Austin permit applications: the 45-day completeness rule

Last verified August 5, 2026 against the Austin Land Development Code · Kimbrough Gray · KiliGray Homes

A building or demolition permit application must be complete — fee paid and required information provided — no later than the 45th day after submission, or it expires. An expired application cannot be updated; a new application is required.

Applies to: Non-subdivision applications, including building and demolition permits and site plans. Preliminary plans, plats and subdivision construction plans run under separate sections.

Forty-five days to be complete

This is the one hard permit deadline actually written into Austin's code, and it runs against you, not the City.

For a building or demolition permit, §25-1-82(E) provides that the application is accepted as complete when the applicant has paid the required fee and provided the required information — and it must happen no later than the 45th day after the application is submitted.

Miss it and the application expires. You may submit updates and correct deficiencies at any point before that day, but not after.

An expired application cannot be rescued. §25-1-65(C) is one sentence and it is unforgiving: an application that has expired may not be updated, and a new application is required. Fee, place in the queue, and elapsed time all start again. This is different from being denied — a denied application can be updated and resubmitted, provided it has not also expired.

The City owes you a written deficiency list in 10 working days

The obligation runs both ways. Under §25-1-82(E)(2), if your application is rejected as incomplete, the responsible director or building official must give you a written explanation that identifies the deficiencies and the information needed to complete it — within 10 working days after the application is received.

So a silent rejection is not compliant. If the clock is running and no written deficiency list has arrived, that is worth raising rather than waiting.

There is also a release valve at §25-1-82(B): the director or building official may let you omit required information they determine is not material to the decision. If they refuse, that determination can be appealed to the city manager.

Site plans run on the same 45 days, plus a one-year outer limit

Site plan applications have their own limb of the same section, and two extra numbers worth holding:

the application is complete once the fee is paid and the required information provided, again no later than the 45th day;
a certification that the site plan application is administratively complete is valid for 45 days from issue; and
the application itself expires one year after submission unless it has been approved, or the director has granted additional days for an update under §25-1-90(A) — in which case the expiry moves by exactly the days granted.

The certification having its own 45-day life is the trap. A stale certification means the director may not review the application, and the same applies if the submitted site plan no longer matches the certified materials.

This is not the same clock as permit expiry. Everything above is the life of an application. Once a permit issues, a different rule takes over — work must begin before the 181st day, and a permit can lapse through abandonment. Permit expiry has its own page. Confusing the two is the most common mistake in this area.

How we keep applications alive

We treat the 45 days as the real deadline, because it is the only one the code guarantees. Everything else — review length, comment cycles — is governed by state law timeframes and departmental rules rather than a number we can point to.

The practical habit is to get the deficiency list early and in writing. Ten working days is the entitlement, and an application that has gone quiet is usually an application where something was never formally rejected and the clock is running anyway.

On site plans, we diary the certification date separately from the submission date. Forty-five days is short, and a certification that lapses while a consultant finishes a drawing is an avoidable restart.

Common questions

How long do I have to complete an Austin permit application?

45 days. Under §25-1-82(E) a building or demolition permit application must have the fee paid and required information provided no later than the 45th day after submission, or it expires.

What happens if my Austin permit application expires?

You start again. §25-1-65(C) provides that an expired application may not be updated and a new application is required. A denied application, by contrast, can be updated and resubmitted if it has not expired.

Does Austin have to tell me why my application is incomplete?

Yes, in writing, within 10 working days of receiving the application. §25-1-82(E)(2) requires a written explanation identifying the deficiencies and the information needed.

How long is an Austin site plan application valid?

One year from submission unless approved, extendable by exactly the number of extra days the director grants for an update under §25-1-90(A). Separately, a certification of administrative completeness is valid for only 45 days.

Can I leave information out of an Austin permit application?

Only if the director or building official determines it is not material to the decision, under §25-1-82(B). If they decline, you can appeal that determination to the city manager.

Send us an address and we will tell you what we find

We do this research ourselves on every project we take on — zoning, floodplain, watershed, trees, whether it is a legal lot. Send us an address and we will run it and tell you what we find. It works the same whether you own a vacant lot, a house you are thinking of adding a unit to, or a house you are thinking of replacing. No charge and no strings, and if it is a bad lot we will say so.

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We are homebuilders, not the City of Austin. This page explains how we read the code in practice — it is not legal advice and it is not an official determination. Always confirm with Austin Development Services before you rely on it for a project. The authoritative text is the Austin Land Development Code; permitting questions go to Austin Development Services Department.