Permitting Authorities / Tarrant County - Engineering Services, Development Division
Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Tarrant County, TX?
Adopted code
Tarrant County - Engineering Services, Development Division
No — Tarrant County, TX does not require a permit for like-for-like roof replacement (Tarrant County - Engineering Services, Development Division). Tarrant County does not enforce zoning in unincorporated areas and does not issue standard residential building permits. Under authority the county adopted September 1, 2009 (after the Legislature abolished the Texas Residential Construction Commission), the county's own page states that "all new residential structures and improvements to existing residential structures that increase the square footage or value by more than 50 percent shall be constructed to the International Building Code (IBC)." The page further states: "Tarrant County does not have inspection authority or responsibility for residences and can not charge fees; instead the builder is required to" notify the county of the construction, obtain three inspections during construction from a third party, and submit a notice of compliance to the county. "Failure to obtain the inspections is a Class C misdemeanor." This notice requirement does not apply to multi-family, manufactured, or modular housing, or to a builder who intends to occupy the residence themselves. Separately, any building to be built after August 1, 2018 in the unincorporated areas requires a Construction Permit for commercial buildings, public buildings, and multifamily dwellings of four or more units, and additional permits are required for floodplain development and stormwater control on sites over one acre.
Jurisdiction
Tarrant County, Texas
Contact
- url: https://www.tarrantcountytx.gov/en/engineering-services/development.html
- phone: 817-884-1250
Roofing permit required
Not required
Permit process note
Tarrant County does not enforce zoning in unincorporated areas and does not issue standard residential building permits. Under authority the county adopted September 1, 2009 (after the Legislature abolished the Texas Residential Construction Commission), the county's own page states that "all new residential structures and improvements to existing residential structures that increase the square footage or value by more than 50 percent shall be constructed to the International Building Code (IBC)." The page further states: "Tarrant County does not have inspection authority or responsibility for residences and can not charge fees; instead the builder is required to" notify the county of the construction, obtain three inspections during construction from a third party, and submit a notice of compliance to the county. "Failure to obtain the inspections is a Class C misdemeanor." This notice requirement does not apply to multi-family, manufactured, or modular housing, or to a builder who intends to occupy the residence themselves. Separately, any building to be built after August 1, 2018 in the unincorporated areas requires a Construction Permit for commercial buildings, public buildings, and multifamily dwellings of four or more units, and additional permits are required for floodplain development and stormwater control on sites over one acre.
Adopted code
International Residential Code -- either the version published as of May 1, 2008, or the version of the International Residential Code applicable in the City of Fort Worth, Texas, at the builder's choice -- adopted by resolution of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court under Texas Local Government Code Section 233.153, "Applying Subchapter F, Chapter 233, Texas Local Government Code, to Certain Residential Construction in Unincorporated Areas of Tarrant County Begun After September 1, 2009." The resolution is a fully executed instrument: signed September 1, 2009 under County Order No. 106259, bearing the County Judge's signature and the signatures of all four Commissioners, with the Commissioners Court seal affixed. It applies ONLY to (1) new single-family or duplex construction on a vacant lot and (2) an addition to an existing single-family house or duplex that increases square footage or value by more than 50 percent, both begun after September 1, 2009 -- it does not reach re-roofing, ordinary repairs, or construction below that 50 percent addition threshold. Commercial, public, and four-or-more-unit multifamily buildings built after August 1, 2018 separately require a county Construction Permit, for which no code edition is stated.
Impact-resistant roofing
Not required — Tarrant County does not issue standard residential building permits and has no residential inspection program beyond the state-authorized notice-and-inspection process for NEW residential construction adopted 9-1-2009; it adopts no residential building code governing re-roofing, so no Class 4 impact-resistance requirement can attach.
Sales & use tax
8.25% combined in unincorporated Tarrant County: 6.25% state + 2.00% Tarrant County Emergency Services District No. 1. Tarrant County itself levies no general Chapter 323 county sales and use tax (comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/sales/county.php), but per the Comptroller's special-purpose-district rate detail, "The Tarrant County Emergency Services District No. 1 has the same boundaries as the unincorporated Tarrant County. The district excludes any incorporated areas" (comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/sales/spd.php), so its 2.00% sales tax (local code 5220763, effective 04/01/24) applies uniformly across all unincorporated county territory. Texas collects no construction use tax at building-permit issuance; use tax, when owed, is self-assessed by the purchaser and remitted directly to the Comptroller's office rather than collected by a city or county permit office (Comptroller Use Tax guidance, comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/sales/use-tax.php). Under Comptroller guidance for real property repair and remodeling, "Labor to repair, remodel, or restore residential real property is not taxable"; on the lump-sum contract typical of residential re-roofing, "you pay tax on all your supplies, materials, equipment, and taxable services when you buy them. You don't charge your customer tax" (Comptroller Pub. 94-116, Real Property Repair and Remodeling, comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/94-116.php) -- so the combined rate above is the roofer's own cost basis on materials purchased, not a rate charged to the homeowner.
The development-permitting authority for unincorporated Tarrant County, Texas. Engineering Services issues floodplain, stormwater, right-of-way, and commercial/multifamily construction permits, and administers the county's state-authorized notice-and-inspection program for new residential construction. It does not issue standard building permits for single-family homes and has no residential inspection authority.