ATX · Service area
Austin
Development Services Department · Permitting and Development Center
Austin is the largest and most layered jurisdiction in the region, and the building permit is rarely the long pole. For most commercial and multifamily work the site plan controls the schedule, and the city publishes its review times as regularly updated data rather than fixed windows. Its city limits reach into Travis, Williamson and Hays Counties, so the county side of a project changes with the address.
- Permitting and Development Center · 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Dr
- Portal: Austin Build + Connect (AB+C)
In review Cleared Correction return Submittal assembled, ready for intake.
T-101 · Published review times
What the city publishes
Austin does something Georgetown and Round Rock do not: it publishes its current review times as data that the Development Services Department updates on an ongoing basis, rather than committing to fixed windows. We do not reprint those figures here because they change; we plan against the posted queue at the time of submittal.
| Review type | Published window | Measured from |
|---|---|---|
| Residential building plan review | Posted as current review times, updated by DSD | formal intake, after the completeness check |
| Commercial building plan review | Posted as current review times, updated by DSD | formal intake, after the completeness check |
| Site plan review | Posted as current review times, per discipline | disciplines review in parallel within the case |
| Expedited Building Plan Review | Paid program with scheduled review sessions | availability and fees published by DSD |
| Plat approval | 30 days | statutory action deadline under state law |
Source: City of Austin Development Services Department published review times, and Texas Local Government Code Chapter 212 for plat action. Confirm the current posted times before committing a schedule.
T-102 · Sequence
How the sequence stacks up
The same tenant program, in a shell that already has an approved site plan versus a site that needs one. Austin sequences most commercial and multifamily work through site plan approval before the building permit, so the choice of site is also a choice of approval path.
Sequence per City of Austin Land Development Code, Title 25. Bar lengths show the order of operations, not durations; Austin publishes its current review times separately.
N-101 · Local notes
What controls the schedule here
The requirements specific to this jurisdiction that cost the most when they surface late.
The site plan, not the building permit, usually controls the schedule
Under the Land Development Code, Title 25, most commercial and multifamily development requires an approved site plan before a building permit can issue. Zoning, watershed protection, drainage, transportation and tree reviews all run inside the site plan case, and each discipline can generate its own comments. The most restrictive watershed rules apply in the Barton Springs Zone. On a raw site, the site plan is the critical path.
Review times are published as live data, and the clock starts at intake
The Development Services Department posts its current review turnarounds and updates them as workload changes. Applications pass a completeness check before formal intake, and the review clock runs from intake, not from the day the package was first uploaded to Austin Build + Connect. We plan schedules against the queue as posted at submittal.
Austin operates a formal expedited program, unlike its northern neighbors
Georgetown states outright that it offers no expediting option, and Round Rock publishes no expedited program. Austin does: the Expedited Building Plan Review program is a paid service that schedules building permit review with a dedicated team. Fees and availability are published by DSD, and it applies to building permit review, not to the site plan case in front of it.
Trees are regulated citywide, and heritage trees can reshape a site plan
Under Chapter 25-8 of the Land Development Code, removing a protected size tree, 19 inches in diameter and larger, requires a permit, and heritage trees, 24 inches and larger of the species the code lists, require a variance to remove unless the tree is dead, diseased or an imminent hazard. A tree survey belongs at the start of due diligence, not after the site plan is drawn.
Two municipal utilities sit inside the approval path
Austin Energy handles electric service design and line extensions on its own process and its own timeline. Austin Water issues taps, and where existing infrastructure does not reach the site, a Service Extension Request runs through its own review before the utility side is resolved. Both run in parallel with, not inside, the DSD review, and both belong on the schedule from day one.
F-101 · Fees
How Austin calculates fees
City fees are separate from ours and are paid to the jurisdiction. Austin adopts its fee schedules by fiscal year and publishes them, so figures printed here would go stale. These are the categories that belong in the pro forma.
| Fee type | Fee basis |
|---|---|
| Building permit and plan review | DSD fee schedule, adopted each fiscal year |
| Site plan review | DSD fee schedule, set by application type and scope |
| Water and wastewater | Austin Water tap and capital recovery fees, by meter size |
| Electric service | Austin Energy service and line extension charges |
| Street impact fee | Set by service area and land use, collected with the building permit |
| Parkland dedication | Residential development, land dedication or fee-in-lieu |
Source: City of Austin fee schedules, adopted by fiscal year and published by the Development Services Department and the city utilities. Confirm the current fiscal-year schedule before budgeting.
N-102 · Areas we work in Austin
- Downtown
- The Domain
- Mueller
- East Austin
- South Congress
- East Riverside
- St. Elmo
- Montopolis
- North Burnet
- Zilker
S-100 · Services here
What we coordinate in Austin
Permit expediting & management
Applications, agency review, comments, resubmittals, and issuance.
Details Z-101Land development & entitlements
Zoning, annexation, platting, variances, and development agreements.
Details EC-101Site & environmental permitting
Site development, stormwater, TCEQ, and Edwards Aquifer approvals.
Details C-401ROW & infrastructure permitting
Municipal, county, TxDOT, and utility right-of-way approvals.
DetailsJ-100 · Other service areas
T-001 · Transmittal
Have a project that needs a path forward?
Evaluating a site, working through entitlements, preparing an application, responding to comments, or trying to move a project that has stalled. Tell us where it stands and we will map what comes next.