Do you need a patio permit in Texas?
By Mario Bailey Last checked
- Always required
- 1
- of 10 jurisdictions
- Conditional
- 9
- depends on size or scope
- Not required
- 0
- exempt outright
Patio Permit rules nationwide, beyond Texas.
Requirements and size thresholds for patio permits vary by locality. The table below compares what each Texas county or city requires. Always confirm with the local office before starting.
Comparing states? See patio permit rules across every locality we cover.
The application steps and inspection sequence for patio permits come from the model code rather than from Texas law, so they read the same wherever you build. We keep that walkthrough in one place: how a patio permit application and its inspections work, start to finish. What changes between Texas jurisdictions is below: who requires a permit, what they charge, and which office you file with.
Swipe sideways to see thresholds and confidence.
| Locality | Permit required? | Typical threshold | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arlington | Conditional | height of an uncovered patio above grade at any point | Confirmed on official page |
| Austin | Conditional | at-grade sidewalks, driveways, and concrete flatwork outside the public right-of-way are exempt; a covered patio or attached patio cover requires a residential building permit | Confirmed on official page |
| Corpus Christi | Conditional | Every attached patio cover or carport needs a permit regardless of size; a detached patio cover or carport needs one once it is larger than 200 square feet. | Confirmed on official page |
| Dallas | Conditional | detached patio covers of 200 sq ft or less on single-family or duplex premises are exempt; attached patio covers and those over 200 sq ft require a permit | Not confirmed |
| El Paso | Conditional | Concrete work more than 30 inches above grade, or concrete that will support a structure, requires a permit; a detached patio cover is permitted under the city's porches and canopies entry. | From an official source |
| Fort Worth | Conditional | height of the patio platform or walk above grade; a patio cover is a separate accessory structure regardless of the slab height | Confirmed on official page |
| Houston | Conditional | patio covers and enclosed patios require a permit; unroofed ground-level concrete slabs generally do not; impervious cover limits may trigger additional review | Based on building code |
| Lubbock | Conditional | A patio cover or other patio structure attached to the residence is an addition and is permitted regardless of square footage. | Confirmed on official page |
| Plano | Conditional | Not specified | Confirmed on official page |
| San Antonio | Yes | Not specified | From an official source |
| No localities match your filter. | |||
What a patio permit costs in Texas
7 Texas jurisdictions we cover publish a fee figure for this work. Each line is quoted from that office's own schedule and linked to its citation. The figures are not comparable to one another: some are flat minimums, some a percentage of job value, some charged per fixture, so what you pay depends on which schedule applies and on your job's valuation.
Planning and Development Services Fee Schedule, Effective June 1, 2026, Resolution No. 26 - 151, Residential Construction: "Patio Cover, Screened Porch, Gazebo & Decks* $300.00". Detached garages, carports and porte cocheres are priced separately on the same page ("Carport & Porte Cochere* $250.00").
last checked
FY 2026 Development Fee Schedule, Residential Construction - New, Remodels, and Additions: Building Permit $0.461 per square foot with a $146.41 minimum, plus Plan Review $0.146 per square foot; asterisked fees carry a 4.5% surcharge. Codified Sec. 14-1303(a) excludes attached covered patios open to the environment from the building area used to compute residential fees, and Sec. 14-1303(c) names "patio covers" as accessory residential construction.
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No patio-cover line; billed under the Alterations or Repairs schedule (Table B-I), value of work times 0.009652 times 1.33 with a $175 minimum plus a $125 single-trade inspection fee, per the fee schedule effective 7/1/2025
last checked
FY 2026 Schedule C has no line item named "patio" or "patio cover." The closest published Planning & Inspections building-permit line items are "Permit which require only one inspection $110 plus applicable technology fee" and "Permit which require two inspections $160 plus applicable technology fee." The city does not state which applies to a given patio project.
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No patio-specific line item is published. A patio cover is a Group U accessory structure billed on new square footage under Table 1-C-4 ($96.84 for 0 to 175 square feet, or $58.10 where the accessory-to-existing-R-3 footnote applies), and patio work done as part of a remodel is billed under Table 1-A-1 by number of trades, minimum $112.50 for 1 trade. Add the $31.50 permit application fee and the $16.87 technology fee. Per Ordinance No. 27191-09-2024, effective October 1, 2024.
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No dedicated patio fee; patio covers file as a Residential Addition Permit, valuation based per the city fee schedule, plus a $33.56 administrative fee, per the 2026 Permit Fee Schedule
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Building Safety Fee Schedule, fiscal year effective dates October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026: "Residential Building Addition $0.15 per square foot of gross floor area under roof of the addition." and, for concrete flatwork, "Residential Flatwork Permits $75." Minimum permit fee for all permits is $75.00.
last checked
Jurisdictions not listed publish no dollar figure we could quote. Absence does not mean a permit is free.
Common questions about patio permits in Texas
- Do I need a patio permit in Texas?
- In Texas it depends on the size of the job. Permits are issued locally, so the answer comes from your Texas city or county rather than a single statewide rule. Of the 10 Texas jurisdictions we have verified for patio work, 1 requires a permit outright, 9 depend on the size or scope of the job, and 0 require none.
- Is there a patio permit exemption in Texas?
- 9 of the 10 Texas jurisdictions we cover set a threshold rather than a flat rule, so the same job can be exempt in one Texas county and permitted in the next. The table above lists each Texas jurisdiction's published threshold in its own words, with the source and the date we verified it.
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