Harris County Project and Permit Coordination

Confirm the parcel and scope

Start with the county's current permitting resources and the actual property records.

• Unincorporated or within a municipality

  The County's FAQ identifies development permitting in unincorporated Harris County. Verify the parcel and applicable boundaries with the responsible offices. Separate municipal review, county responsibilities and any special authority rather than inferring jurisdiction from the mailing city.

• Provide the actual tenant operation

  The County’s FAQ describes a commercial express-review pathway. It requests a dimensioned floor plan, site plan, property account information, shell permit, application, and details of the operation and storage. Use this as a preparation reference and confirm which process fits your project. A change of tenant can require new permit or compliance action. Do not assume the prior business’s approval transfers unchanged.

• Identify gaps before production

  Bring the survey or plat, current site and building drawings, prior permits and certificates, operating equipment, proposed changes and owner authorization. Identify missing field information, open violations or unfinished related permits that could affect the new assignment.

Coordinate site and specialty decisions

The relevant offices and professional inputs depend on the site and work, not just the building's use label.

• Resolve floodplain information

  Use the County's Floodplain Management guidance to identify applicable review and required elevation evidence. Ask the responsible floodplain office and qualified survey or engineering team which site information and certificates apply. Preserve the source, datum and limitations of elevation records; a map screenshot alone cannot resolve project-specific design requirements.

• Distinguish plat review from recordation

  The County's plat-recordation guidance distinguishes properties outside municipal extraterritorial jurisdiction from those requiring municipal approval steps. Confirm the property's actual status and signature sequence before treating a draft plat as recorded. Survey and property-rights decisions remain with the responsible qualified parties.

• Assign the other review interfaces

  The County's permitting contacts distinguish civil site, minor development, traffic, fire code, platting, stormwater and wastewater responsibilities. Screen the actual project with the relevant offices and identify each required drawing, application and decision owner. Do not require every listed discipline by default or omit one because the floor plan is small.

Plan for final compliance

Put inspection and related-permit closure on the project register before the intended opening date approaches.

• Complete the required inspections

  County commercial compliance guidance connects the certificate to completed inspections, resolution of open violations and closure of related permits. Identify the applicable Fire Marshal and other inspection responsibilities and track the current evidence for each required item.

• Close related site and permit work

  The County identifies related civil site, right-of-way, stormwater-quality and sign permits among possible closure dependencies. Confirm which apply to the actual project. A finished interior can still have an unresolved site or permit condition that prevents final compliance.

• Make a controlled certificate request

  Use the County's current electronic certificate-request instructions and keep one request record for the project instead of creating duplicates. Retain the issued certificate, controlling drawings and remaining owner obligations in the handover package. A request submission is not confirmation that a certificate has been issued.

• Agree on the coordination assignment

  True North can organize the agreed drawings, applications, comment responses and closeout records. The proposal identifies professional design duties, owner decisions, authority reviews and partner construction separately. Existing records, specialist findings, scope changes and review dependencies determine effort and timing; no universal county permit date is promised.

Harris County ePermits and the project record

Use the County’s process only after confirming the property and applicable County scope. A Houston postal address alone does not select the City or County portal.

• Find the relevant ePermits action

  The Harris County Office of the County Engineer’s Permits page links to ePermits for project status, document downloads, inspections and other listed functions. Start from that official page and match the action to the existing project number and responsible applicant. Preserve receipts, comment sets and document revisions. A status entry, inspection request or certificate request remains separate from the corresponding issued approval or accepted result.

Harris County certificates: issuance, copies and changes

For a County-reviewed project, distinguish the County’s Certificate of Compliance from the City of Houston’s Certificate of Occupancy. Confirm the property’s jurisdiction and the actual permit record before selecting either process.

• Requesting a new Certificate of Compliance

  The County’s certificate guidance ties issuance to the applicable completed inspections, resolved violations and related permit closures. Use its current electronic request page once the project is ready, and retain one request record per project. The FAQ also contains older email-based instructions; follow the dedicated current request page for submission. A submitted request is not an issued certificate, and duplicate requests do not accelerate issuance.

• Obtaining another copy

  The County FAQ directs requests for copies of certificates issued after December 15, 2015 to Records and earlier certificates to Fire Marshal’s Office Records. Use the contacts linked in that FAQ and provide the address, permit number if known and approximate issue date. The wording does not settle a certificate dated exactly December 15, 2015; confirm routing with the County if the date is uncertain or falls on that boundary. A public project-status result is not necessarily a downloadable certificate.

• A new owner, tenant or operation

  A copy request, a correction to an issued record and a new tenant’s approval are different assignments. The County FAQ describes limited affidavit and correction paths as well as situations requiring a new permit. Bring the existing certificate and proposed changes to the County for classification; do not assume a name change or purchase transfers authorization. True North can organize the agreed records and follow-up, while the County decides the applicable path.

Before you begin

Common questions