19 published records
Business licenses and permits in Harris County, Texas
Harris County has three distinct county-level regulators, reaching different geography, and a business's obligations depend on which one reaches it. Harris County Engineering and the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office (HCFMO) govern unincorporated Harris County only — building/development permits, the Certificate of Compliance, floodplain, stormwater-quality and sign permits, and every Fire Code operational permit; inside Houston or any other incorporated city, that city's own departments apply instead. Harris County Public Health (HCPH) permits food establishments in unincorporated Harris County plus a number of smaller incorporated cities that contract with HCPH instead of running their own health department — not Houston, which runs the Houston Health Department. The county alcohol fee, collected by the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector's Office alongside the state TABC permit, is countywide, including inside Houston, because it is a state-statute county surcharge on a state permit rather than a county ordinance limited to the unincorporated area. Texas counties have only the regulatory powers the Texas Constitution and Legislature expressly grant them, and Harris County Engineering's Permits A to Z page names no general business license among the permits it issues. Effective July 1, 2026, Texas HB 2844 transferred mobile food unit food-safety permitting statewide to Texas DSHS, so HCPH no longer issues that specific permit; the separate HCFMO fire-marshal Mobile Food Unit Operational Permit is unrelated and still applies in the unincorporated area. Childcare licensing (Texas HHSC), veterinary licensing (Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners), cosmetology/salon licensing (Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation) and contractor trade credentials (state boards) are all state functions, not county ones, and are carried at the state layer.
What are you opening in Harris County?
- 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 Harris County
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire Code Construction Fee | Harris County Fire Marshal's Office | Tiered by construction valuation under the Harris County Fire Code Fee Schedule, effective March 1, 2022: valuation $0-$10,000 costs a $75 application fee plus a $300 permit fee plus a $300 inspection fee; the fee climbs through intermediate tiers to a top tier of $35,000,001 and up, which costs a $4,000 application fee plus a permit fee of roughly $18,000 plus $0.85 per $1,000 of valuation over $35 million, five inspections, and a $1,500 shell-inspection fee. The full multi-tier table sits in the Fire Code Fee Schedule document itself. | one-time per project, issued alongside the Engineering building/development permit above | 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 |
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 Harris County?
Fire Code Construction Fee
This fee rides alongside the Engineering building/development permit for the same project, in unincorporated Harris County only, and scales with the project's construction valuation rather than its square footage. Houston BOMA has reported that the Fire Marshal's Office separately revised its large-commercial-permit fees as part of the October 1, 2025 phased increase, and no updated fee-schedule document has been published for it yet — confirm the tiers above (March 1, 2022 schedule) with the Fire Marshal's Office before budgeting a project.
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.
Sources
Every figure in the table 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
- Harris County Fire Code Regulations, effective October 1, 2025 (adopted under Texas Local Government Code Ch. 233, Subchapter C)Harris County Fire Marshal's Office · 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
- Signs — Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction, Scenic, Toll RoadsHarris 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
Who issues business permits in Harris County?
Permitting in Harris County is split across 4 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.
Harris County issuing agencies
- Harris County Engineering Department, Office of the County Engineer, Permits DivisionCertificate of Compliance, commercial building/development, floodplain development, stormwater-quality and sign permits — unincorporated Harris County only · Permit fee schedule administration (Engineering and, jointly, Fire Code construction fees)7 permits
- Harris County Public Health, Environmental Public Health Division, Food Safety ProgramFood establishment, temporary, roadside vendor and farmers' market vendor permits — unincorporated Harris County plus a number of smaller contract cities (not Houston) · Food establishment plan review · No longer issues the annual Mobile Food Unit food-safety permit as of July 1, 2026 (transferred to Texas DSHS by HB 2844)6 permits
- Harris County Fire Marshal's OfficeHarris County Fire Code construction and operational permits — unincorporated Harris County only · Mobile food unit, repair garage/motor fuel, places-of-assembly and open-flame operational permits5 permits
- Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector's Office, Special Permit TaxesCounty local fee on state TABC beer, wine and liquor permits — countywide, including inside Houston1 permit
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.