Driveway permits across Texas
Where each city draws the line on driveway 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
5
Depends on size
3
| Where the line falls | Fee | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | 2,390,125 | Yes | You need a permit before you build, rebuild, repair, or r… | The code refers to driveway permit fees but gives no amount… |
| San Antonio | 1,526,656 | Depends | Over 30 in above grade | — |
| Austin | 993,588 | Depends | A driveway, sidewalk, or concrete flatwork on your own lo… | The code does not print a dollar amount. Austin sets permit… |
| El Paso | 681,723 | Depends | Over 30 in above grade | — |
| Corpus Christi | 317,317 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Plano | 293,286 | Yes | Pouring, widening, or replacing a driveway needs a permit… | You pay the permit fee set in the City of Plano building in… |
| Laredo | 261,260 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| McKinney | 227,526 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Grand Prairie | 207,331 | Unconfirmed | — | The general work permit fee is 4% of the cost of the work, … |
| Amarillo | 203,729 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Brownsville | 191,967 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Denton | 165,998 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Killeen | 160,616 | Yes | You need a permit to pour, widen, or replace a driveway. … | The code does not print a dollar amount. The city sets perm… |
| Mesquite | 150,140 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | — |
| Pasadena | 149,617 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Waco | 146,608 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Midland | 143,687 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Lewisville | 135,983 | Unconfirmed | — | Fees are set by the city fee schedule (Sec. 2-201). |
| Round Rock | 135,359 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Abilene | 130,501 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Pearland | 129,620 | Unconfirmed | — | Set by Appendix A, Building Fee Schedule; the code does not… |
| College Station | 128,023 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| League City | 118,456 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Richardson | 118,221 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | Set by the Master Fee Schedule |
| New Braunfels | 116,477 | Unconfirmed | — | Driveways are charged as flat work in the residential fee s… |
| Conroe | 114,581 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Allen | 113,746 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Sugar Land | 109,851 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
“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.