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
No county development or OSSF review timeline was published. Under state OSSF rules, the permitting authority must approve or deny a complete application and planning materials within 30 days of receipt.
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 Refugio County Judge/OSSF: 361-526-4434; Nueces River Authority county floodplain contact: 361-653-2110; County Clerk: 361-526-2233 or 361-526-2727 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
Refugio County Judge's Office; Nueces River Authority Floodplain Administration 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 Refugio County Judge/OSSF: 361-526-4434; Nueces River Authority county floodplain contact: 361-653-2110; County Clerk: 361-526-2233 or 361-526-2727 and request the current application route before preparing a final submittal.
No county development or OSSF review timeline was published. Under state OSSF rules, the permitting authority must approve or deny a complete application and planning materials within 30 days of receipt.
Submit the development application, vicinity map, $20 fee, and—when the site is in a floodplain—one copy of construction plans and specifications to the County Judge. For OSSF work, return the application, site/soil evaluation, scaled design and specifications, appraisal or deed and plat, site map, fee, and any required recorded affidavit and maintenance contract to Room 104. Coordinate the installation inspection at 361-526-4434; a permit to operate is granted only after a successful inspection confirms compliance. Contact the Nueces River Authority floodplain representative for project-specific floodplain review.
Refugio County requires a $20 county development-permit application for residential and nonresidential new construction, substantial improvements, houses, mobile homes, commercial projects, placement of fill, and alteration of waterways or drainage courses. The County Judge evaluates the site using county flood-hazard boundary maps and best available flood data and may require plans and specifications for floodplain work or issue an exemption certificate outside the identified hazard area. Subdivision and manufactured-home rental community regulations apply separately. OSSFs are governed by 30 TAC Chapter 285 and current OSSF rules adopted by the Refugio County Commissioners Court. No general county structural building-code edition was published for 2026. No general minor-structure or cosmetic-work exemption list was published. A county exemption certificate may be issued when a proposed development is outside the identified special flood-hazard area, but the county form warns that the certificate does not guarantee freedom from flooding and does not waive other county, state, or federal requirements. The OSSF packet does not publish an acreage exemption; obtain a county determination before relying on the state 10-acre, grandfathered-system, or emergency-repair exceptions.
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.