's ETJ, pay close attention. Austin has extraterritorial jurisdiction over a 2-mile band outside city limits. In that zone, some projects need Travis County permits AND Austin review for certain elements — particularly if they relate to water, sewer, or subdivision rules.

The simplest way to check: look up the property on Austin's GIS maps at austintexas.gov/gis. There's a city limits layer and an ETJ layer. If you're inside the ETJ boundary, call both Travis County Development Services and Austin BDS before you apply for anything.

Getting this wrong can mean permits issued by one jurisdiction that conflict with requirements from the other. It's a mess to unwind after the fact.

CHECKING YOUR PERMIT STATUS IN TRAVIS COUNTY

Once you've submitted, you can check status through the Travis County permitting portal using your permit number or project address. Status updates are usually posted within 24 hours of a review action.

Like Austin's system, Travis County does not send proactive status notifications. You have to check manually. If you're running multiple county permits simultaneously, that's a lot of daily checking.

ClearedNo currently monitors City of Austin permits directly. If you're doing a lot of county work in Travis County or the surrounding suburbs, check out our coverage roadmap — we're actively adding more jurisdictions.