Austin
Austin Development Services Department
In short
Austin Development Services Department issues 6 permits we publish for Austin, last verified 2026-08-21. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial Remodel, Repair and Alterations Permit | Austin Development Services Department | Building $220.22 + Electrical $240.43 + Mechanical $177.98 + Plumbing $209.21 + Energy $62.45 at base rate, rising with floor area | one-time | 2026-08-21 |
| Outdoor Music Venue Permitonly if it applies to you | Austin Development Services Department | $413.00 intake and permit fee, plus $580.42 sound impact review where required | annual | 2026-08-21 |
| Alcoholic Beverage Waiveronly if it applies to you | Austin Development Services Department | $6,087.51 one-time, only where a waiver is required | one-time | 2026-08-21 |
| Private Parking Patio Permitonly if it applies to you | Austin Development Services Department | $594 per year | annual | 2026-08-21 |
| Certificate of Occupancy | Austin Development Services Department | $370 Fire Final (Certificate of Occupancy) inspection | no expiry, tied to the approved use | 2026-08-21 |
| Sign Permitonly if it applies to you | Austin Development Services Department | $197.14–$394.29 review fee, per sign, by sign type | one-time | 2026-08-21 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Commercial Remodel, Repair and Alterations Permit
Fitting out a tenant space is not one permit but five, each priced separately and each rising with floor area. At base rate the building permit is $220.22, electrical $240.43, mechanical $177.98, plumbing $209.21 and energy $62.45, which is $910.29 in total before any plan review. Between 1,001 and 5,000 square feet those become $282.67, $271.65, $209.21, $271.65 and $62.45, or $1,097.63 together. Each additional floor adds $6.24 per discipline. Plan review is charged on top and is payable at submittal and non-refundable: the commercial application processing fee is $176.76 and Austin Fire adds $250.00 for building permit review. Resubmitting costs $432.57 for one discipline or $895.04 for two or more. Revising an approved plan costs $1,014.24 or $1,621.76 on the same split. A re-inspection is $83.50 each time work is incomplete, corrections were not made, or the site cannot be accessed. Refunds are 75 per cent of the original permit less the minimum fee, and nothing is refundable once any inspection has been performed, scheduled or even requested.
Outdoor Music Venue Permit
Required of any commercial establishment using sound equipment outdoors, which the city defines as any space not fully enclosed by four solid walls and a roof — a covered patio still counts. Permits are reviewed by the Development Services Department Entertainment Services Group under Title 9, Chapter 9-2 of the Austin Code of Ordinances. The permit is valid for one year and must be renewed, so treat it as an annual cost rather than a one-off. Fees are $413.00 for intake and permit and $580.42 for the sound impact review where one is required, up to $993.42 together. Before signing a lease, check the hard eligibility bar: a permit may not be issued at all for sound equipment within 100 feet of property zoned and used as residential. Within 600 feet of residential, hours are capped at 10am to 8pm Sunday to Thursday and 10am to 10pm Friday and Saturday, extendable by up to two hours a day only with support from nearby owners, tenants and neighbourhood organisations. Latest permitted hours otherwise vary by district, with the Red River District and the 6th Street and Warehouse District allowed later than the citywide default. Sound limits are set per venue as dBA and dBC maximums; the loudest the code allows is 85 dBA, and restaurant uses are capped at 70 dBA. The Entertainment Services Group writes a Sound Impact Plan documenting the allowances and restrictions, and the permit and plan must be kept on site and available for inspection. Enforcement is real: operating without a permit or on an expired one, exceeding permitted sound levels, playing past cut-off, or making unapproved changes to the Sound Impact Plan are chargeable as a Class C misdemeanour with a fine up to $500 on conviction, and no warning is required first. Repeat or chronic violations can lead to suspension or revocation. The city advises consulting the Entertainment Services Group as early as possible, ideally at the concept or site-selection stage, because proximity to residential use drives everything. Related sound fees on the Development Services schedule: temporary or special events $677.29, temporary multi-day sound amplification $186.30, and all other sound amplification permits $124.20.
Alcoholic Beverage Waiver
This is a city land-use waiver, entirely separate from the state TABC permit, and it is the largest single line item on the Austin schedule. It totals $6,087.51: basic notification $587.18 and newspaper notification $195.73, which is $782.91 in notification costs, plus $5,304.60 to Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment. It applies only where a waiver is needed, so most premises never pay it — but a site that does need one faces this on top of the TABC Mixed Beverage Permit at $5,300 original and $2,650 on renewal, taking first-year alcohol permitting past $11,000. A related Site Plan Exemption is $1,569.99 and a Development Compliance Letter is $481.62.
Private Parking Patio Permit
Two City of Austin schedules disagree on this permit and we are showing both. Austin Development Services lists $144.00 for itself plus $382.00 for Austin Fire, totalling $526.00. The Austin Fire Department FY26 schedule prices its own Private Parking Patio initial review and inspection at $450.00, with annual renewal also $450.00 and a temporary occupancy load adjustment $450.00. Taking each agency as authoritative for its own charge gives $144.00 plus $450.00, or $594.00 a year, which is what we show. Budget for $594 and treat $526 as the floor; the $68 gap is a live discrepancy between two official documents both effective 1 October 2025, not an error on either side that we can resolve from the outside.
Certificate of Occupancy
Austin does not charge a single flat certificate of occupancy fee, which is why this previously showed as not published. The certificate is issued at the end of the building permit process and the line item on the schedule is the Fire Final (Certificate of Occupancy) Inspection at $370.00, with $148 per hour charged beyond the first hour on site. A failed or repeat visit is charged again as a Subsequent Inspection Fee of $148, and cancelling a fire inspection already booked costs $296. A Temporary Certificate of Occupancy, which expires after 90 days, is $96.98; renewal is $89.48 for building or $65.75 for mechanical, electrical or plumbing. A copy of an existing certificate is $20.72 and a records search is $41.43. Austin Public Health charges a separate $111.52 health admin fee on commercial projects. A widely-cited competitor lists a flat $140 certificate of occupancy fee for Austin, which does not appear anywhere in this schedule.
Sign Permit
Wall signs and awnings $197.14. Free-standing, roof and projecting signs $394.29. Signs inside a historic district $197.14. Billboard relocation $371.70. If the sign is illuminated a separate Electric Sign Permit is $49.81, and a City Outdoor Advertising (Sign) License is $99.48 new or on annual renewal. Our earlier figure of $127.60 predated the schedule that took effect on 1 October 2025, so a business budgeting from it would be short by $70 on a wall sign and by $267 on a free-standing one.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Austin
- Phone
- (512) 978-4000
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Commercial Building Plan Review and Inspection Permit Fees — Austin Development Services, effective 1 October 2025City of Austin Development Services Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-21
- Other Permits and Fees — Austin Development Services, effective 1 October 2025City of Austin Development Services Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-21
- Outdoor Music Venue Permits — Austin Arts, Culture, Music and EntertainmentCity of Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-22
Other offices serving Austin
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
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Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.