ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) permits across Texas
Where each city draws the line on adu (accessory dwelling unit) work. Sort any column — useful if you build across several towns and need to know where the rules change.
Cities compared
28
Always need one
24
Depends on size
0
| Where the line falls | Fee | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | 2,390,125 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| San Antonio | 1,526,656 | Yes | Building an accessory dwelling unit (garage apartment, ca… | New residential construction fee schedule (Sec. 10-39) and … |
| Austin | 993,588 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | — |
| El Paso | 681,723 | Yes | An accessory dwelling unit is a new dwelling unit in an a… | You pay the established building permit fee under the 18.02… |
| Corpus Christi | 317,317 | Unconfirmed | — | Residential new-construction building permit is $0.461 per … |
| Plano | 293,286 | Yes | Building a garage apartment, casita, or other accessory d… | You pay the permit fee set in the City of Plano building in… |
| Laredo | 261,260 | Unconfirmed | — | Residential plan-checking fee for new construction $0.28 pe… |
| McKinney | 227,526 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | — |
| Grand Prairie | 207,331 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Amarillo | 203,729 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | Building permit fee per residential dwelling value-based ta… |
| Brownsville | 191,967 | Yes | Building a new accessory dwelling unit (garage apartment,… | Residential new construction: base fee $40.00 plus $0.25/sq… |
| Denton | 165,998 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | Пошлина за строительное разрешение по тарифу города согласн… |
| Killeen | 160,616 | Yes | You need a building permit to build an accessory dwelling… | The code does not print a dollar amount. The city sets perm… |
| Mesquite | 150,140 | Yes | New accessory dwelling unit; also requires a Conditional … | — |
| Pasadena | 149,617 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | New one- and two-family residential construction charged at… |
| Waco | 146,608 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | — |
| Midland | 143,687 | Yes | Building a garage apartment, casita, or other accessory d… | The code does not print a dollar amount; fees are set in th… |
| Lewisville | 135,983 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | Building/plan-check fees are set by the city fee schedule (… |
| Round Rock | 135,359 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | — |
| Abilene | 130,501 | Yes | Construction of a new accessory dwelling unit (garage apa… | — |
| Pearland | 129,620 | Yes | Building an accessory dwelling unit (garage apartment, ca… | Set by Appendix A, Building Fee Schedule; the code does not… |
| College Station | 128,023 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | Residential building permit по отапливаемой площади (Sec. 2… |
| League City | 118,456 | Yes | construction of a new accessory dwelling unit (a new one-… | Building permit, plan review and inspection fees per the bu… |
| Richardson | 118,221 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | Set by the Master Fee Schedule |
| New Braunfels | 116,477 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | Пошлина за подачу жилого разрешения $50.00 плюс жилой plan … |
| Conroe | 114,581 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | Residential building permit fee для one/two-family по площа… |
| Allen | 113,746 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | Устанавливается городским fee schedule (App. C); отдельно в… |
| Sugar Land | 109,851 | Yes | Building a garage apartment, casita, or other accessory d… | Set by the community development fee schedule (Sec. 2-137);… |
“Unconfirmed” means the city's code doesn't state the rule plainly enough to publish. Those city pages link straight to the ordinance section instead.
Why neighboring cities disagree
Every city starts from a model code and then edits it. One town raises the shed cutoff, the next lowers the fence height, a third exempts the structure where its neighbor only exempts repairs to it. None of that is visible from a national article — you have to read each ordinance, which is what these pages do.