Houston, TX

Backyard project rules in Houston

Houston has no zoning, but its building code is stricter than the model code on small buildings: a shed over 120 square feet needs a permit. Platted building lines, recorded deed restrictions and the floodplain rules do much of the work zoning does elsewhere.

Written by DueRivaEditorial review: 2026-09-30Review standard

Local workflow

Start with the parcel, not the project photo

1. Read the plat and the deed restrictions

Houston's development rules set building lines instead of zoning setbacks: on a single-family lot, 20 feet at the front along a local street and 25 along a collector, or 10 where the plat shows a typical lot layout. Anything that needs a building permit stays behind them. Recorded deed restrictions can set larger setbacks, fence rules and limits on what may be built, and the city attorney can sue to enforce them.

2. Check the floodplain before you design

In a Houston special flood hazard area, which reaches out to the 0.2 percent (500-year) floodplain, any development, from a building to paving or fill, needs a floodplain development permit on top of any other permit, including work the building code exempts.

3. Test the work against Houston's own exempt list

Houston adopted the 2021 International Residential Code and amended its exempt list: detached accessory buildings to 120 square feet instead of 200, fences to 8 feet unless masonry, concrete or electrified, and no exemption for a small prefabricated pool. A pool also goes to the Health Department, which approves its plans.

Questions to take to the department

Which building lines does the plat show for this lot, and do the deed restrictions set larger ones?
Is any part of the lot in a Houston special flood hazard area, the shaded X zone included?
Does the work fit a line on Houston's amended exempt list, or does it need a building permit?
For a pool: has the Health Department approved the plans, and when does it inspect before the pool is used?

Eleven projects, in Houston’s own words

Fence

No permit: A fence up to 8 feet high that is not masonry or concrete and is not electrically energized.
Permit: A masonry or concrete fence, a taller one or an electric one needs a building permit, and it cannot stand inside a platted building line. Recorded deed restrictions can also set a fence's height, materials and place on the lot, and the city attorney can sue to enforce them.
Fees: Fence permit, first 100 lineal feet$73.85
Each further 100 lineal feet or part$11.41
Minimum structural permit fee$91.06
The schedule bills a fence by its length and sets a minimum for any structural permit. Houston City Fee Schedule, as of January 1, 2026.

Deck

No permit: A deck of 200 square feet or less, no more than 30 inches above grade at any point, not attached to the house and not serving the exit door the code requires.
Permit: Any other deck needs a building permit. In a Houston special flood hazard area, which reaches out to the 0.2 percent (500-year) floodplain, a deck also needs a floodplain development permit, exempt or not.
Fees: No fee line names a deck. Houston's residential code prices dwellings and detached accessory structures by square footage and other work by valuation, so ask the Houston Permitting Center which applies to yours.

Shed

No permit: A one-story detached accessory building of 120 square feet or less, unless it is a storm shelter.
Permit: A bigger shed needs a building permit and has to stand behind the platted building line. In a Houston special flood hazard area, which reaches out to the 0.2 percent (500-year) floodplain, any shed needs a floodplain development permit, whether or not it needs a building permit.
Fees: Wood-frame (Type VB) building, base charge$47.00
Plus, for each 8.17 sq ft over the first 57.16$5.36
Minimum structural permit fee$91.06
Houston prices a detached accessory building by square footage and construction type; these are the wood-frame lines up to 1,224.89 square feet, and no structural permit costs less than the minimum. Houston City Fee Schedule, as of January 1, 2026.

Patio

No permit: Flatwork on your lot, such as a slab patio, that the city's Infrastructure Design Manual does not cover; the code glosses that as interior flatwork not exceeding 65 percent of the total impervious area.
Permit: The exempt list names no patio cover. Its nearest lines are a window awning reaching no more than 54 inches from the wall with no support but the wall, and a one-story detached accessory structure of no more than 120 square feet. In a Houston special flood hazard area, which reaches out to the 0.2 percent (500-year) floodplain, paving is development and needs a floodplain development permit.
Fees: Exempt flatwork needs no building permit, so it carries no permit fee; the schedule names no patio line.

Driveway

No permit: A driveway on your lot that the city's Infrastructure Design Manual does not cover; in the code's words, interior flatwork not exceeding 65 percent of the total impervious area.
Permit: The approach across the public right-of-way takes a driveway permit, and sidewalk work there is permitted by the foot. In a Houston special flood hazard area, new paving also needs a floodplain development permit.
Fees: Driveway permit, approach in the right-of-way$47.00
Sidewalk permit, first 100 lineal feet$47.00
Each further 100 lineal feet or part$11.41
Houston City Fee Schedule, as of January 1, 2026.

Pergola

Ask the city: Houston's exempt list names no pergola. A freestanding one would have to fit its line for a one-story detached accessory structure of no more than 120 square feet, and the Houston Permitting Center decides whether it does.
Permit: Larger, a pergola is outside every exempt line. The one line for something fixed to the house is a window awning reaching no more than 54 inches from the wall and needing no other support.
Fees: No fee line names a pergola.

Retaining Wall

No permit: A retaining wall no more than 4 feet high, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, that supports no surcharge.
Permit: A taller wall, or one holding back a surcharge, needs a building permit. Fill is development under the floodplain rules, so in a Houston special flood hazard area, which reaches out to the 0.2 percent (500-year) floodplain, a wall and its backfill need a floodplain development permit either way.
Fees: No fee line names a retaining wall; ask the Houston Permitting Center how one is priced.

Pool

Ask the city: Houston struck the model code's exemption for a prefabricated pool less than 24 inches deep, and its pool code names no exempt work. That code covers any pool made to be connected to a circulation system, storable above-ground pools included; ask the Houston Permitting Center whether yours needs a permit.
Permit: Any in-ground or permanent pool needs a permit under the pool code, and the Health Department must approve its plans before work starts and inspect it before it is used. The city then requires a permanent enclosure at least 4 feet high with no opening over 4 inches, and self-closing, self-latching gates.
Fees: Residential pool or spa plan review, Health Department$94.00
The building permit itself is priced from the pool's valuation on the city fee schedule. Houston City Fee Schedule, as of January 1, 2026.

Gazebo

Ask the city: Houston's exempt list names no gazebo. Its nearest line is a one-story detached accessory structure of no more than 120 square feet, and the Houston Permitting Center decides whether a gazebo fits it.
Permit: Past that line a gazebo needs a permit, and so does wiring one for a fan or fixed lights: the electrical exemptions stop at listed cord-and-plug temporary decorative lighting and equipment under 25 volts that can supply no more than 50 watts.
Fees: Wood-frame (Type VB) building, base charge$47.00
Plus, for each 8.17 sq ft over the first 57.16$5.36
Minimum structural permit fee$91.06
Houston prices a detached accessory building by square footage and construction type; these are the wood-frame lines up to 1,224.89 square feet, and no structural permit costs less than the minimum. Houston City Fee Schedule, as of January 1, 2026.

Garage

No permit: Only a garage that fits the accessory-structure line: one story, detached and no more than 120 square feet. A one-car garage is well past it.
Permit: A larger garage needs a building permit. On a single-family lot, a garage or carport facing the street has to sit 20 feet back, and recorded deed restrictions can ask for more.
Fees: Wood-frame (Type VB) building, base charge$47.00
Plus, for each 8.17 sq ft over the first 57.16$5.36
Minimum structural permit fee$91.06
Houston prices a detached accessory building by square footage and construction type; these are the wood-frame lines up to 1,224.89 square feet, and no structural permit costs less than the minimum. Houston City Fee Schedule, as of January 1, 2026.

ADU

Permit: Always: a second dwelling is new residential construction. Houston has no zoning, and its development rules still count a lot with a house and a detached second unit of no more than 1,500 square feet as single-family residential, so the lot keeps its single-family building lines. Recorded deed restrictions can limit the number and type of buildings on a lot, and the city attorney can sue to enforce them.
Fees: Houston prices a new dwelling's building permit by square footage and construction type, on the city fee schedule's tiers.