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9 permits · verified 2026-08-25

What permits do you need to open a childcare centre in El Paso?

In short

A childcare centre in El Paso, TX has 6 permits that apply to every business of this type, plus 3 more that depend on your premises, signage or how you are set up. City of El Paso Planning and Inspections Department charges $110 per certificate for the certificate of occupancy. 4 of the 9 are charged as a range or formula rather than a flat fee. Verified 2026-08-25 against the issuing agencies’ published fee schedules.

Permits particular to a childcare centre in El Paso

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Day Care Center PermitCity of El Paso Environmental Services Code Enforcement$79–$170 per year, by capacity1 year2026-08-25
Child Care LicenseTexas Health and Human Services$35 application, then an annual fee of $35 plus $1 per child of licensed capacityannual2026-08-20

Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.

Local permits that apply to every type of business in El Paso

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Commercial Plan ReviewCity of El Paso Planning and Inspections DepartmentVaries — formula on the El Paso pageper review2026-08-25
Commercial Building PermitCity of El Paso Planning and Inspections DepartmentVaries — formula on the El Paso pagenot stated in the published schedule2026-08-25
Certificate of OccupancyCity of El Paso Planning and Inspections Department$110 per certificatenot stated in the published schedule2026-08-25
Demolition Permitonly if it applies to youCity of El Paso Planning and Inspections Department$115 per permitnot stated in the published schedule2026-08-25

Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.

TX registrations that apply to every type of business

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Certificate of Formationonly if it applies to youTexas Secretary of State$300 one-time filingno expiry2026-08-20
Assumed Name Certificate (DBA)only if it applies to youTexas Secretary of State$25 one-time filingup to ten years, renewable2026-08-21
Texas Sales and Use Tax PermitTexas Comptroller of Public AccountsNo fee — there is no fee for this permitno expiry while actively engaged in business2026-08-21

Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.

How much does it actually cost to permit a childcare centre in El Paso?

There is no single figure, and any site quoting one is rounding away the part that matters. Of the 9 records listed for a childcare centre in El Paso, TX, 6 apply to every business of this type and 3 are conditional. Adding every fee on the page together would overstate what most operators pay, because it would include permits they never need.

Of the 6 that always apply, 2 carry a flat fee, coming to $110.00. That is a floor, not a total. 4 of the 9 are charged as a range or a formula set by the issuing agency, and 0 have no fee published at all. The ones particular to this business that vary:

Day Care Center Permit: $79–$170 per year, by capacity

Child Care License: $35 application, then an annual fee of $35 plus $1 per child of licensed capacity

The other 2 variable fees belong to permits that apply to every type of business here; their formulas are set out on the El Paso permits page and the TX state page.

Is El Paso expensive for a childcare centre?

Comparing like with like — only the permits charged as a single flat fee, since a valuation formula has no figure to rank — El Paso sits where the table below puts it against every other TX jurisdiction covered here that publishes the same permit.

Certificate of Occupancy: El Paso charges $110. Across 22 jurisdictions it runs from $50 in Waco to $425 in Universal City, with a median of $105. 11 charge less and 10 charge more.

Demolition Permit: El Paso charges $115. Across 6 jurisdictions it runs from $50 in Grand Prairie to $200 in Arlington, with a median of $106.50. 3 charge less and 2 charge more.

Read the spread rather than the rank. Certificate of Occupancy varies by $375 between the cheapest and dearest jurisdiction here, which is the sort of gap worth knowing before you sign a lease on one side of a city line rather than the other.

Which offices issue these permits in El Paso?

Permits for a childcare centre in El Paso, TX come from 5 separate offices: City of El Paso Planning and Inspections Department, City of El Paso Environmental Services Code Enforcement, Texas Secretary of State, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Texas Health and Human Services. No single office issues them all, which is why an opening means filing in several places rather than one.

What does a childcare centre need in El Paso that other businesses do not?

2 of the 2 permits particular to a childcare centre here apply to no other business type we cover in El Paso: Day Care Center Permit and Child Care License.

Day Care Center Permit

$79 for a home child care facility of twelve or fewer, $170 for a day care centre with more than twelve. Related care permits sit on the same schedule: an adult foster care or private care home for four or fewer is $79, and a personal care home is $105 for five to eight recipients and $158 for nine to eighteen. All of these are city permits and sit on top of the state license from Texas Health and Human Services. A health and sanitary site visit for a sack lunch day care without a food permit is $47. Most lines add an unquantified "applicable tech fee"; the schedule never states what it is, so confirm it before budgeting to the dollar.

Child Care License

Worked example: a centre licensed for 100 children pays $135 a year ($35 + $1 x 100). The annual fee falls on the anniversary of the date the initial license was issued, not on a calendar date.

The other 4 local permits in the tables apply to every type of business in El Paso, TX; what each one involves is set out on the El Paso permits page. The 3 state-level registrations apply to every type of business across TX and are covered on the TX state page.

How does a childcare centre compare with other businesses in El Paso?

The closest match is a auto repair shop, which shares 0 of these permits. A childcare centre also needs Day Care Center Permit and Child Care License. A auto repair shop needs Fire Operational Permit, which a childcare centre does not.

Permits particular to each business type in El Paso, TX, compared with a childcare centre
BusinessIts own permitsShared with a childcare centreOnly a childcare centre needsOnly it needs
Auto repair shops1021
Coffee shops6026
Contractors and trades3023
Fitness studios3023
Food trucks4024
Restaurants9029
Retail stores8028
Salons and barbers2022
Veterinary clinics1021

Sources

Every figure for the permits explained on this page was read from one of these government pages on the date shown. Sources for the permits that apply to every type of business are listed on the El Paso permits page and the TX state page. Confirmed by Editorial Team.

  1. City of El Paso FY 2026 Schedule C, Departmental Fee List (85 pages)City of El Paso · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-25
  2. 5200, Fees — Child Care Regulation HandbookTexas Health and Human Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-20

Related

Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.