What permits do you need to open a contractor or trade in Pasadena?

Liquid Waste Transporter Permit

Required for any collection, transportation or disposal of hauled liquid waste inside the Pasadena city limits — which is how a restaurant's grease trap is actually pumped out, so the obligation falls on the hauler the restaurant hires rather than on the restaurant. No city permit will be issued unless the transporter is already permitted by and registered with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. A vehicle and trailer identification list is filed with the application. The city publishes no fee for it.

Commercial Demolition Permit

$100 for a commercial demolition, $50 residential, and the permit is good for 30 days only or for the duration of the remodel it belongs to. Where the demolition is included with a building permit it is charged at half the normal rate and may run concurrently with that permit — which is the cheaper and faster route on a gut fit-out.

High Pile Storage Permit

$475 and $700 for the two high pile storage levels the schedule sets out at 2,500 to 20,000 sq ft. Alongside it sit the rest of Pasadena's high hazard annual permits, which are the ones an industrial tenant needs to price before signing: Tier I hazardous materials storage $350, motor vehicle fuel dispensing $350, welding shops and iron works $300, lumberyards $260, industrial ovens $225, tyre storage $150, scrap metal yards $150, auto wrecking yards $150 and automotive repair $100. Hot work — welding, asphalt kettles, roof torching — is $300, an underground storage tank $200 and a product line inspection $200.

Annual Building Contractor Registration

$75 to register and $75 a year to renew, for every building and remodel contractor. Commercial contractors must show at least $300,000 of liability insurance with the City of Pasadena named as certificate holder; residential contractors must show Texas Residential Construction Commission compliance. The registration runs for a year from the anniversary or for the valid insurance period, whichever is the more stringent — so a short insurance policy shortens the registration. Homeowners with a homestead exemption building or remodelling their own dwelling are exempt.

Electrical Contractor License

Texas licenses no general contractor - there is no statewide builder license. Individual trades are licensed instead: electrical, plumbing and HVAC, each under its own programme. The $110 is the application fee. Published renewal figures conflict between $110 and $165 depending on license subtype, so no renewal amount is recorded until a reviewer confirms which applies.

Shared with other businesses in Pasadena

• Commercial Fence Permit — City of Pasadena Permit Department, $100 per 1,000 linear feet or part thereof, plus the application fee; storage lot fences $100 per 500 linear feet, not stated in the published fee schedule. Also required for retail stores and auto repair shops; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.
• Paving and Parking Repair Permit — City of Pasadena Permit Department, $60 minimum, per permit, not stated in the published fee schedule. Also required for retail stores, restaurants and auto repair shops; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.
• Commercial Roofing Permit — City of Pasadena Permit Department, $50 per structure, plus the $10 application fee, not stated in the published fee schedule. Also required for retail stores, restaurants and auto repair shops; what it involves is set out on the auto repair shops page.