Texas does not have one building code. It has hundreds. The IBC or IRC edition that governs your project is adopted by the city or county issuing the permit, so two jobs forty miles apart can price against different editions, different amendments, and different inspection regimes.
Three things did change statewide, and all three moved the number. New electrical safety rules started September 1, 2026. If your project costs over $50,000, you must register it with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. If it is located along the coast, it must meet specific Texas Department of Insurance windstorm standards for the building’s exterior.
SMA Estimating LLC confirms the authority having jurisdiction, the governing code editions, and the wind tier before pricing anything. Send the plan set and the project address, and you get an itemized takeoff and estimate back in 24 to 48 hours.
Texas Has No Single Statewide Building Code, and That Decides Your Number
Estimators who work from a national database assume one state, one code. In Texas, that assumption is wrong often enough to lose a bid.
What applies everywhere in Texas
As of September 1, 2026, Texas officially adopted the 2026 National Electrical Code (under rule 16 TAC 73.100) as the standard for all non-exempt electrical work statewide.
Texas kept its own exception to one part of the code (Section 210.8(F)): outlets that power outdoor home HVAC equipment don’t need GFCI protection.
What your Texas city or county decides
The building code edition and every local amendment. Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio have all moved to the 2021 energy code while the state floor sits at 2015. Austin amends further, with blower door and duct leakage thresholds tighter than the base code.
Unincorporated county areas are the other extreme. Many adopt no building code at all beyond the state trade codes, which changes the inspection and documentation cost rather than the material quantity.
What that means for a Texas bid you are writing now
Two identical buildings, one inside an amended home rule city and one in an unincorporated county, do not carry the same number. We confirm the jurisdiction and its adopted editions with the permitting department before pricing, and we state that assumption on the estimate cover sheet.
If your site sits near a city limit or inside an ETJ, tell us at handover. That boundary is worth more to the estimate than most drawing revisions.
Coastal Texas Windstorm Rules Change the Envelope Cost
The Texas Department of Insurance administers seacoast construction rules across 14 designated coastal counties plus part of Harris County. Enforcement runs through the WPI-8 Certificate of Compliance, which the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association requires before it will insure the structure.
That is an insurance mechanism rather than a building department one, which is exactly why national estimating templates miss it.
| Tier I | Tier II | Inland Texas | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where | Seaward of the Intracoastal Waterway across the 14 designated coastal counties | Inland portion of those counties, plus Harris County east of Highway 146 | Everywhere else |
| Design wind speed, Risk Category II | Roughly 140 to 150 mph | Roughly 130 to 140 mph | Commonly 105 to 115 mph |
| Product and design control | TDI-evaluated products or engineered design to TDI-approved details | Same framework, lower design pressures | Local code only |
| Certification | WPI-8 required for TWIA coverage | WPI-8 required | Not applicable |
| Effect on the estimate | Highest. Deck attachment, opening protection, connectors, and inspection all carry cost | Moderate | Baseline |
Two traps we check on every coastal Texas takeoff.
WPI-8 is inspected during construction, not after. The TDI-appointed inspector has to see the work before it is covered. Sequencing around that is a real schedule and labor cost, and we carry it as one rather than burying it in general conditions.
Repair scope crosses the line faster than people expect. TDI generally exempts roof repairs under 100 square feet that do not disturb decking, along with non-structural items. Once decking is involved, certification is back in play. On re-roof and repair work, we flag where the scope crosses that threshold.
Three Texas Cost Rules National Databases Do Not Carry
TDLR registration and TAS review over $50,000
Any Texas construction or renovation project with a total estimated construction cost of $50,000 or more must be registered with TDLR before construction begins, under the Elimination of Architectural Barriers law in Government Code Chapter 469. Registration carries a $175 state filing fee and produces a TABS number that Houston, Dallas, and Austin commonly want to see on the permit application.
Registration is only the first step. A Registered Accessibility Specialist has to review the construction documents, and the same specialist has to inspect the completed work before the project closes out with TDLR.
The threshold applies to total construction cost, not to the accessibility portion of the work. A $60,000 tenant finish-out with no visible accessibility scope still triggers registration, review, and inspection. We carry the filing fee, the plan review, and the final inspection as line items instead of leaving them to surface as owner soft costs mid-project.
Texas prevailing wage is set project by project
Texas has prevailing wage under Government Code Chapter 2258, but it behaves nothing like a state rate schedule. There is no dollar threshold and no statewide table. Each public body, whether a city, county or school district, sets its own rates, either by local survey or by adopting the federal Davis-Bacon determination.
The practical consequence is that the rate table lives in the bid documents, not in a database. Underpayment carries a statutory penalty of $60 per worker for each calendar day. Where federal funding is involved, Davis-Bacon applies as well, and the higher rate for each classification governs.
Send the wage determination from the project manual along with the drawings. We price public Texas work off the determination that is actually in the contract, and private work off current market rates by trade and metro.
Texas sales tax moves the number before markup
Texas taxes construction by the type of work and the form of the contract. On a commercial job, the difference is real money, not a rounding item.
On new construction and residential repair or remodel, a lump-sum contract makes the contractor the consumer of materials, paying tax at purchase and charging the customer none. A separate contract makes the contractor a retailer, buying materials for resale and collecting tax from the customer on the material portion. Construction labor is not taxed either way.
On nonresidential repair, remodel, or restoration, the entire charge is taxable, and the contract form does not change that.
The one that catches people out: if a nonresidential contract combines new square footage with remodel of existing space for a single charge, and the remodel portion is more than five percent of the total, the whole charge is presumed taxable. We separate new construction from remodel scope in the estimate so that presumption never gets a chance to apply. State rate is 6.25 percent, with local add-ons taking the combined rate up to 8.25 percent.
We estimate; we do not advise on tax. Confirm treatment with your CPA before the contract is signed.
Texas Markets and What Moves the Estimate in Each
| Market | What moves the estimate |
|---|---|
| Dallas-Fort Worth | Expansive clay across most of the metro. Post-tensioned slabs and drilled piers where a national template assumes spread footings. Hail exposure drives the roof assembly. |
| Houston and Harris County | Amended local code, post-Harvey detention and drainage requirements, and the Tier II windstorm carve-out east of Highway 146. Deep foundations are common. |
| Austin and Central Texas | The most heavily amended energy code in the state, with blower door and duct leakage testing. Limestone and rock excavation change sitework unit costs sharply. |
| San Antonio | Edwards Aquifer recharge zone rules on sitework and stormwater. Heavy federal and military volume, which brings Davis-Bacon with it. |
| Coastal Bend and Galveston | TDI Tier I throughout. WPI-8 sequencing, engineered connections, and a thinner subcontractor bench on specialty envelope trades. |
| Rio Grande Valley | Climate Zone 2 cooling loads, coastal wind exposure in Cameron and Willacy, and a labor base priced differently from the I-35 corridor. |
| El Paso and West Texas | Climate Zone 3 with a wide design temperature swing, long material haul distances, and a power market separate from ERCOT. |
| Permian Basin | Industrial and workforce housing volume tied to rig count, plus mobilization costs that appear in no national average. |
How Texas Conditions Split Residential, Commercial and Industrial Estimates
The same square footage prices differently depending on which code volume governs and where the site sits. We scope the three separately.
Residential Estimating Under the Adopted Texas IRC
Single-family, townhome, and low-rise multifamily projects are priced against the IRC edition the local jurisdiction has adopted, not a state default. Foundation work sets Texas apart: expansive clay across Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Central Texas means post-tensioned slabs, void form, moisture conditioning, and drilled piers often replace a conventional slab on grade.
Coastal projects add opening protection, roof deck attachment, and the WPI-8 inspection sequence. Inland, insurers frequently specify hail-rated roofing beyond code minimums, and that cost still has to be carried.
Get a Residential EstimateCommercial Estimating Under Local Texas Amendments
Retail, office, hospitality, medical, education, and mixed-use. The first three questions on any Texas commercial scope are which jurisdiction, which IBC edition, and whether the project crosses the $50,000 TDLR threshold. Most of them do.
Electrical is where the current cycle bites hardest. Work permitted on or after 1 September 2026 prices to the 2026 NEC, and device, branch circuit, and service scope move with it. We price the edition the permit will be issued under, not the edition the drawings were started in.
Get a Commercial EstimateIndustrial Estimating in the Texas Wind and Flood Corridor
Warehouse, distribution, manufacturing, cold storage, data center, and process work. Large-span metal building systems and tilt-up panels dominate, and open industrial sites usually sit in a higher exposure category than a comparable urban parcel, which raises design pressure across the whole envelope.
Add detention and water quality requirements on large impervious sites, heavy electrical service coordination, and mobilization to sites well outside a metro labor pool. The delta against a national industrial benchmark is significant, and it is mostly sitework and service.
Get an Industrial EstimateTrade Scopes Where Texas Conditions Change the Takeoff
What Comes With a Texas Estimate
Every Texas estimate states its compliance basis rather than assuming it:
- The authority having jurisdiction and the adopted code editions used
- Whether the 2026 or 2023 NEC governs, with the permit date assumption behind it
- TDI wind tier and design wind speed on coastal work, with the WPI-8 requirement flagged
- TDLR registration status and whether the project crosses the $50,000 threshold
- Prevailing wage basis, with the specific determination named on public work
- Texas sales tax treatment, with new construction and remodel scope separated
- Local amendment flag where the jurisdiction is known to add requirements
If an assumption is wrong for your project, you see it on the cover sheet and can correct it before the bid goes out. That is the point of stating it.
Delivered as: Excel with formulas intact, a marked-up PDF plan set, and a CSI-organized summary.
Turnaround: 24 to 48 hours on a standard commercial takeoff.
Every Texas project is quoted individually. Scope, trade count, drawing quality, jurisdiction, and turnaround all move the price, so we do not publish a flat rate that would be wrong for most jobs. Send the plan set, and you get a fixed quote before any work starts.
Get a Texas Estimate
Send the plan set and the project address. We confirm the jurisdiction, the governing code editions, and the wind tier before we price anything, then come back with an itemized takeoff.
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Texas Construction Estimating FAQs
No. A Miami-Dade NOA is only required in Miami-Dade and Broward, but it's widely accepted statewide since it's the strictest approval. Outside HVHZ counties, a Florida Product Approval or state-wide FBC listing is usually enough.
Use the 8th Edition for permits filed before December 31, 2026. Use the 9th Edition for permits filed on or after that date. Confirm with the local building department on anything close to the line.
No statewide prevailing wage law. Florida repealed its state prevailing wage requirement, but federal Davis-Bacon rates still apply on federally funded projects, and some local governments set their own.
Miami-Dade and Broward counties only. Projects here follow stricter HVHZ-specific FBC provisions and generally require Miami-Dade NOA or Florida Product Approval for HVHZ use.
Generally within 1 mile of the coastal construction control line in areas with wind speeds of 130 mph or higher, or anywhere winds reach 140 mph or more, per FBC requirements.
24–48 hours on a standard commercial scope. Send the plan set and project address, and we confirm the FBC edition and wind zone before pricing begins.
Every project is priced individually based on size, trade count, drawing quality, and turnaround. Send the plan set for a fixed quote before any work begins.