Round Rock

1. A strict one-permit system, where approval is not issuance

   All trades ride the single building permit. The general contractor and every subcontractor must be added to the application and must individually accept the assignment in the portal before the permit will release. Plans can be fully approved while the permit sits waiting on a subcontractor who has not logged in. That is a coordination problem, and it costs days that nothing about the review required.

2. Fire review runs in parallel, on its own clock and its own fee

   Fire plan review takes two to four weeks depending on workload and is billed separately on the same valuation brackets as the building permit. Sprinkler plans are excluded from the building submittal entirely and are permitted through the Fire Marshal's Office. The Fire Final must pass before a Certificate of Occupancy can be applied for.

3. The clock starts at acceptance, not at submittal

   Every published window is measured from when the application is "received and accepted," including the 4 to 8 weeks for commercial and roughly 30 business days for residential. Acceptance is its own gate, and an incomplete package never starts the clock at all.

4. Site development projects carry a close-out layer before occupancy

   Where a project sits on a Site Development Permit or Subdivision Improvement Permit, the C of O also requires all improvements constructed and passed, all close-out paperwork complete, and sign-off from both Building Inspections and Development Services. That paperwork covers recorded easement dedications, the maintenance bond and as-built review. The city recommends allowing 6 to 8 weeks for the process.

5. Food service is a county review, on a different portal

   Round Rock has no city health department for food establishments. Plan review runs through the Williamson County and Cities Health District, which uses My Government Online rather than the city portal, and is required for new construction, change of ownership and remodels. Pre-opening inspections are scheduled seven days after the approval letter. A plan review with no communication for 60 days is deemed abandoned.

6. Impact fees can attach to a tenant change

   Roadway impact fees are due on the building permit application date and apply to redevelopment that increases density of an existing use, so a finish-out that intensifies the use can generate a fee nobody budgeted.

Source: City of Round Rock Building Inspection Division published fee tables and Fire Marshal fee schedule, effective 10.01.2024. Full schedule in Code of Ordinances Appendix A.