Permits

The City of Fort Worth adopted the 2021 ICC (International Code Council) Codes to be effective on April 1, 2022 with the exception of the International Energy Conservation Code. The 2020 NEC (National Electric Code) was effective January 1, 2020 and the 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code effective September 1, 2020.

We will retain the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code.

The International Code Council, or ICC, is an organization that develops codes and standards for the building and construction industries. The I-Codes developed by ICC are a set of comprehensive building safety and fire prevention codes designed to set minimum standards for safe construction of homes, schools and commercial buildings. Building code are adopted by municipalities and used by architects, builders, engineers, designers, constructors, and regulators in order to construct safe and healthy structures. NEC is the safety standard used by most states, municipalities and cities for electrical installations.

The locally adopted amendments can be found at the link below.

X-Team

For an additional fee, the Expedited Plan Review Team will allow developers and others seeking a building permit to schedule a meeting with a plan review team and their design professionals within two weeks of submitting plans. The plans will be reviewed with the design professionals present, giving them the opportunity to make any necessary corrections on the spot and potentially have a permit issued in one sitting. Contact the X-Team for additional information.

Standard Plan Review

City plan review staff members review building permit applications in the order in which they have been submitted. These applications have all required submittal elements. Our goal is to provide you with a full set of comments on your application is 7 business days, this timeframe can vary based on the volume of work in the plans examiners queue.

Simultaneous Construction Plan and Plat Review

Our current process requires that the plat be completed and recorded at the County prior to submittal of any building permit application. Having the plat finalized means that when the site plans are initially reviewed easements, floodplains, right of way dedications, property lines and any other encumbrances to the property are firmly set. City staff can review a building permit application with a proposed plat after the final plat application has been submitted to the City. Reviewing plans prior to plat recording will mean that adjustments to the construction plans may need to be made.  When reviewing construction plans with a proposed plat staff has identified five divisions that will need to review the same permit information twice, once with the proposed plat and a second time with the finalized plat. This double-touch of the plans will necessitate an additional fee for building plan submittal prior to plat recording. These permit applications are reviewed in the order in which they have been submitted.  No building permits will be issued until the final plat is recorded at the County.

Third Party Plan Review

Private companies(PDF, 246KB) authorized to perform select building plan review and/or inspection tasks. City staff members perform all reviews other than building, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and energy. Examples of city staff review include zoning, fire, water, stormwater, health, etc...

Licensing and Renewals

You may apply for and renew all of the licensing below with the Development Support staff.

• Building Registration
• Electrical Registration
• Mechanical Registration
• Parkway Registration
• Plumbing Registration
• Sign Erector Registration

Application for New or Renewal of Contractor Registration(PDF, 603KB)