How to Become a General Contractor in Texas

It’s simple really. Just declare yourself a general contractor and voila — you are one. This is gonna be a little boring but today I got schooled in what is required to become a General Contractor in Texas and, once that declaration is accepted by the city of Austin, the resources I must use to be successful at the job.

It all started when the permit expeditor we’re using (gotta ask if he doesn’t mind being named here) let us know, by email, we are merely days away from having our permits approved. Yahoo! However, he asked, “Who is your general contractor?”

“Well, I am … essentially,” I replied.

“Oh boy hang on. Do you have an abc account? If so, have you registered as a gc? Have a few minutes to chat?” and included these links on his email:

https://abc.austintexas.gov/web/permit/public-search-other?reset=true

https://www.austintexas.gov/page/service-center-and-trade-permits

So, I immediately clicked the links - first I signed up for an AB+C (Austin Build + Connect) account and then used that account number to register as a GC (general contractor) with the city. It requires filling out a form “Letter of Authorization” on which I included my permit expediter’s name to give him permission to file permits for me.

Then I got on the phone with the PE and told him my GC registration was in progress! He then told me to google a few things :

BUILDING INSPECTION PROCESS FLOWCHARTS to give an idea of what to do about trees and such, and initial site visits that must happen BEFORE we do any demolition and construction … and …

RESIDENTIAL INSPECTION CHECKLISTS which is a long list, so long, of checklists pertaining to the inspections we will need throughout the building process. Apparently, if we prep with the checklist before the inspector shows up, the city buys us steak dinners! (That was the PE’s joke … but I was like “Reeeaaaaalllllyyyyy????”)

Inspections are included in this whole mess of fees and taxes unless we start messing up and not prepping with the checklist. Apparently then they start charging for site visits.

AND THEN HE TOLD ME - and this one was a bit of a doozy - that the very FIRST thing I would need to do once my permits were (initially) approved by the city is applying for a water meter upgrade (we have a 5/8” pipe, needs to be 3/4”) for an astounding fee of $7000 - $8000. WTF.

“It would have been $12,000 but you get a credit for returning the pipe they will replace.” Good lord. I’m hoping to hack this cost a little bit by appealing to Austin Water and their plan to change every meter in the city by 2025 … but that will (hopefully) be a different post.

AND THEN — after the meter upgrade is approved, I get to pay the city another $1500 in permit fees so I can then start scheduling inspections before we can start demo! It’s all very exciting. And it may sound strange but I’m pretty tingly about blogging the bureaucracy …

I will say at this point that I am a pretty pro-government person. I like regulations and the nanny state! (It’s a joke … but also not.) I want worker protections, I want environmental protections and I want people protections through building codes and accessibility requirements … I do. BUT I am curious to experience the unintended consequences — and a little frightened of the exorbitant costs - that result from these protections. After all, not every government worker is created equal! Some suck.

I would imagine there is a better way to do many of these things that make the process more efficient and also builder-friendly. (Yes, I’m pro-development because the rent is too damn high and the reason for that is the lack of housing so let’s get density, y’all … I digress.)

I don’t imagine my opinion on these topics will change much but I’m open to a different experience. As my brother says, I am in Texas now, after all.

So the current waiting game is permit approval, and GC registration and also stalking some Austin Water person to see what it takes to get on the list of the chosen …