Swimming Pool permits across Texas
Where each city draws the line on swimming pool 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
11
Depends on size
15
| Where the line falls | Fee | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | 2,390,125 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| San Antonio | 1,526,656 | Depends | From 24 in deep | — |
| Austin | 993,588 | Yes | From 24 in deep | The code does not print a dollar amount. Austin sets permit… |
| El Paso | 681,723 | Depends | From 24 in deep | The code only says you pay the established permit fee. The … |
| Corpus Christi | 317,317 | Depends | From 24 in deep | — |
| Plano | 293,286 | Depends | From 24 in deep | You pay the permit fee set in the City of Plano building in… |
| Laredo | 261,260 | Depends | From 24 in deep | Residential plan-check fee for a swimming pool is $34.00, i… |
| McKinney | 227,526 | Depends | From 24 in deep | — |
| Grand Prairie | 207,331 | Yes | Any swimming pool needs a swimming pool construction perm… | — |
| Amarillo | 203,729 | Yes | You need a permit for a pool, in-ground or above-ground. … | The code does not print a private pool permit amount here. … |
| Brownsville | 191,967 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Denton | 165,998 | Yes | Installing an in-ground or above-ground pool needs a perm… | — |
| Killeen | 160,616 | Yes | From 24 in deep | The code does not print a private pool permit amount. The c… |
| Mesquite | 150,140 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | — |
| Pasadena | 149,617 | Depends | From 24 in deep | Residential building permits are charged at $0.20 per squar… |
| Waco | 146,608 | Depends | From 24 in deep | — |
| Midland | 143,687 | Depends | From 24 in deep | The code does not print a dollar amount; fees are set in th… |
| Lewisville | 135,983 | Yes | Installing an in-ground or above-ground pool or spa needs… | Pool permit fees are set by the city fee schedule (Sec. 2-2… |
| Round Rock | 135,359 | Depends | From 24 in deep | — |
| Abilene | 130,501 | Depends | From 24 in deep | — |
| Pearland | 129,620 | Depends | From 24 in deep | Set by Appendix A, Building Fee Schedule; the code does not… |
| College Station | 128,023 | Depends | From 24 in deep | — |
| League City | 118,456 | Yes | Installing an in-ground or above-ground pool needs a perm… | Permit and plan-review fees are set by city council in the … |
| Richardson | 118,221 | Yes | prefabricated pools less than 24 inches deep are exempt | Set by the Master Fee Schedule |
| New Braunfels | 116,477 | Depends | From 24 in deep | Pool permit fees are $100.00 for an above-ground pool and $… |
| Conroe | 114,581 | Yes | Any new private or public swimming pool (pools built befo… | A building permit fee is charged for each private or public… |
| Allen | 113,746 | Yes | From 24 in deep | — |
| Sugar Land | 109,851 | Depends | From 24 in deep | 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.