Do you need a shed 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
Shed Permit rules nationwide, beyond Texas.
Requirements and size thresholds for shed 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 shed permit rules across every locality we cover.
The application steps and inspection sequence for shed 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 shed 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 | floor area of a one-story detached tool or storage shed | Confirmed on official page |
| Austin | Conditional | one-story detached accessory structures used as tool or storage sheds with floor area no greater than 200 sq ft and no more than 15 ft in height and no plumbing and not in a floodplain are exempt | Confirmed on official page |
| Corpus Christi | Conditional | Detached storage buildings larger than 200 square feet need a building permit; accessory structures 200 square feet or less are on the city's published exemption list. | Confirmed on official page |
| Dallas | Conditional | one-story detached utility or storage buildings under 200 sq ft without utilities on single-family or duplex premises are exempt from a permit | Based on building code |
| El Paso | Conditional | The exemption covers accessory storage buildings or structures of less than 200 square feet of floor area, and is limited to one such accessory structure per site. | Confirmed on official page |
| Fort Worth | Yes | Not specified | Confirmed on official page |
| Houston | Conditional | one-story detached accessory structure under 120 sq ft does not require a permit | Confirmed on official page |
| Lubbock | Conditional | The building permit threshold for a detached accessory building is 200 square feet of floor area. | Confirmed on official page |
| Plano | Conditional | floor area of a one-story detached accessory structure | Confirmed on official page |
| San Antonio | Conditional | sheds over 200 sq ft require a permit; sheds with a permanent foundation (including concrete slab) at any size require a permit; sheds attached to the primary dwelling require a permit | From an official source |
| No localities match your filter. | |||
What a shed 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: "Portable Storage/Accessory Building 320 sq.ft. and under $50.00 each" and "Permanent Storage/Accessory Building over 320 sq.ft.* Based on Valuation - Table 1". The schedule's Construction Permits preamble sets the valuation basis for that Table 1 calculation: "Residential permit fees charged the value of $75.00 per square foot of area shall be used to determine the valuation for the purpose of computing permit fees in accordance with Table 1 for the following permits: Boat Docks, Detached Garages, Permanent Storage/Accessory Buildings (over 320 sq. ft.) and Retaining Walls".
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FY 2026 Development Fee Schedule, Residential Construction - New, Remodels, and Additions: Building Permit $0.461 per square foot with a $146.41 minimum (excludes mechanical, electrical and plumbing), plus Plan Review $0.146 per square foot. Fees marked with an asterisk carry a 4.5% surcharge. Codified Sec. 14-1303(c) confirms the square-footage basis by defining "Accessory residential construction" to include "storage rooms, utility rooms, garages, carports, patio covers, raised decks, skateboard ramps, greenhouses, portable buildings, gazebos, and other similar uses."
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No shed-specific 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
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FY 2026 Schedule C has no line item named "shed" or "accessory structure." The closest published Planning & Inspections building-permit line items are "Permit which require only one inspection $110 plus applicable technology fee," "Permit which require two inspections $160 plus applicable technology fee," and the residential square-footage schedule that begins "For additions or new single family residential construction between 401-1299 square feet ... $0.87 per square foot plus applicable Technology Fee." The city does not state which of these applies to a given shed.
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A shed is a Group U accessory structure billed on new square footage under Table 1-C-4: $96.84 for 0 to 175 square feet, reduced to $58.10 where the footnote applies ("New square footage for accessory Group U uses associated with existing R-3's shall be charged the fee in the parenthesis"), then $0.19 for each additional square foot to and including 2,500. 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 shed fee; accessory structures needing a permit file as a New Residential Construction Permit, valuation based per the city fee schedule, plus a $33.56 administrative fee
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Building Safety Fee Schedule, fiscal year effective dates October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026: "Residential Detached Accessory Building Permits $0.15 per square foot of gross floor area under roof." The same schedule sets a "Minimum Permit Fee for All Permits $75."
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Jurisdictions not listed publish no dollar figure we could quote. Absence does not mean a permit is free.
Common questions about shed permits in Texas
- Do I need a shed 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 shed work, 1 requires a permit outright, 9 depend on the size or scope of the job, and 0 require none.
- Is there a shed 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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