Water Heater permits across Texas
Where each city draws the line on water heater 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
19
Depends on size
0
| Where the line falls | Fee | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | 2,390,125 | Yes | Replacing or moving a water heater needs a permit. The mo… | — |
| San Antonio | 1,526,656 | Yes | Replacing a water heater is regulated plumbing work. The … | — |
| Austin | 993,588 | Yes | You need a permit to replace or relocate a water heater. … | The code does not print a dollar amount. Austin sets permit… |
| El Paso | 681,723 | Yes | Replacing a water heater needs a plumbing permit. The plu… | You pay the established plumbing permit fee when the permit… |
| Corpus Christi | 317,317 | Yes | Replacing or relocating a water heater needs a plumbing/m… | Residential plumbing or mechanical trade permit is $0.075 p… |
| Plano | 293,286 | Yes | Replacing or relocating a water heater needs a plumbing p… | You pay the plumbing permit fee set in the City of Plano bu… |
| Laredo | 261,260 | Yes | Replacing or relocating a water heater needs a plumbing p… | Plumbing permit is $50.00 to issue, plus $7.00 for each wat… |
| McKinney | 227,526 | Yes | Replacing or relocating a water heater needs a plumbing p… | — |
| Grand Prairie | 207,331 | Yes | Replacing or relocating a water heater is plumbing and ga… | The plumbing permit minimum fee is $60.00 for alterations, … |
| Amarillo | 203,729 | Yes | You need a plumbing permit to replace or relocate a water… | Water heater replacement plumbing permit: $70.00. |
| Brownsville | 191,967 | Yes | Replacing or relocating a water heater needs a plumbing p… | Plumbing permit fee of $2.50 for each water heater and/or v… |
| Denton | 165,998 | Yes | Replacing or relocating a water heater needs a permit. Th… | — |
| Killeen | 160,616 | Yes | You need a permit to replace or relocate a water heater. … | The code does not print a dollar amount. The city sets perm… |
| Mesquite | 150,140 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Pasadena | 149,617 | Unconfirmed | — | No permit is less than a $50 minimum (Sec. 9-60). |
| Waco | 146,608 | Unconfirmed | — | The code does not print a dollar amount. The city council s… |
| Midland | 143,687 | Unconfirmed | — | The code does not print a dollar amount; fees are set in th… |
| 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 | Yes | Replacing or relocating a water heater needs a plumbing p… | Set by Appendix A, Building Fee Schedule; the code does not… |
| College Station | 128,023 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| League City | 118,456 | Yes | Replacing or relocating a water heater needs a permit. Fu… | Permit and plan-review fees are set by city council in the … |
| Richardson | 118,221 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | Set by the Master Fee Schedule |
| New Braunfels | 116,477 | Yes | Replacing a water heater needs a plumbing permit. The onl… | Appendix D routes plumbing permit fees to Section B, which … |
| Conroe | 114,581 | Unconfirmed | — | A plumbing permit fee applies, set in Appendix A. |
| Allen | 113,746 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | — |
| Sugar Land | 109,851 | Yes | Replacing or relocating a water heater needs a plumbing p… | Residential plumbing permit: base fee $41.25 plus $12.25 fo… |
“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.