Who to contact
Our county picker shows who issues building and septic permits for your parcel, with phone numbers. Statewide offices:
Building permits
Texas has no statewide residential building permit. If you are inside a city, the city issues permits; in unincorporated areas most counties have no building permit program, so check with your county first and with your septic and floodplain offices. Coastal properties also need windstorm certification to get state-backed windstorm insurance.
Check a builder's license
Texas does not license general home builders at the state level. Electricians, plumbers, and HVAC contractors are licensed by the state, so you can verify those trades. For builders, check references, written contracts, and complaints.
Energy code
The State Energy Conservation Office (Texas Comptroller) maintains the statewide residential energy code; your city or county building office enforces it where it has a program.
The rules in detail
General information, not legal advice. Checked against the Texas statutes on 7 November 2026. Use the county and city picker for your location.
Inside city limits
State law makes the International Residential Code, as it existed on May 1, 2012, the residential building code in every Texas city. It applies to construction, alteration and repair of homes inside city limits. Cities may adopt local amendments, by ordinance after a public hearing, and may adopt newer editions (Texas Local Government Code §214.212).
What that means for you: expect a building permit, plan review and city inspections. Some cities also have zoning or design rules that limit metal siding. Ask the city's building or development services department before you buy land.
Outside city limits: usually no county building permit
Texas counties can only apply residential building standards in unincorporated areas if the commissioners court has adopted a resolution or order to do so (Local Government Code §233.152). Many rural counties have not, which is why much of rural Texas has no county building permit for a house.
Even without a building permit, these still apply:
- Septic permit: needed almost everywhere. See septic permits.
- Windstorm certification on the coast, if you want state windstorm insurance. See windstorm rules.
- Deed restrictions and HOA rules, which can ban metal-sided homes or set minimum sizes. Read them before you buy.
- Floodplain rules and any county development permits for floodplains or driveways.
- Your lender and insurer, who may require inspections even where the county doesn't.
If your county has opted in: three inspections
Where a county has adopted the standards, a new single-family home or duplex in the unincorporated area must follow the International Residential Code as published May 1, 2008, or the version used in the county seat (§233.153). The builder must have at least three inspections (§233.154):
- Foundation, before the concrete is poured.
- Framing and mechanical systems, before drywall or other interior covering.
- Completion, when construction is finished.
Inspections can be done by a licensed engineer, a registered architect, a state-licensed professional inspector, or other inspectors the law lists. The county can't require approval before construction starts, can't use these standards to zone, and can't charge a fee to enforce them (§233.153). The standards don't apply to manufactured homes or state-regulated modular homes (§233.151).
How to find out: ask the county commissioners court or county engineer whether the county has adopted residential building standards under Chapter 233, Subchapter F.
Near a city: the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ)
Texas cities have an extraterritorial jurisdiction, a band of land outside city limits. If a city has adopted a building code for its ETJ, the city's code controls there instead of the county standards (§233.153). ETJ boundaries and rules vary by city.
How to check your parcel: look it up on your county appraisal district's map, and ask the nearest city's planning department whether the parcel is in its ETJ and which rules apply there.
Energy code
Texas's statewide energy standard for new one- and two-family homes is Chapter 11 of the 2015 International Residential Code, in effect since September 1, 2016 (Texas Comptroller, State Energy Conservation Office).
Sources: Texas Local Government Code §214.212 and §§233.151–233.154 (statutes.capitol.texas.gov); Texas Comptroller SECO. Report an error