14 published records
Business licenses and permits in El Paso, Texas
El Paso gathers nearly every fee the city charges into one annual document, FY2026 Schedule C, an eighty-five page Departmental Fee List — so unlike most Texas cities there is a single place to look rather than one schedule per department. Food permits are banded on floor area from $174 under 3,000 square feet to $685 above 9,000, which makes El Paso markedly cheaper than most large Texas cities for a small kitchen: Fort Worth, McKinney and Round Rock all start above $250. Two things are worth knowing before budgeting. Almost every line adds an "applicable tech fee" that the schedule never quantifies. And renewing more than thirty days late adds twenty per cent, which on the largest band is $137. The city's municipal code establishes these fees but prints no amounts — Schedule C is the operative document.
What are you opening in El Paso?
- RestaurantsFull-service restaurants carry the densest permit load of any small business: food, fire, occupancy, waste, and usually alcohol.See the full permit list
- Coffee shopsCafés are permitted as food service establishments even where no cooking happens, and the plan review step catches most operators by surprise.See the full permit list
- Retail storesRetail is the lightest common permit load, but the sales tax permit and the certificate of occupancy are non-negotiable in every jurisdiction.See the full permit list
- Salons and barbersPersonal care is licensed at state board level as well as locally, so the shop license and the practitioner licenses are separate obligations.See the full permit list
- Food trucksMobile food is the one category with no certificate of occupancy — but it gains a commissary agreement, and the unit itself is inspected rather than the premises.See the full permit list
- Fitness studiosPrepaid memberships trigger state registration and often a surety bond, which catches operators who budgeted only for the fit-out.See the full permit list
- Childcare centresThe heaviest permit load of any small business: state agency licensing, per-person background checks, and a stricter fire standard than ordinary commercial use.See the full permit list
- Contractors and tradesLicensed at state board level rather than locally, and the only common category with no premises permits at all — the bond is usually the long pole.See the full permit list
- Auto repair shopsOrdinary commercial permitting plus an environmental layer: waste oil, solvents and stormwater are each registered separately.See the full permit list
- Veterinary clinicsA state facility permit, controlled substances registration at both state and federal level, and a medical waste manifest — none of which a general business license covers.See the full permit list
Permits that apply to every type of business in El Paso
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial Plan Review | City of El Paso Planning and Inspections Department | 30% of the building permit fee, plus applicable technology fee | per review | 2026-08-25 |
| Commercial Building Permit | City of El Paso Planning and Inspections Department | $160.49 up to $15,000 valuation; $161.12 plus $8.48 per $1,000 to $100,000; $837.40 plus $6.36 per $1,000 to $500,000; $3,112.72 plus $3.28 per $1,000 to $1m; $4,758.34 plus $2.12 per $1,000 above $1m — plus plan review and technology fee | not stated in the published schedule | 2026-08-25 |
| Certificate of Occupancy | City of El Paso Planning and Inspections Department | $110 per certificate | not stated in the published schedule | 2026-08-25 |
| Demolition Permitonly if it applies to you | City of El Paso Planning and Inspections Department | $115 per permit | not stated in the published schedule | 2026-08-25 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
What do these permits involve in El Paso?
Commercial Plan Review
Thirty per cent of the building permit fee. Because it is a percentage rather than a flat charge or a separate valuation formula, plan review scales with the job in lockstep — on a $2m fit-out it is roughly $2,060 on top of the permit. Expedited review of a project valued under $300,000 is $256 plus $94 for each hour or part hour of review time, which is one of the few open-ended lines on the schedule. An appeal to the Zoning Board of Adjustment or the Construction Board of Appeals is $555.
Commercial Building Permit
Five valuation tiers, each a base plus a marginal rate, so the effective rate falls as the project grows: structural repair over $500 and work valued under $15,000 requiring plans is $160.49; from $15,000 to $100,000 it is $161.12 for the first $15,000 plus $8.48 for each further $1,000; from $100,000 to $500,000, $837.40 plus $6.36 per $1,000; from $500,000 to $1m, $3,112.72 plus $3.28 per $1,000; and above $1m, $4,758.34 plus $2.12 per $1,000. A $2m fit-out therefore costs about $6,878 in permit fee — close to Amarillo's $7,600 on the same valuation, reached by a very different route. Plan review is charged on top at 30 per cent of the permit fee, as is the technology fee, and a $400 commercial submittal deposit is payable up front and credited against the permit. Three variants are priced as fractions of the full fee and are worth knowing: a shell permit is 80 per cent, a tenant improvement permit 20 per cent, and a foundation-only permit 10 per cent. Starting work without a permit triples the fee for a contractor.
Certificate of Occupancy
$110 for a certificate of occupancy on an existing building, plus the technology fee — the usual case for a tenant taking on premises with no construction work. The same $110 covers a pre-inspection and any permit requiring only one inspection; a permit requiring two inspections is $160. Cheap by comparison with Amarillo's $151, and it is the single most commonly missed step when a business changes hands.
Demolition Permit
$115 plus technology fee. The same $115 covers moving a building and retaining walls; fences, siding, windows, weatherization, placement and right-of-way permits are $110 each, and an electrical fence is $152. El Paso prices these as a long list of flat permits rather than by valuation, so a small job here is predictable in a way the commercial tiers are not.
Sources
Every figure in the table above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- City of El Paso FY 2026 Schedule C, Departmental Fee List (85 pages)City of El Paso · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-25
- El Paso Municipal Code section 18.02.106, Permit Fees (Ord. No. 019528, 1 August 2023) — establishes fees, states no amountsCity of El Paso · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-25
Who issues business permits in El Paso?
Permitting in El Paso is split across 3 agencies we hold records for, with tax registration handled at state level. No single office issues everything, which is why an opening usually means filing in several places rather than one.
El Paso issuing agencies
- City of El Paso Environmental Services Code EnforcementFood service and food product establishment permits · Food establishment plan review and site assessment · Temporary, seasonal and recurrent food establishments · Food handler certification · Child care and personal care home permits6 permits
- City of El Paso Planning and Inspections DepartmentZoning applications and rezoning · Special permits · Subdivision platting · Building permits and plan review6 permits
- El Paso Fire Department, Fire Marshal's OfficeInternational Fire Code operational permits · Hazardous materials and HPM facility licenses · High piled storage licenses · Places of assembly licenses · Mobile food preparation vehicle licenses2 permits
Other Texas jurisdictions we cover
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.