Architectural drafting · Texas
Permit sets for Houston, DFW, Austin, San Antonio — fast turnaround.
Texas runs on speed. We file in Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, and the major suburbs in their preferred ePlan formats — IBC 2021 + IECC 2021 with the right state amendments built in.
TEXAS CODE ADOPTION
Building
IBC 2021 (most major cities)
Residential
IRC 2021 (most major cities)
Energy
IECC 2021 with state amendments
No statewide adoption; each city / county adopts its own edition. Major cities (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth) are aligned on 2021 codes; smaller jurisdictions vary.
CLIMATE ZONE · 2A (Houston) through 4A (DFW), 3A (Austin / San Antonio). Mostly cooling-dominated.
WHAT TO KNOW IN TEXAS
Houston is form-driven
Houston Permitting Center accepts ePlan submissions but is strict on cover-sheet content, occupancy classification, and chapter-3 use designation. We file with their checklist as the cover.
Austin and San Antonio have stricter overlays
Austin has tree preservation, impervious cover limits, and creek setback overlays that surface late in plan-check if not pre-cleared. San Antonio has a UDC overlay zone that drives site planning.
Energy code is enforced — climate zone 2A/3A
IECC 2021 prescriptive path works for most TIs. For envelope-heavy custom homes (large glazing, high cathedral ceilings), performance path with REScheck or COMcheck is required.
No statewide engineer-stamping requirement
Texas allows licensed architects and engineers to stamp; we coordinate with locally licensed pros for structural and MEP where the project scope requires.
HOW WE WORK IN TEXAS
Texas is high-volume and city-by-city specific. Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Fort Worth each have their own permitting center with its own format expectations and reviewer cadence. We file in each city`s preferred format — Houston Permitting Center cover-sheet checklist, Dallas Q-flow ePlan, Austin AB+C portal, San Antonio LDC compliance — so plan-check intake is clean and the file routes immediately.
For Austin and San Antonio specifically, we pre-clear the local overlays before drafting: tree preservation and impervious cover for Austin, UDC zone classification and historical overlay for San Antonio. Both items surface late in plan-check if you don`t catch them on the parcel report; we run them on day 1.
For DFW suburbs (Plano, Frisco, Arlington, McKinney) and the El Paso / RGV corridors, the codes track the major cities but the format varies. We adapt the cover sheet and submission package per AHJ and stay in the email thread with the assigned reviewer.
AHJs WE FILE WITH
- · City of Houston
- · City of Dallas
- · City of Austin
- · City of San Antonio
- · City of Fort Worth
- · City of Plano
- · City of Frisco
- · City of El Paso
- · City of Arlington
- · Harris County
- · Dallas County
- · Travis County
TYPICAL TIMELINE
Houston: 4–8 weeks commercial TI; 6–10 weeks ground-up. Dallas: 3–6 weeks. Austin: 6–12 weeks (overlays drive variance). San Antonio: 4–8 weeks. Fort Worth: 3–6 weeks. DFW suburbs: 2–6 weeks (often fastest in the state).
WHAT WE QUOTE IN TX
Restaurant + retail TIs
Houston, Dallas, Austin retail / restaurant build-outs. IBC 2021 chapter 3 occupancy + grease-trap routing. Typical $5,500–$18,000.
Custom homes + ranches
Hill Country, North Dallas, Houston suburbs. Climate-zone 2A/3A envelope. Typical $8,500–$28,000.
Multifamily and mixed-use
Austin / Dallas urban infill, Houston midtown. Type III-A and Type V-A. Typical $14,000–$58,000.
Send the address and the city. We will pre-clear the overlay and quote the fixed fee within one business day.