City of Humble Permits: Fees, Applications, and Inspections

A City of Humble building permit is required before you start most construction, renovation, or demolition work inside the city limits, and the Building and Inspection Department at 114 W. Higgins St. reviews every application against the 2018 International Building Code with local amendments.¹ Below is what triggers a permit, what the city wants in your package, what it costs, and what has to happen between submission and your final sign-off.

Work That Triggers a Permit

Humble requires a building permit for any new residential or commercial construction, structural alteration, or addition. Separate trade permits are required for electrical, plumbing, and HVAC or mechanical work, even inside an existing building. Demolition of any structure needs its own permit.²

Signs and fences run on their own tracks. A new sign, a relocated sign, or any structural change to an existing sign requires a sign permit from the city manager’s office, and illuminated signs also have to meet the electrical code.³ Fence construction requires a permit from the Building and Inspections Department, with height limits of eight feet in rear and side yards and four feet in front yards.⁴

Excavation, grading, and fill work are permitted separately on both residential and commercial lots. Property in a flood-prone area carries an extra layer: a floodplain development permit confirming that new construction or substantial improvement meets National Flood Insurance Program rules.⁵

What Doesn’t Need a Permit

Repainting, routine maintenance, and cosmetic changes that don’t involve structural work generally don’t require a permit. Changing the copy on an existing sign, or repainting a sign without structural alteration, is permit-free.³ Fence repair, as distinct from new fence construction, is also exempt.⁴ If you aren’t sure where your project falls, call the Building Department at 281-446-3061 before you start. A phone call is cheaper than a stop-work order.

Register Your Contractor Before You Apply

Nobody pulls a permit in Humble without being registered with the city first. The requirement covers all contractors, homeowners, and individual trades. The registration fee is $100. Responsible master plumbers, master electricians, and some other licensed trades are exempt from the fee.⁶

To register, you’ll need current workers’ compensation and comprehensive general liability insurance naming the City of Humble as certificate holder, with minimums of $250,000 per occurrence for bodily injury and $100,000 per occurrence for property damage. A copy of the state-issued master’s license is required where applicable, and mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire license holders must register in person. The city no longer accepts paper registration forms; you register through the online permit portal or at a kiosk inside the Building Department.⁶

Homeowners with a homestead exemption on the property are exempt from the insurance requirement and the registration fee, but they still have to register before starting permitted work.⁷

What Goes in a New-Build Application Package

For a new residential build, the city’s plan submittal checklist asks for a complete package up front:

Two complete sets of plans on ARCH D (24″ × 36″) sheets, including a site plan showing drainage, utilities, and materials; a foundation and structural framing plan; an electrical one-line diagram with load calculations; a plumbing riser diagram; and an HVAC diagram.
A plot plan showing the required setbacks: 25 feet in front, 10 feet in back, and 7½ feet on each side.
Flood zone documentation, including floodway location on the plat plan and a TSAR elevation certificate.
A property survey with legal description (lot, block, section). If the property spans two or more lots, the survey must show the combined parcel as one lot.
Tax payment verification through the Harris County website confirming all City of Humble and Humble ISD property taxes are current.
A sewer capacity fee, paid separately to the water department before the building permit is issued.

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The city also enforces energy code compliance. Your builder has to provide a letter identifying a third-party energy code inspector holding a valid 2018 energy certification. Before a certificate of occupancy issues, you’ll owe both a certificate of elevation and a 2018 energy code compliance letter.⁸

Permit Fees

Humble’s current fee schedule took effect October 1, 2024. The residential building permit starts at a $50 base fee plus $0.32 per square foot of roof-covered floor space, so a 2,000-square-foot home runs roughly $690 in building permit fees before trade permits are added.²

Residential Trade Permits

Electrical: $150 for new construction, $100 for remodels or additions, $75 for exterior lighting or accessory buildings, $50 minimum otherwise.
Plumbing: $250 for new construction with gas, $150 without gas, $200 for remodels with gas, $100 without, $75 for pools and spas, $50 for irrigation or other work.
HVAC/Mechanical: $150 for new construction, $100 for additions or furnace replacement, $75 for A/C replacement, $50 for other work.

Commercial Permit Fees

Commercial building and site development permits (including multifamily projects of three or more units) use a tiered structure based on project valuation:

Up to $1,000: $50
$1,001 to $50,000: $50 plus $5 per $1,000 of value
$50,001 to $100,000: $250 plus $4 per $1,000
$100,001 to $500,000: $400 plus $3 per $1,000
Over $500,000: $1,500 plus $2 per $1,000

Commercial electrical, plumbing, and HVAC permits are each $50 plus $1 per $100 of project value.²

Re-Inspection Fees

If work fails inspection, the first re-inspection costs $50, the second $75, and every re-inspection after that is $100. These stack across trades, so passing the first time has real financial value.²

How and Where to Submit

The city has two intake paths. Simpler permits that don’t require plan review can be filed through the online portal at humble2.portal.iworq.net. Not every permit type is available online; the city notes that most permits requiring plan submission are not.⁹

For projects that need plan review, like new construction or major renovations, plans are submitted in person or by courier to the Building Department at 114 W. Higgins St., Humble, TX 77338. Civil plan review for site development runs through Public Works at 102 Granberry St. The permit fee is due at the time of submission.

Plan Review, Inspections, and Final Approval

City staff review plans against the 2018 International Building Code as locally amended, along with the zoning ordinance. If reviewers find problems, you’ll get a written request for corrections before the permit is finalized. Accurate drawings on the first submission are the single biggest factor in how fast you move.

Once the permit issues, inspections drive the schedule. You are responsible for scheduling each one. Typical milestones are foundation (before concrete), rough-in electrical and plumbing (before walls close), framing, and a final inspection. The work has to match the approved plans at every stage. A failed item stops that phase of work until the correction passes a re-inspection, with the fees described above.²

For residential projects, the city requires both a certificate of elevation and a 2018 energy code compliance letter before final approval.⁸ The elevation certificate has to be completed by a licensed surveyor, engineer, or architect, documenting that the finished structure meets the required flood elevation.¹⁰

Certificate of Occupancy for Commercial Space

Every business operating inside Humble’s city limits has to maintain a current Certificate of Occupancy showing the business name and address. That applies to a new business, a takeover of existing space, or a change of use. A CO must be issued before anyone moves into a nonresidential structure.¹¹

Occupying commercial space without a CO carries a $250 penalty on the fee schedule, payable by the permit holder, and the city will disconnect utilities until the matter is resolved.² Beyond that administrative penalty, failure to obtain a CO can result in fines up to $2,000.¹¹

Flood Zone Projects

Flooding is not hypothetical in this part of greater Houston. If the property is in a Special Flood Hazard Area, a separate floodplain development permit is required before any new construction or substantial improvement begins. A structure without the required elevation certificate or other flood compliance documentation is presumed to be in violation until those documents are provided.⁵

Buildings in flood zones must be elevated above the base flood elevation using pilings, columns, shear walls, or other approved methods, and anchored to withstand flooding without compromising structural integrity. Floodway location and an elevation certificate are part of the initial residential application package, not an afterthought.⁸ If the project also involves filling, grading, or altering drainage near wetlands or waterways, a Section 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may be required under the Clean Water Act, separate from anything the city issues.¹²

Federal Rules the City Permit Won’t Cover

A City of Humble permit does not clear you under federal rules that apply alongside it. Three come up often.

Texas law requires an asbestos survey before any renovation or demolition of a public building, commercial building, or facility, performed before work begins and covering the work area plus surrounding areas that could be disturbed.¹³ If regulated asbestos-containing material is found above federal thresholds (260 linear feet, 160 square feet, or 35 cubic feet), the owner has to notify the Texas Department of State Health Services at least 10 working days before disturbing the material or starting demolition.¹⁴ Single-family homes with four or fewer units are generally exempt from the federal NESHAP rules unless they’re part of a larger demolition.

For renovation of homes built before 1978, the EPA’s Renovation, Repair, and Painting rule requires lead-safe certified contractors. Homeowners working on their own primary residence are generally exempt, but the rule applies if you rent part of your home, operate a child care center in it, or buy and flip property.¹⁵

New commercial buildings and public accommodations must meet the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, which cover entrance routes, door widths, restrooms, and parking, in new construction and in alterations that affect usability.¹⁶ Multifamily projects of four or more units designed for first occupancy after March 13, 1991, also have to meet the Fair Housing Act accessibility requirements, including accessible entrances, usable doors, accessible routes, reinforced bathroom walls for grab bars, and usable kitchens and bathrooms.¹⁷ The city’s plan review will catch obvious issues, but these federal standards are the designer’s and builder’s responsibility, and fixing accessibility problems after construction is far more expensive than designing to the standard from the start.

1
City of Humble, TX. City of Humble Code of Ordinances – Division 2 Building Code
2
City of Humble. Fee Schedule
3
City of Humble, TX. City of Humble Code of Ordinances – Division 2 Permit and Standards
4
City of Humble, TX. City of Humble Code of Ordinances – Article 9.07 Fencing, Walls and Screening
5
City of Humble, TX. City of Humble Code of Ordinances – Division 1 Generally
6
City of Humble. Contractor Registration
7
City of Humble. Contractor Registration Application
8
City of Humble. Residential Plan Submittal Check List
9
City of Humble. Building and Inspection
10
Federal Emergency Management Agency. National Flood Insurance Program Elevation Certificate and Instructions
11
City of Humble. Certificate of Occupancy
12
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act
13
Legal Information Institute. Texas Administrative Code 25-296.191 – Asbestos Management in a Public Building, Commercial Building, or Facility
14
Texas Department of State Health Services. Asbestos Survey and Notification Requirements for Demolition of Buildings Decision Tree Flowchart
15
US EPA. Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program
16
ADA.gov. ADA Standards for Accessible Design
17
HUD User. Fair Housing Act Design Manual