The part nobody else here publishes
Which office permits it, and why that flips at the city line
Austin runs a plan review, and ten miles north the county lists no building permit at all. The same building, two offices. Which one has your lot is the first question on every page of this site.
Inside Austin
Commercial plan review, seven to 20 business days by size
Inside Austin a building permit is required to erect, construct, enlarge, alter, repair, improve, remove, convert, move or demolish any building or structure within the city's zoning jurisdiction, and a commercial building goes through the Development Services Department's commercial plan review under the locally amended 2024 International Building Code, in force since July 10, 2025.
What the county's page says
A site plan, site plan correction or site plan exemption has to be in place before a commercial building permit application, and the two are reviewed together only with an approved concurrent review request.
Source City of Austin Development Services, 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive, read 2026-09-20.
Unincorporated Williamson County
No county building permit, building code or certificate of occupancy
Williamson County's own pages answer the building permit question by pointing to the County Engineer's Road and Bridge Division, which issues a Certificate of Compliance that verifies whether the property is in a floodplain, and say nothing else is needed from that office unless a driveway is being built.
What the county's page says
The county states it has no zoning regulations, has no authority to issue a Certificate of Occupancy, has not adopted the Local Government Code 233 residential building code standards, does not require new residential construction to conform to any building code, and issues no building permits and reviews almost no site plans, leaving only the health and safety matters that the Williamson County and Cities Health District handles.
The source was read and does not list this. Source Williamson County, frequently asked questions, infrastructure and developers, read 2026-09-20.
Austin against unincorporated Williamson County, each read at its own page.
Free estimate, six questions
Price a metal building on your land
The county tells a contractor which permit office your lot answers to. The building and the timing tell them what to look at first. Pricing it is free, and you owe nothing either way.
The order it runs in
Six stops between a lot and a finished building
Each stop is one page here, and each page cites the agency that owns the rule and the day it was read. No stop rests on a map viewer or an address lookup. All six in sequence sit on building a metal building in the Austin area, and the first fork, which office issues the permit, is settled on metal building permits in Austin and Travis County.
What gets built
Nine buildings, sorted by what happens inside them, because the use is what the permit office and the accessibility reviewer read first. Above $50,000 a second reviewer joins them, which is TDLR registration for Austin-area metal buildings, and what the whole job runs to is broken down on what a metal building costs in Central Texas.
- Commercial metal buildings
Retail, office, flex and service buildings, the flagship, where the permit and the TDLR paperwork run heaviest.
- Warehouses and industrial buildings
Clear span, dock height, the sprinkler question and the fire code that comes with it.
- Metal shops and workshops
The residential and small-business shop, the highest-volume building on this footprint.
- Detached garages and RV garages
The accessory building on a lot inside a city and on acreage outside one.
- Equipment and RV storage buildings
Ranch and fleet storage, open-sided and enclosed.
- Pole barns and post-frame buildings
Farm and equipment framing on posts, and when it beats red iron.
- Church and community buildings
Assembly occupancy, accessibility review and parking.
- Covered courts and indoor pickleball buildings
The open canopy court and the conditioned court, which pulls the energy code in.
- Steel erection for pre-engineered packages
An owner who bought the steel and needs the slab and the erector.
The six counties, permit by permit
Each row is that county's own answer about a building permit outside its cities, in the county's words, with its source and read date. Where the site lists none, the row says so, which is not the same as saying the county has no rules. In Travis and Williamson a state program sits on top of the county answer, set out on the Edwards Aquifer contributing zone in Travis and Williamson.
| County | Outside the cities | Office | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travis County | County permit listed | Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, Permit Desk, (512) 854-4215 | 2026-09-20 |
| Williamson County | No county building permit listed | Williamson County Engineer, Road and Bridge Division, 3151 SE Inner Loop, Georgetown, (512) 943-3330 | 2026-09-20 |
| Bastrop County | County permit listed | Bastrop County Development Services, 211 Jackson Street, Bastrop, (512) 581-7176 | 2026-09-20 |
| Caldwell County | County permit listed | Caldwell County Sanitation and Development Services, 1700 FM 2720, Lockhart, (512) 398-1803 | 2026-09-20 |
| Lee County | County permit listed | Lee County Development Services, Lee County Annex, Giddings, (979) 542-3178 | 2026-09-20 |
| Burnet County | County permit listed | Burnet County Development Services, 220 S Pierce Street, Burnet, (512) 756-5445 | 2026-09-20 |
Accessibility review starts at $50,000
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation says a project whose total estimated cost is under $50,000 is not submitted for registration or plan review, yet the Texas Accessibility Standards still apply to it, and that a project of $50,000 or more submits a full set of construction documents under Administrative Rule 68.50.
Source Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Architectural Barriers frequently asked questions, read 2026-09-20.
Why nobody here is called licensed
No state license exists in Texas for anyone who builds a house or works as a general contractor. The Department of Licensing and Regulation's list of 41 regulated industries has no program for either, and the Sunset Advisory Commission records that the Texas Residential Construction Commission was not continued by the Legislature in 2009 and its Act expired September 1, 2009. Independent is the honest word, so it is the only one this site uses.
Source Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, regulated industries, and the Sunset Advisory Commission on the Texas Residential Construction Commission, read 2026-09-20.
Asked before pricing
Which office permits a metal building on my lot?
It depends on which office has your address, and the answer changes at the city line. Inside Austin a building permit is required to erect, construct, enlarge, alter, repair, improve, remove, convert, move or demolish any building or structure within the city's zoning jurisdiction, and a commercial building goes through the Development Services Department's commercial plan review under the locally amended 2024 International Building Code, in force since July 10, 2025. A site plan, site plan correction or site plan exemption has to be in place before a commercial building permit application, and the two are reviewed together only with an approved concurrent review request. Williamson County's own pages answer the building permit question by pointing to the County Engineer's Road and Bridge Division, which issues a Certificate of Compliance that verifies whether the property is in a floodplain, and say nothing else is needed from that office unless a driveway is being built. The county states it has no zoning regulations, has no authority to issue a Certificate of Occupancy, has not adopted the Local Government Code 233 residential building code standards, does not require new residential construction to conform to any building code, and issues no building permits and reviews almost no site plans, leaving only the health and safety matters that the Williamson County and Cities Health District handles. Every other city and county here gets its own reading, dated.
Where does the $50,000 accessibility line fall?
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation says a project whose total estimated cost is under $50,000 is not submitted for registration or plan review, yet the Texas Accessibility Standards still apply to it, and that a project of $50,000 or more submits a full set of construction documents under Administrative Rule 68.50. Read at the agency's own page, 2026-09-20.
Who actually builds it?
An independent local metal building contractor who works your county. No state license exists in Texas for anyone who builds a house or works as a general contractor. The Department of Licensing and Regulation's list of 41 regulated industries has no program for either, and the Sunset Advisory Commission records that the Texas Residential Construction Commission was not continued by the Legislature in 2009 and its Act expired September 1, 2009. That is the reason no contractor is called licensed on this site, and the reason only the one who walks your lot can put a number on it.
What happens once the form is sent?
Your request goes to an independent local metal building contractor serving Central Texas, not a national lead list. One contractor, who can call you, walk the lot, read the plan and write the price down. Pricing it is free, and you owe nothing either way.
Ready to put a price on the building?
Your request goes to an independent local metal building contractor serving Central Texas, not a national lead list. Pricing it is free, and you owe nothing either way.
Last reviewed 2026-09-20.