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 fixed floodplain, driveway, or field-inspection turnaround is published. Texas OSSF rules require approval or written denial of a complete septic application and planning materials within 30 days. For plats, the county must notify an applicant of missing items within 10 business days and take final action on a complete application within 30 days; a qualifying written extension may add up to 30 days. A floodplain permit expires if work has not commenced within six months after issuance.
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 Public Works/Development Services and OSSF: 940-627-9332; County Engineer Chad Davis, P.E., C.F.M.: 940-273-7289; fax 940-627-6171 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
Wise County Public Works, Development Services, and County Engineer 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 Public Works/Development Services and OSSF: 940-627-9332; County Engineer Chad Davis, P.E., C.F.M.: 940-273-7289; fax 940-627-6171 and request the current application route before preparing a final submittal.
No fixed floodplain, driveway, or field-inspection turnaround is published. Texas OSSF rules require approval or written denial of a complete septic application and planning materials within 30 days. For plats, the county must notify an applicant of missing items within 10 business days and take final action on a complete application within 30 days; a qualifying written extension may add up to 30 days. A floodplain permit expires if work has not commenced within six months after issuance.
For OSSF work, submit the application, licensed site evaluation, any required planning materials, vicinity map, and fee to Public Works at 2901 South FM 51, Building 100; call 940-627-9332. Obtain Authorization to Construct before installation and coordinate county inspections before operation. For floodplain work, submit the four-page application to County Engineer Chad Davis and do not start until the permit is issued; the application authorizes reasonable compliance inspections, and the development may not be used or occupied until the county issues a Certificate of Compliance. Subdivision public improvements require approved construction plans before work and county progress/final inspections; fees include $2,000 for the first mile of road inspection plus $150 per additional half-mile or part and $500 per final-inspection visit beyond two.
Wise County expressly does not require general building permits in unincorporated areas; an incorporated city or its ETJ may administer municipal building codes. The county nevertheless enforces its Development Rules and Regulations, amended through February 10, 2025, county driveway and drainage standards, the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance, and its OSSF Order. Floodplain buildings must obtain a floodplain-development permit and have finished floors at least two feet above the 100-year flood elevation; filling or obstruction of floodways and drainage easements is prohibited. OSSFs are governed by Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 366, 30 TAC Chapter 285, and stricter county rules, including one-acre minimum lots with public water, two-acre minimum lots with individual water, and permits for all systems even on tracts of ten acres or more. The specific county fire-code edition referenced for centralized-water subdivision hydrants is not identified on the current page. There is no county general-building permit to exempt ordinary residential structural or cosmetic work in unincorporated areas, but this does not waive floodplain, OSSF, driveway, platting, 911-addressing, drainage, fire-flow, or applicable municipal/ETJ approvals. Wise County's stricter OSSF rule eliminates the state conditional 10-acre permit exemption: every OSSF, including one on a tract of ten acres or more, requires a county permit. No separate minor-work exemption list is published for floodplain development; no work covered by the floodplain application may start before issuance.
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.