What about ETJ and Travis County addresses?

AB+C only covers City of Austin and Limited Purpose ETJ jurisdictions. Full-purpose Travis County (outside the ETJ) uses the Travis County permits portal — septic permits especially go through the county OSSF program, not the city. Williamson and Hays County addresses use their own systems. Always confirm jurisdiction first.

Where do I look up Austin Code Department HIC registration?

Austin requires a Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) registration through the Austin Code Department for residential work over $1,000. The HIC registration number should appear on the permit record — cross-reference at AustinCode's HIC roster to verify the contractor is currently registered, not expired or revoked.

Are McMansion Subchapter F violations visible in the portal?

Yes, indirectly. Subchapter F (the 'McMansion Ordinance') governs massing on Austin single-family lots through floor-to-area ratio (FAR) and tent envelope rules. A permit that issued without a Subchapter F compliance review on a covered lot would show audit notes; outright violations surface as code-compliance cases on the parcel.

Austin Development Services Department (DSD)

Austin Permit Lookup — Direct Portal Deep-Link

Austin Build + Connect (AB+C) is the City of Austin’s official portal for residential and commercial building permits, MEP, demolition, sign, pool, and tree permits. It also ties into Austin Code Department HIC registrations and the Historic Landmark Commission CofA workflow. We deep-link you to the source of record — read the permit history on the city system, not on a stale mirror.

Austin Build + Connect (AB+C)

Open Austin Build + Connect →

Opens on abc.austintexas.gov — official City of Austin Texas domain.

What you can look up

AB+C accepts address, permit, and case-number queries. Each parcel surfaces every permit pulled, plan-review status, inspection outcomes, and the contractor’s HIC registration number. The portal exposes plan-review correction cycles — a useful proxy for project complexity. Austin also ties Historic Landmark Commission Certificates of Appropriateness (CofA) into the same property record, so you can see whether work in a historic district had the required commission sign-off before the building permit issued. For paper records pre-2005, the DSD records counter on Highland Mall Boulevard fills gaps. Travis County OSSF septic permits are NOT in AB+C — those live in the county’s Citizen Access portal.

How to read Austin permit codes

Austin permits use a year-prefixed serial — e.g. 2024-012345 BP. The trailing letters are the discipline: BP (Building Permit), EP (Electrical), MP (Mechanical), PP (Plumbing), DR (Demolition), SP (Site Plan), SR (Sign), PV (Solar PV), DS (Driveway), TR (Tree). Austin also uses a separate Express track for same-day MEP issuance on like-for-like replacement (water heater, HVAC, panel). Status reads as Application Submitted, Plan Review, Issued, Finaled, Expired, or Voided. Inspection codes follow: FNDN (foundation), FRMG (framing), RFG (roofing), FNAL (final), with outcomes Approved, Disapproved, or Correction Required. Austin’s Historic Landmark CofA filings are referenced as HR (Historic Review) cases nested into the parcel record.

Red flags to watch for

Austin’s top red flag is missing or expired HIC registration on residential permits over $1,000. Austin Code requires HIC registration for residential work, and a permit issued to an unregistered contractor is enforceable against both the contractor and the homeowner. Second: Subchapter F (McMansion) violations— Austin’s massing rules for single-family lots are strict; permits issued without visible Subchapter F compliance notes on covered lots, or with a clear FAR overage, are at audit risk. Third: tree-protection violations— Austin’s tree code is one of the strictest in Texas, and unpermitted removal or critical-root-zone damage to a regulated tree generates mitigation orders. Fourth: missing CofA on historic-district properties — Austin has 4 local historic districts, 7 NR districts, and 700+ landmarks; a standard BP permit on any of those without an HR case reference is a red flag. Fifth: permits filed in the ETJ as if City of Austin — limited-purpose ETJ permits exist, but full-purpose work in the ETJ runs through Travis County, and a permit pulled in the wrong jurisdiction is void. Sixth: Save Our Springs and Lake Austin watershed — impervious-cover overages on watershed- protected lots generate enforcement and water-quality mitigation. Seventh: open OSSF (septic) violations for ETJ properties — the Travis County OSSF program enforces strict separation distances; permit gaps here are real liabilities.

Questions LA homeowners actually ask

AB+C only covers City of Austin and Limited Purpose ETJ jurisdictions. Full-purpose Travis County (outside the ETJ) uses the Travis County permits portal — septic permits especially go through the county OSSF program, not the city. Williamson and Hays County addresses use their own systems. Always confirm jurisdiction first.

AskBaily does not scrape AB+C

We have no Austin DSD database mirror, no scraped permit cache. The deep-link above is the entire integration — the homeowner reads the City of Austin record on the City of Austin system. That is the only way to know what is actually on file.

Last reviewed 2026-04-24.