Verified against the city’s published rules · page updated October 21, 2026 · rules change — confirm with the city before applying
Round Rock writes the homeowner route into its plumbing code in one sentence. Section 8-134 of the Code of Ordinances: “A permit may be issued to a homeowner to install or alter plumbing in a single-family residence, providing the homeowner does all the work himself and that the building is owned and occupied by the owner as his home.”
The permit costs $50, the same for you as for a plumber. Two inspections of each type are included. After that, the city’s web pages and its own fee appendix print different prices for the next one.
Below: the section, its three conditions, the fee lines, and who to call about the two questions the city’s documents leave open.
The Building Inspection Division of Round Rock’s Planning and Development Services department issues plumbing permits, online.
The office is at 301 W Bagdad Ave, Suite 100, Round Rock, TX 78664. The number is 512-218-5550, office hours are Monday through Friday, 7:00 am to 4:00 pm, and the Division’s email is BuildingPermits@roundrocktexas.gov. The Chief Building Official is James Shine.
Applications go through the city’s Permit Portal at permits.roundrocktexas.gov. The city says a standalone trade permit is issued in an estimated three to five business days from acceptance. You pay in the portal by e-check, Visa or Mastercard, or drop a check at the Bagdad Avenue office with the application number on the memo line.
The Division’s reach runs past the city limits. Its page says a building permit is needed “If you are planning to work on any building or structure within the City of Round Rock or in the Chandler Creek and Vista Oaks Municipal Utility Districts”.
Round Rock straddles a county line. The city’s New Residents page: “Round Rock is located primarily in Williamson County, with just a small area in Travis County to the south along IH 35.” Either way, inside the city limits the permit is a city matter. If you are not sure whether you are inside them, the city’s FAQ asks you to call 512-218-5550 “to verify that your address is located outside the city limits, within an ETJ, or in Williamson County.”
That check matters more here than in most cities. Search for a Round Rock water heater permit and the top results belong to Brushy Creek Municipal Utility District, which carries a Round Rock mailing address and runs its own water heater, softener and repair permits. Its rule is different from the city’s: “Permit applications must be submitted by a registered plumber with current information on file.” If your water bill comes from Brushy Creek MUD, read the district’s page, not this one. The county and statewide picture is on Texas plumbing permits.
Yes. Round Rock’s Code of Ordinances lets the city issue a plumbing permit to a homeowner, and the city publishes a $50 homeowner trade permit. Two other city texts say “licensed contractors” and “your company name”, so confirm before you file.
Start with the ordinance, because it decides the question. Section 8-134(a) of the Code of Ordinances, in Part III, Chapter 8, Division 5 (Plumbing Code), reads:
“Only those persons legally authorized to do plumbing may be issued permits. A permit may be issued to a homeowner to install or alter plumbing in a single-family residence, providing the homeowner does all the work himself and that the building is owned and occupied by the owner as his home. All such work shall meet the plumbing code requirements and such persons shall be required to obtain the regular permit for that particular job.”
Read the conditions one at a time, because each one rules people out:
And the work is held to the same code and the same “regular permit” as a plumber’s.
The state rule sits underneath. Texas Occupations Code §1301.051 reads: “A property owner is not required to be licensed under this chapter to perform plumbing in the property owner’s homestead.” That is about licensing. Who can hold a city permit is the city’s call: §1301.551(c) lets a city “prescribe the terms on which the permit is issued”, and §8-134(a) is Round Rock doing exactly that. Who may legally do plumbing for someone else is on who can legally do plumbing in Texas.
The city’s web pages back the ordinance. The Homeowner Projects page has a section headed Standalone (Trade) Permits for “homeowners who wish to make improvements or modifications only to the mechanical, electrical, or plumbing systems in their home”, and it says plainly: “The homeowner is responsible for ensuring that all work is complete and complies with relevant ordinances and adopted building codes.” The Building Inspection Division’s own summary of that page goes further: “Homeowners may serve as contractors and perform work on their own primary residence even if unlicensed.”
Now the two texts that pull the other way. The same Division page sums up the contractor page in one line: “Standalone permits authorize licensed contractors to perform plumbing, electrical or mechanical work that is not part of a larger construction or remodeling project.” The contractor page itself says “If you are a homeowner, please refer to the Homeowner page for information.” So far, no conflict.
The friction is in the application instructions. The homeowner section links the same Residential PLUMBING TRADE Application instructions the contractor page links, a PDF dated June 2025. Step 6 says: “Contractor Tab: Use the Search bar to find for your company name. If you bypass this section, your application will be rejected.” A homeowner has no company name to search for. Step 5 does allow for an applicant who is also the owner: “If you are also the owner, you can use this button here as well”. What the instructions do not say is what an owner doing the work himself puts on the Contractor tab.
We have not filed a test application, and we are not going to guess how the portal behaves. Before you buy parts, call 512-218-5550, say you own and live in a single-family house, that you will do all the plumbing yourself under §8-134(a), and ask what to enter on the Contractor tab.
Austin runs a named Homestead Permit; El Paso and Brownsville close the homeowner route. Round Rock’s ordinance, homeowner page and Division summary all say yes.
Round Rock says any repair or replacement of a plumbing system needs a permit, and lists four projects that do not, none of them plumbing.
The Building Inspection Division page puts it in one sentence. A permit is required for “construction, installation, alteration, repair, movement, demolition, replacement of any electrical, gas, mechanical, or plumbing systems, and changing the occupancy of a building.” Under §8-134(a), the plumbing permit must be in hand “Before beginning any work in the city”.
The Homeowner Projects page has a list headed “Projects That Do Not Require A Permit But Must Be Built To Code”. It names residential fences, window replacement, siding replacement and concrete flatwork. No plumbing job is on it. The same page says a residential re-roof needs no permit, and that an irrigation permit “is not required when making repairs to the piping of an existing irrigation system unless the backflow prevention device is being replaced.”
What the city does not publish is its own list of minor plumbing jobs that need no permit. The state sets the floor for that. Under §1301.551(c), a Texas city with a plumbing ordinance must require a permit for plumbing “other than the repairing of leaks, the replacement of lavatory or kitchen faucets, the replacement of ballcocks or water control valves, the replacement of garbage disposals, or the replacement of water closets.” Those five are the only jobs the state keeps off the compulsory list, and a city may still require a permit for them. Round Rock’s sentence covers any “repair” or “replacement”, so ask before assuming one of the five is free. Our fixture-by-fixture read is on fixture and faucet permits in Texas.
A water heater needs a permit. It is a replacement of part of a plumbing system, and it is not on the state’s list. Round Rock goes one step further and publishes a separate application for one specific job: “Tank to Tankless Water Heater Replacement”, where the city says “A gas piping chart will be required”. The chart is listed under Forms on the Building Inspection Division page. For a tank-for-tank swap the city lists no separate application; the general plumbing trade application is the one on its list. The statewide position is on do you need a permit to replace a water heater in Texas?
The Division’s Residential Guide, footed 06/24/2025, is the inspectors’ own checklist. On water heaters: “Water heater Temp. /Pressure relief valve line to be separate to the exterior and rated to valve specs.” A pan is required where a leak could damage the building: “Water heater metal pan and drain line required where damaged to building components can occur from a leak, minimum 1” drain line separate and to the exterior.” And at final: “T&P drains must terminate no lower than 6” above finish grade.”
One trap for anyone doing more than one trade. The trade permit is for work “NOT part of a larger project, such as a remodel or new build”, and the instructions are blunt: “If your scope of work involves an interior remodel or new construction, please do not proceed.” Round Rock runs what it calls “a strict one-permit system”. A kitchen remodel that moves a sink is a $500 remodel permit with the plumbing inside it, not a $50 plumbing permit. Sewer lines and repipes are covered on big-ticket plumbing permits in Texas.
$50 for a residential plumbing trade permit, homeowner or contractor, with two inspections of each type included.
The city’s Homeowner Projects page prints “Permit Fee $50” for a standalone trade permit, and the contractor page prints “Permit Fee: $50.00”. Both match the Code of Ordinances. Section 8-106 says permit fees are “as currently established or as hereafter adopted by resolution of the city council”, and those resolutions are codified in Appendix A, Fees, Rates and Charges. Under §8-106, Residential Construction, Appendix A sets seven tiers. The ones that touch plumbing:
Tiers 2, 3, 4 and 6 cover decks, solar, patios and pools.
So a water heater replacement in Round Rock is $50.00. We found no technology, application or processing fee on a building or trade permit in the city pages, the payment instructions or Appendix A. That puts Round Rock level with Denton‘s $50 flat fee and below Killeen, where a $50 plumbing line carries a $10 tech fee. Our city-by-city comparison is on what a plumbing permit costs in Texas; Round Rock is not yet in that table.
A commercial plumbing trade permit is priced on valuation instead, starting at $50 up to $2,000, on a table with the same figures on the contractor page and in Appendix A.
Other lines that can land on a plumbing job:
The fee is not refundable. The city’s words: “the Building Permit fee is non-refundable and non-transferable.”
The city’s permit pages say $75 per extra inspection; its codified fee appendix says $100, then $250.
Both are in front of a reader right now:
They do not even count the same way. The web pages count inspections, with two free. Appendix A counts re-inspections, and does not price the first two. There is no $75 building re-inspection line anywhere in Appendix A. The city’s Creating an Inspection Request instructions say that if you owe reinspection fees “you will not be able to schedule your inspection until you pay those fees”, so you will find out which figure applies at that point. If you fail an inspection twice, ask the inspector which line you are being charged under before you pay.
Every contractor on a Round Rock permit must register with the city, and the city charges nothing for it.
The Building Inspection Division page: “All contractors and subcontractors applying for a building permit must be registered. No registration fee or annual fee is required.” The registration form is one page. It asks for the company, a contact, the contractor type (General, Plumbing, Mechanical, Electrical or Irrigator), the license holder’s name, license number and expiration date, and it must be signed by the license holder. It goes by email to BuildingPermits@RoundRockTexas.gov, and the contractor still needs a Permit Portal account to accept an assigned project.
A free registration is what state law requires. §1301.551(g): a responsible master plumber, plumbing contractor or other person who must obtain a permit “is not required to pay a plumbing registration fee or administrative fee in a municipality or any other political subdivision.” Round Rock reaches that result without an exception clause, like Midland, because it charges no trade anything. And §1301.551(h) requires a plumbing contractor to register with a city that requires registration, which Round Rock does.
Insurance is a separate requirement, and it is written broadly. Section 8-107 requires “Any person, firm, corporation or other legal entity which is required to secure a permit” to furnish certificates of public liability insurance and workers’ compensation insurance. Appendix A sets the liability minimums at $300,000 for injuries in any one accident, $100,000 for injuries to any one person and $50,000 for property damage. The section does not carve out homeowners, and none of the homeowner pages mention it; if you are pulling your own permit, add that to the questions for 512-218-5550. The state’s own insurance rule for plumbers is different: §1301.552 has the city verify with the state board that the master plumber has a certificate of insurance on file providing cover “of not less than $300,000 for all claims arising in a one-year period”. What the badges on a plumber’s van verify is on what certified, bonded, insured and background checked actually verify.
The 2024 International Plumbing Code, adopted by Ordinance O-2025-335, dated 18 December 2025 in the codification.
Section 8-131 adopts “The 2024 edition of the International Plumbing Code (including all appendices)” as the Plumbing Code of the City of Round Rock. The 2024 IRC, IBC, Fuel Gas and Mechanical codes were adopted by the same ordinance. That is two cycles ahead of Midland and Brownsville, still on 2018.
Round Rock’s local amendments to the plumbing code are short: the city’s name inserted, a fee cross-reference, the $2,000 fine, and “Twelve inches” written into two blanks the model code leaves for each city to fill, at Sections 305.4.1 and 903.1.1.
One cross-reference in those amendments points nowhere. Section 8-132(a)(2) inserts into the plumbing code: “All fees for permits are governed by Sec. 8-39 of this Code.” Section 8-39 is printed in the codified text as reserved, inside the article on fences. The next section, §8-135, says “All fees for permits are governed by Sec. 8-106.” and the fuel gas amendment uses 8-106 for the same sentence. Section 8-106 is the working fee section and Appendix A carries the figures. If a fee is ever disputed on a plumbing permit, cite §8-106 and §8-135, not the amendment.
Book in the Permit Portal by 4 p.m. for the next business day, and expect two different inspection windows depending on which city page you read.
The city’s pages agree on the booking rule: “Inspections must be requested by 4 p.m. for the following business day, but availability is not guaranteed.” You book under the My Inspections tab. An inspection is required on every permit.
The hours differ. The contractor page says “Inspections are conducted Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.” The trade-permit section of the Homeowner Projects page says “Inspections are conducted Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 12 p.m. An adult 18 years or older must be present.” If you are a homeowner, plan on the morning window and on being home.
The permit has a clock. Both pages: “The permit becomes invalid if the authorized work or construction does not commence within six months of permit issuance.” That is double Laredo‘s 90 days.
Whether the portal accepts an owner-only plumbing application. We did not file one. Call 512-218-5550 with §8-134(a).
Which re-inspection fee applies. $75 on the city’s pages, $100 then $250 in Appendix A.
Whether §8-107’s insurance certificates apply to a homeowner. The section says “Any person”; no homeowner page mentions it.
The effective date of the 2024 plumbing code. We did not read Ordinance O-2025-335 itself, only its codified citation.
Where Brushy Creek MUD ends and the city begins. We do not assert it for any address.
If you would rather a licensed Round Rock plumber handled the permit, start with how to verify a Texas plumber’s license, screen by screen before you pay a deposit.
Every figure on this page comes from one of the documents below, each published by the body that sets, measures or administers the thing it describes. We record the document’s own date and the date we read it, because published pages change without notice.
| Source | Document date | We read it |
|---|---|---|
| City of Round Rock — Building Inspection Division | undated city web page; page metadata dateModified 2026-06-12T15:52:54+00:00 | 2026-10-12 (fetched with curl from the local machine with a desktop browser user agent, because the host returns HTTP 403 to the cloud container; read in full as raw HTML converted to text; contact block, ‘When is a Building Permit Required?’, the registration sentence and the two one-line summaries of Homeowner Projects and Standalone Building Permits transcribed) |
| City of Round Rock — Homeowner Projects | undated city web page; page metadata dateModified 2026-06-12T16:05:24+00:00 | 2026-10-12 (read in full as raw HTML; the Standalone (Trade) Permits section, its $50 fee, issuance, expiry and inspection bullets, the ‘Projects That Do Not Require A Permit’ list and the FAQ transcribed; the plumbing link in the homeowner trade section resolved to the same Residential PLUMBING TRADE instructions PDF the contractor page links) |
| City of Round Rock — Standalone Building Permits (Electrical, Plumbing, & HVAC Standalone (Trade) Permits) | undated city web page; page metadata dateModified 2026-06-12T16:04:28+00:00; the search engine’s ?p=641133 result resolves to this URL | 2026-10-12 (read in full as raw HTML; residential and commercial sections, the commercial valuation table, inspection bullets and the Currently Adopted Codes list transcribed) |
| City of Round Rock — Residential PLUMBING TRADE Application instructions | undated five-page PDF; created and modified 6 June 2025 (pdfinfo) | 2026-10-12 (read as raw PDF text, pdftotext -layout, in full) |
| City of Round Rock — Residential TANKLESS WATER HEATER TRADE Application instructions | undated five-page PDF; created and modified 6 June 2025 (pdfinfo) | 2026-10-12 (read as raw PDF text in full; the text is identical in substance to the plumbing trade instructions apart from its title) |
| City of Round Rock — Residential Guide (Building Inspection Department inspection checklist) | each page footed 06/24/2025; eight-page PDF created 24 June 2025 (pdfinfo) | 2026-10-12 (read as raw PDF text in full; the Plumbing Topout and Residential Final lists read for water heater items) |
| City of Round Rock — Creating an Inspection Request (Permit Portal instructions) | undated four-page PDF; created and modified 17 June 2025 (pdfinfo) | 2026-10-12 (read as raw PDF text in full) |
| City of Round Rock — Paying Fees (Permit Portal instructions) | undated two-page PDF; created and modified 17 June 2025 (pdfinfo) | 2026-10-12 (read as raw PDF text in full and searched for any surcharge; none printed) |
| City of Round Rock — Building Inspections Contractor Registration Sheet | undated one-page form; PDF created 20 October 2016, modified 26 September 2024 (pdfinfo) | 2026-10-12 (read as raw PDF text in full; prints no fee) |
| City of Round Rock — Code of Ordinances, Part III, Chapter 8, Article X, Divisions 1 and 5 (§§8-104 to 8-107, 8-112, 8-131 to 8-136) | Municode Supplement 26, codified through Ordinance No. O-2026-161, enacted June 11, 2026, posted online 2026-09-01; §8-131 and §8-132 cited to Ord. No. O-2025-335, §§ III.B and III.C, 12-18-2025; §8-133 and §8-134 carry no history note | 2026-10-12 (read as raw section text through Municode’s own content API, job 496248, product 14610; Article X read in full) |
| City of Round Rock — Code of Ordinances, Part III, Chapter 8, Article IV, Secs. 8-36 to 8-39 | Municode Supplement 26 | 2026-10-12 (table of contents read; Secs. 8-36 through 8-39 are printed as ‘Reserved’) |
| City of Round Rock — Code of Ordinances, Part II, Appendix A, Fees, Rates and Charges (entries under §8-106 and §8-107) | Municode Supplement 26; the appendix history note ends ‘Res. No. R-2025-158, § I, 6-26-25’ | 2026-10-12 (read as raw text in full, 2,998 lines; the residential Tier table, commercial valuation table, failure-to-obtain-permit line, reinspection fee line and the §8-107 insurance minimums transcribed) |
| City of Round Rock — New Residents | undated city web page; page metadata dateModified 2025-07-16T13:59:31+00:00 | 2026-10-12 (read for the county sentence only) |
| Brushy Creek Municipal Utility District — Water Heater, Water Softener, Repair Permits | undated district web page | 2026-10-12 (read as raw HTML; one sentence quoted) |
| Texas Occupations Code ch. 1301, §1301.051 Plumbing by Property Owner in Homestead | current online codification; added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1421, Sec. 3, eff. June 1, 2003 | 2026-10-12 |
| Texas Occupations Code ch. 1301, §1301.551 Municipal Plumbing Ordinances and Permits | current online codification; last amended by Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 981 (H.B. 2062), Sec. 7, eff. September 1, 2013 | 2026-10-12 (subsections (a) through (j) read; every quoted string matched against the raw page) |
| Texas Occupations Code ch. 1301, §1301.552 Certificate of Insurance for Plumbing Permit in Political Subdivision | current online codification; last amended by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 526 (H.B. 2376), Sec. 5 | 2026-10-12 |
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