Washington County permit authority

Washington County Engineering and Development Services, Environmental Health Division 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 Engineering and Development Services: 979-277-6275; Environmental Health/floodplain/OSSF: 979-277-6290; after-hours non-emergency reporting: 979-277-7373 and request the current application route before preparing a final submittal.

Washington County publishes no fixed floodplain or subdivision review target. A floodplain determination/development application expires one year after application if authorization or exemption has not issued. Complete OSSF applications and planning materials must be approved or denied within 30 days under 30 TAC Chapter 285. Subdivision infrastructure enters a two-year maintenance period after initial Commissioners Court acceptance before final inspection and acceptance.

Email completed floodplain and OSSF applications and supporting materials to wcrboffice@washingtoncountytx.gov, pay the nonrefundable fee, and wait for written authorization before work. A physical address is required before a floodplain permit issues. The applications authorize Environmental Health to enter for site evaluation, inspection, and photographs; contact 979-277-6290 to coordinate OSSF and floodplain inspections. A completed floodplain project may require a new Elevation Certificate, after which the county issues Floodplain Development Approval if compliant. For subdivision infrastructure, the developer or landowner must notify Engineering at completion and schedule final inspection, correct deficiencies, schedule any reinspection, and repeat the process after the two-year maintenance period before final acceptance.

Washington County expressly does not require a general building or electrical permit for a new structure or addition in its unincorporated area and publishes no adopted IRC, IBC, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, or fire-code edition for such work. County permits and standards still apply to development in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, all new/altered/repaired/enlarged OSSFs, county-road driveways and culverts, utilities in county right-of-way, oil and gas development, addressing, and subdivisions. Floodplain work is governed by the Washington County Rules for Flood Damage Prevention and applicable FEMA/NFIP criteria; OSSFs by the county order, Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 366, and 30 TAC Chapter 285. The Washington County Subdivision and Development Regulations adopted March 31, 2026 and the county Design and Construction Standards Manual govern subdivision infrastructure, drainage, access, setbacks, and related plan review. A new building or addition outside a municipality requires no county general building or electrical permit. Development outside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area requires no county floodplain permit. General agricultural production, harvesting, and storage activities—including livestock—within a Special Flood Hazard Area are exempt from floodplain development requirements; qualifying solely agricultural nonresidential barns, sheds, grain bins, and corn cribs may seek a variance to use wet floodproofing instead of elevation but still require a floodplain permit and variance. Routine septic maintenance such as tank pumping requires no OSSF permit, but all new, altered, repaired, or enlarged systems require one regardless of acreage. The 2026 subdivision regulations exclude routine repair and maintenance from their definition of regulated development.