Harris County
Harris County Engineering Department, Office of the County Engineer, Permits Division
In short
Harris County Engineering Department, Office of the County Engineer, Permits Division issues 7 permits we publish for Harris County, last verified 2026-09-27. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contractor Licensing — State Trade Licenses Apply (Harris County)only if it applies to you | Harris County Engineering Department, Office of the County Engineer, Permits Division | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-27 |
| Floodplain Development Permitonly if it applies to you | Harris County Engineering Department, Office of the County Engineer, Permits Division | The Engineering fee schedule does not itemize a floodplain-specific Certificate of Compliance or Certificate of Non-Compliance fee separate from the general Certificate of Compliance ($120.00) and Certificate of Non-Compliance ($520.00) fee recorded above. Two floodplain-specific charges are confirmed in the schedule: a $50.00 flat floodplain compliance inspection fee, and 'other charges incurred by County Engineer,' billed at $0.405 per mile plus $45.00 per hour where they apply. | issued once per project | 2026-09-27 |
| Sign Permit (Extraterritorial Jurisdiction / Toll Road)only if it applies to you | Harris County Engineering Department, Office of the County Engineer, Permits Division | Toll Road frontage signs: $120.00 flat plus a $40.00 inspection fee (one inspection). Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) Scenic, Major Thoroughfare and Freeway frontage signs: $30.00 flat plus a $40.00 inspection fee, charged for two inspections. | one-time; construction must be completed within 180 days of issuance | 2026-09-27 |
| Certificate of Compliance | Harris County Engineering Department, Office of the County Engineer, Permits Division | $120 flat fee for a Certificate of Compliance; a Certificate of Non-Compliance, issued when the inspection fails, is $520.00 flat (fee schedule effective September 1, 2023) | issued once per approved project or occupancy; not a recurring renewal | 2026-09-27 |
| Commercial Building/Development Permit | Harris County Engineering Department, Office of the County Engineer, Permits Division | New commercial structures, additions or substantial improvements: $0.07 per square foot (Class I construction) or $0.14 per square foot (Class II construction), plus the separate Harris County Fire Code construction fee below. Lease tenant-space build-outs and remodels: $16 per 1,000 square feet (Class I) or $32 per 1,000 square feet (Class II), plus the Fire Code fee. | one-time per project/permit | 2026-09-27 |
| Stormwater Quality (SWQ) Permitonly if it applies to you | Harris County Engineering Department, Office of the County Engineer, Permits Division | SWQ Permit, initial issuance or expired renewal: $500.00. Master SWQ Permit, initial issuance or expired renewal: $1,000.00. On-time annual renewal: $250.00. Master on-time annual renewal: $500.00. Amendment (structural control): $150.00. Transfer: $300.00. Certificate of Compliance: $20.00. Certificate of Non-Compliance: $500.00. | annual renewal required to keep the permit active | 2026-09-27 |
| Salon / Cosmetology Licensing — State TDLR License Applies (Harris County)only if it applies to you | Harris County Engineering Department, Office of the County Engineer, Permits Division | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-27 |
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
Contractor Licensing — State Trade Licenses Apply (Harris County)
No fee applies. Harris County Engineering's own Permits A to Z page — covering commercial building and site development, floodplain, on-site sewage, fire-protection systems and the Certificate of Compliance — lists no general contractor license or registration; Texas counties have only the regulatory powers the Legislature expressly grants them. A contractor doing work in unincorporated Harris County still needs the underlying trade credentials that are state functions where they apply, such as a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation electrical contractor license or a Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners plumbing license, and still needs the project-specific Engineering and Fire Code permits recorded above. A city where the contractor works may separately require its own registration, which is not covered on this county page.
Floodplain Development Permit
Required for grading, filling, paving, construction or a substantial improvement within the Special Flood Hazard Area, in unincorporated Harris County only. A previously circulated pair of figures — a $20.00 floodplain Certificate of Compliance and a $100.00 floodplain Certificate of Non-Compliance — was checked against the full fee schedule, read page by page, and against the Floodplain-Management page directly; neither figure appears in either document, so they are not published here. Contact Harris County Permits, (713) 274-3900 or floodplain@harriscountytx.gov, to confirm the fee for a specific project.
Sign Permit (Extraterritorial Jurisdiction / Toll Road)
Reaches a new or renovated on-premise exterior sign in unincorporated Harris County only, including its designated Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Scenic, Major Thoroughfare, Freeway and Toll-Road-frontage zones. Off-premise signage is prohibited countywide in the unincorporated area, so there is no permit path for it. Inside an incorporated city, that city's own sign ordinance applies instead.
Certificate of Compliance
Harris County's own guidance states this plainly: a business located outside the City of Houston's city limits and within unincorporated Harris County must obtain a Harris County Certificate of Compliance before occupying a new or altered commercial building — the county's rough equivalent of a certificate of occupancy. Inside Houston or any other incorporated city, that city issues its own certificate instead, out of scope here. Harris County Engineering announced new fees took effect October 1, 2025 as year one of a three-year phased increase; no updated fee-schedule document confirming the new dollar figures has been located, so the $120.00/$520.00 figures above are from the September 1, 2023 schedule and should be confirmed with Engineering, (713) 274-3900, before relying on them.
Commercial Building/Development Permit
Applies to new commercial construction, additions, substantial improvements and tenant-space build-outs in unincorporated Harris County only. The per-square-foot rate held stable from the September 1, 2019 schedule through the September 1, 2023 schedule used here, but Harris County Engineering announced new fees took effect October 1, 2025 as year one of a three-year phased increase, and no updated fee-schedule document has been published for it yet — confirm the current rate with Engineering, (713) 274-3900, before budgeting a project.
Stormwater Quality (SWQ) Permit
Required for qualifying land-disturbing commercial development in unincorporated Harris County only. This permit's own $20.00 Certificate of Compliance and $500.00 Certificate of Non-Compliance are separate line items from the general Engineering Certificate of Compliance ($120.00) and Certificate of Non-Compliance ($520.00) recorded above — two distinct certificate fees exist in the same fee schedule for two different permit programs, and neither should be substituted for the other.
Salon / Cosmetology Licensing — State TDLR License Applies (Harris County)
No fee applies. Harris County Engineering's Permits A to Z page lists no salon license; cosmetology and salon establishment licensing is a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation function, recorded at the state layer. Ordinary building, Fire Code and, in unincorporated Harris County, Certificate of Compliance requirements still apply to a salon's premises as they would to any commercial space.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Harris County
- Phone
- 713-274-3900
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.
- 2023 Permits Fee Schedule, effective September 1, 2023 (Engineering fees) and Fire Code Fee Schedule effective March 1, 2022 (HCFMO operational-permit fees)Harris County Engineering Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
- Advocacy update: Harris County permit and fire-code fee proposals (reports the October 1, 2025 start of a three-year phased fee increase)Houston BOMA · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
- Floodplain Management (confirms no itemized floodplain-specific Certificate of Compliance/Non-Compliance fee)Harris County Engineering Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
- Permits (Engineering's own list of the permits it administers, and the Certificate of Compliance unincorporated-area scope statement)Harris County Engineering Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
- Signs — Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction, Scenic, Toll RoadsHarris County Engineering Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
Other offices serving Harris County
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
Texas jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.