Austin Building Permit Office

An Austin postal address does not by itself determine which development authority controls a project. City building requirements apply within Austin’s zoning jurisdiction, and City requirements can also extend to certain Municipal Utility Districts when the applicable consent agreement requires City permitting. Some electrical and plumbing work outside the City’s zoning jurisdiction can also fall under City requirements when City utilities serve the property.

Projects in Austin’s extraterritorial jurisdiction can have a different approval path and may require county approvals in addition to City land-development review. The jurisdiction and property status should therefore be established before choosing a building-permit application.

The City’s Types of Permits directory identifies the application method assigned to individual permit categories.

Austin’s treatment of four-unit residential development depends on the building configuration. Four-unit developments within the City are exempt from the site-plan process, but the correct building-review division still matters.

• Four individual single-family residences, two duplex buildings and certain other detached or semi-detached four-unit configurations can remain under Residential Plan Review.
• A single fourplex building containing four separate dwelling units is submitted through Commercial Plan Review or the applicable expedited review process.
• Site-plan exemption does not remove the requirement to obtain the correct building permit.

For most commercial building applications, Austin requires an approved Site Plan, Site Plan Correction or Site Plan Exemption before the building permit is issued. A commercial building and site plan can be reviewed at the same time when the project qualifies for concurrent review and the required concurrent-review request has been approved, but the necessary subdivision or site-plan approval must still be completed before the building plan can receive final approval.

AB+C serves as Austin’s online development and permitting account system, but its role changes by permit type. Registered users can perform several permit-management functions, while some initial building applications are submitted through separate City forms.

Austin allows building inspections to be scheduled through AB+C or through the City’s telephone Interactive Voice Response system. Online scheduling is available only when the AB+C account is linked to the permit, the permit is active and required fees have been paid.

• The permit holder, general contractor, listed homeowner-contractor, trade contractor or authorized agent can schedule an inspection when properly associated with the permit.
• AB+C displays inspections available for an active permit and provides scheduling, cancellation and inspection-status functions.
• Telephone scheduling requires an IVR PIN, the permit number and the applicable inspection code.
• Austin states that inspections are usually performed about 24 hours after scheduling, although inspector workload can push the inspection to the next business day or as late as 48 hours after the request.

Inspection sequencing remains the responsibility of the permit holder and owner-general contractor. Required inspections vary with the building and trade work authorized by the permit.

Permit closeout depends on completing the inspections assigned to the project and resolving outstanding permit requirements. For new construction and major renovations that require occupancy approval, the City provides a Certificate of Occupancy after the applicable final inspection requirements have been successfully completed.

A Temporary Certificate of Occupancy has a separate City process for qualifying residential and commercial projects that need limited occupancy, stocking or furnishing before the final Certificate of Occupancy is issued.