How we find new permits
The public records behind Texas Permit Watch, how we decide what's new, and what we can't see.
What we read
- City of Dallas building permits (Dallas Open Data)
- City of Austin issued construction permits
- City of San Antonio building permits (monthly file)
- City of Fort Worth development permits
- San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Leander, Hutto and Lakeway permit records
- City of Plano building inspection permits
- Houston Permitting Center weekly permit activity report
- City of Corpus Christi monthly permit report
- Collin Central Appraisal District permit feed (Frisco, Collin County side)
- City of Arlington permits (pools only)
Before a pool is dug, a roof replaced or solar panels go up, the homeowner or contractor pulls a city permit. Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and Plano publish theirs daily, Houston weekly, San Antonio and Corpus Christi once a month.
How we decide what's new
We read each city's file and keep pool and spa, re-roof and roofing, and solar or photovoltaic permits, residential and commercial. Each permit is listed once, by its permit number, with the contractor's business name when the city shows one.
What can go wrong
We cover the cities that publish permits we can read, about a quarter of Texans, and say so: most suburbs don't publish yet. Arlington's file has pools only and Frisco's covers its Collin County side only. Houston doesn't require a permit for most residential re-roofs, so its roofing list is thin. A private person is never named; those rows say owner-builder or individual.
A record is a signal, not a promise. Some businesses open late, rename or never open. If a listing about your business is wrong, tell us and we'll fix it.
What this doesn't cover
What this covers. Pool and spa, roofing and solar permits from the cities of Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Plano, Corpus Christi and six Austin-area cities, plus Arlington (pools only) and Frisco (Collin County side only). That's about a quarter of Texans, not the whole state. San Antonio and Corpus Christi arrive in monthly batches, Houston weekly. Contractor names are shown only when they are a business.
Sources: building permit records published by the cities of Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Plano, Corpus Christi, Arlington, San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Leander, Hutto and Lakeway, and Collin Central Appraisal District (Frisco). Written from the public records themselves; check with the agency for anything legal or binding.
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