Digital permit application gateway
Start with the issuing authority’s own submission lane. A complete application package, accurate valuation, and accessible inspection path are the fastest route through statutory plan review.
Recommended first click
Use the official digital gateway to submit plans, monitor review comments, pay required charges, and request inspections when the permit is issued. If the link is unavailable, use the agency website or phone number on the administrative profile to confirm the current lane.
Typical review lane
The OSSF permitting authority must approve or deny a complete application and planning materials within 30 days. The county residential program is notice-and-third-party-inspection based rather than prior plan approval. The floodplain form requires the foundation elevation certificate within 10 business days after foundation completion; the county publishes no standard flood-permit review duration. Floodplain appeals must be filed within 15 days, and Commissioners Court must decide within 30 days after the hearing.
Treat this as a planning signal, not a guaranteed approval date. Completeness, corrections, resubmittals, and agency workload control the actual clock.
Verify the parcel is inside this agency’s service area and note whether a city, state, fire marshal, septic authority, or utility district also has approval authority.
Prepare legible plans, site information, project valuation, ownership authorization, contractor information, and any energy, floodplain, zoning, or utility documentation the issuing office requires.
Keep the permit number, approved plan set, correction comments, fee receipts, and inspection results together. Those records establish the compliance trail for the next trade.
Application documents
Before submission, call County Engineering: 254-757-5028; mapping: 254-757-5067; OSSF Program: 254-299-2473 if the project involves a change of occupancy, structural alteration, accessory structure, demolition, or work near a regulated environmental feature.
Source trail
Use these direct agency or licensing links to confirm current instructions before you file, pay, or schedule work. External pages control if their information differs from this directory.
Project questions
McLennan County Engineer's Office and Waco-McLennan County Public Health District OSSF Program is the identified county-level authority for this profile. Confirm that the property is in its service area before filing.
No verified online portal was located in the reviewed public materials. Contact County Engineering: 254-757-5028; mapping: 254-757-5067; OSSF Program: 254-299-2473 and request the current application route before preparing a final submittal.
The OSSF permitting authority must approve or deny a complete application and planning materials within 30 days. The county residential program is notice-and-third-party-inspection based rather than prior plan approval. The floodplain form requires the foundation elevation certificate within 10 business days after foundation completion; the county publishes no standard flood-permit review duration. Floodplain appeals must be filed within 15 days, and Commissioners Court must decide within 30 days after the hearing.
For covered unincorporated residential construction, notify the County Engineer of the location, expected completion date, and IRC edition; obtain three inspections at different construction phases from qualified independent inspectors and submit their compliance notices to both the county and the client. For floodplain work, submit the current county permit form with plans and certifications; provide an elevation certificate within 10 business days after foundation completion. For OSSF work, submit the Health District packet with ownership, survey/plat or recorded exemption affidavit, site/soil evaluation, design, floodplain permit, and any aerobic affidavit/maintenance contract; call 254-299-2473 for required inspections and do not cover the system before approval.
In unincorporated McLennan County, new residential structures and improvements that increase an existing residence's square footage or value by more than 50 percent must comply with the International Residential Code applicable in the county seat; Waco adopted the 2024 IRC effective January 1, 2026. The county requires notice and three independent phase inspections but has no prior residential approval or inspection authority. All unincorporated development must comply with the Flood Damage Prevention Order; structures in special flood hazard areas are generally elevated one foot above BFE and residential, commercial, and outbuilding encroachments are prohibited in the regulatory floodway. The Health District enforces Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 366 and 30 TAC Chapter 285 for OSSF countywide. The county residential-code notice/inspection law does not apply to manufactured or modular housing built off-site, and its penalties do not apply to an individual acting as their own contractor who intends to occupy the residence as their primary home. It targets new residences and improvements increasing square footage or value by more than 50 percent, so ordinary cosmetic work is outside that county notice program. Floodplain review and OSSF permits remain separate. A project outside the 100-year floodplain receives an exemption determination from the flood order; listed historic structures and certain health/safety-only improvements are excluded from the order's substantial-improvement calculation.
What makes an application complete
Before you click submit, make sure the drawings agree with the site plan, project description, valuation, ownership authorization, and contractor information. If the work changes structure, occupancy, drainage, fire protection, energy performance, or utility demand, describe that scope plainly. Ambiguous narratives create correction cycles and delay the field schedule.
Save the confirmation number, payment receipt, uploaded plan set, and every correction comment. Those records are the backbone of a defensible compliance file when multiple trades or agencies share responsibility.
Submission quality check
Site: address, parcel, access, setbacks, and existing conditions are consistent.
Scope: structural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, fire, and energy work is identified.
Closeout: inspection contacts and the final approval path are understood before work begins.