Addition permits · Fort Worth
Do you need a permit for a home addition in Fort Worth?
Yes. Every addition needs a building permit from the City of Fort Worth, and the plumbing, wiring and heating and air you run into it each take their own. Here’s everything the City asks for, in one place.
Or call or text (817) 631-9803
From the City of Fort Worth’s Residential Permitting and Residential Building Permit pages, read November 5, 2026.
The City’s rule
Home addition permits in Fort Worth: what the City requires
An addition is new construction, and the City requires a permit for all new construction. A building permit covers the addition itself.
“Permits are required for new construction, as well as work that changes, moves or repairs walls, floors, ceiling, windows, doors, electrical, mechanical or plumbing.”
Every addition needs a building permit. Zoning can also limit where it sits, how tall it is and how big it is.
City of Fort Worth, Residential Permitting. Read November 5, 2026.
Want to know what your addition will take? Bring us your idea.
The permit package
What the City asks for with a home addition permit
An addition needs more than a remodel, because it changes the footprint of the house on your lot. Here’s every piece, and where to read more about each one.
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The application
You apply online, through the City’s permitting portal.
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A complete set of plans
The drawings of the addition and the house it joins. The City asks for an engineered foundation plan with every new residential permit, and an addition over 500 square feet needs an engineer’s seal on it.
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A copy of your plat
Not asked with a remodelItem 1 on the City’s checklist is a copy of your lot’s legally registered and recorded plat, from the Tarrant County courthouse.
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A site plan
Not asked with a remodelA drawing of your lot that shows your front, side and rear setbacks and your neighbors’ front setbacks, all dimensioned.
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A monotony checklist
Not asked with a remodelThe City’s table lists it for additions. It’s the form about how the front of a house differs from its neighbors’.
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Energy code compliance
Needed “if adding conditioned or heated space, or lighting,” which most additions do.
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Maybe, a grading pattern
The City asks for one with a new house’s building permit. For an addition, ask the City at the permit whether it wants one.
From the City of Fort Worth’s Residential Building Permit table and its Submittal Requirements for New Residences and Additions (revised May 26, 2026). The City sets the permit fee by the addition’s new square feet: how Fort Worth figures a permit fee.
Planning an addition? Get it priced before the first permit is pulled.
Before it’s drawn
What can limit an addition before the permit
A permit is the City saying yes to a plan. These are the rules that decide what plan it can say yes to, and it’s better to know them before anything is drawn.
Zoning
Your zoning district sets how close to the lot lines an addition can sit, how tall it can be and how much of the lot the house can cover.
A garage conversion
It needs a building permit, and it may need a variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment, because it takes away required parking.
Historic and design districts
In a historic or design district, the City says additional approvals come before the permit.
The floodplain
If your lot is in the FEMA floodplain, the City’s Floodplain Development Permit comes before an addition starts. What remodeling in a floodplain takes
| A-5 | A-7.5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Side and rear | 5 ft | 5 ft |
| Street side of a corner lot | 10 ft | 10 ft |
| Front | 20 ft (15 ft on a limited local street) | 20 ft (15 ft on a limited local street) |
| Height | 35 ft | 35 ft |
| Lot coverage | 50% | 45% |
We walk the house and the lot with you first, so you know what yours allows.
Who pulls it
Who pulls the permit for a home addition in Fort Worth
A registered building contractor, or you, if the house is your homestead. Who qualifies for a homestead permit
Either way, the building permit isn’t the only one. In the City’s words:
“Aside from your building permit, you still must obtain all trade permits that are needed separately and schedule inspections as required for each permit type.”
A new bathroom takes a plumbing permit, new circuits an electrical permit and heating and air for the new rooms a mechanical permit. The permit each part of an addition takes
On our additions, our team walks the permit through the City.
After the permit
What happens once your addition has a permit
The City inspects the addition while it’s being built, starting with where it sits on your lot, and signs off at the finals.
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Issued. The permit must be in issued status or you will not be able to schedule inspections.
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Inspected while it’s open. The stakeout (105) checks where the addition sits, then the foundation (115) is inspected before concrete is poured, and the framing (110) once the rough-ins are approved. The City says permitted work “must remain accessible and exposed for inspection purposes until approved.”
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Finals. Electrical (200), mechanical (300) and plumbing (400) finals come last, then the building final (100), once every related permit is final.
If the work starts before the permit
The City says that if an inspector needs finished work opened up, the cost is yours: “Neither the Building Official nor the jurisdiction shall be liable for expense entailed in the removal or replacement of any material required to allow inspection.” On an addition, that can mean the foundation: the City inspects it before concrete is poured.
Permit fees
What addition permits cost on our Fort Worth projects
$1,200 to $3,500
That’s the range permit fees have run on additions we’ve built in Fort Worth. Fort Worth prices a new house or an addition by its new square feet, so the bigger the addition, the more its building permit costs. How Fort Worth figures a permit fee
Questions
Fort Worth home addition permit questions
Bring your addition’s questions to us.
Do I need a permit to add a room to my house in Fort Worth?
Yes, whatever its size. Every addition needs a building permit from the City of Fort Worth. If the room has a bathroom, new circuits or its own heating and air, those take plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits too.
Does a garage conversion need a permit in Fort Worth?
Yes. Converting a garage into living space needs a building permit, and it may need a variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment, because it takes away required parking.
Can I pull my own home addition permit in Fort Worth?
Yes, if the house is your homestead: you own it, live in it as your primary residence and have the appraisal district’s homestead exemption. Otherwise the City requires a registered building contractor to apply. Two lines stay with licensed trades: the electrical service belongs to a Master Electrician, and a homeowner’s mechanical permit covers duct work only.
What’s the difference between a remodel permit and an addition permit in Fort Worth?
An addition asks for more. A remodel permit takes an application and a complete set of plans. An addition also takes a copy of your lot’s recorded plat, a site plan showing your setbacks and your neighbors’ front setbacks, and the City’s monotony checklist.
Can I build an addition right up to my property line?
Usually not. Your zoning district sets how close it can sit. In the A-5 and A-7.5 one-family districts, that’s 5 feet from the side and rear lot lines (10 on the street side of a corner lot) and 20 feet from the front, or 15 on a limited local street. Both cap the height at 35 feet and limit how much of the lot the house can cover.
What does a home addition permit cost in Fort Worth?
On additions we’ve built in Fort Worth, permit fees have run $1,200 to $3,500. The City prices a new house or an addition by its new square feet, so the bigger the addition, the more its building permit costs.
What happens if an addition is built without a permit?
The City’s permit brochure says it’s always best to do your research first, to avoid having to correct code deficiencies or face a possible citation. On an addition, the City inspects where it sits on the lot (105) and the foundation before concrete is poured (115), and work it has to inspect must stay open until it’s approved.
Every rule on this page is quoted or paraphrased from the City of Fort Worth’s Residential Permitting page, Residential Building Permit page, Inspections page and What Inspections Do I Need? guide and its Nuts & Bolts of Residential Building Permits brochure (read November 5, 2026), its Submittal Requirements for New Residences and Additions (revised May 26, 2026), its Zoning Ordinance and its homestead permit affidavits.
Your addition
Know what your addition needs before it’s drawn
Meet a designer and a builder at your house first, and start with an honest estimate. No charge, no obligation.
Or call or text (817) 631-9803