Building permits, zoning and land rules in Fayette County, Texas

Before building a home or undertaking other development in unincorporated Fayette County, request an application from the Office of Floodplain Management: Class A covers development outside the FEMA 1%-chance flood area, and Class B covers development within it¹. Post the development permit at the job site where it is clearly visible from the nearest road or street¹. The published fee schedule lists a $100 development-permit application for homes, barns, barndominiums and manufactured homes, but the development instructions list different Class A/B fees; confirm the amount with Floodplain Management^1,8. We could not confirm a separate general county building permit or residential building-code inspection program; floodplain-compliance inspections do apply to permitted development¹. Fayette County does not issue occupancy letters².

For development in unincorporated Fayette County, contact the Fayette County Office of Floodplain Management at (979) 968-6469, at 151 N Washington St., Rm 307, La Grange, TX 78945^1,13. Ask that office what the development application requires for the proposed structure; we could not confirm a separate general county building permit¹. County development and subdivision rules described here concern land outside municipal limits; Flatonia and Schulenburg have municipal zoning ordinances, and Round Top sets its own zoning^1,3,4,5,12. The County Inspector's Office handles septic permits and inspections where the county OSSF program applies; incorporated cities are excluded unless an interlocal agreement extends that program^6,7.

Fayette County has no zoning authority over private land use in unincorporated areas, but deeds, restrictive covenants, easements, subdivision regulations, floodplain rules and septic requirements can still restrict a parcel². Flatonia amended its zoning ordinance in 2026, Schulenburg publishes zoning-map and variance materials, and Round Top divides land into zoning districts^3,4,5. Municipal zoning does not determine septic authority: the County Inspector administers the county OSSF program within its jurisdiction, including cities only through interlocal agreements^6,7. Outside municipalities, covered land divisions still need county subdivision approval or a determination that platting does not apply before utilities can connect¹².

In the Fayette County septic program's jurisdiction, OSSF installation, repair, alteration, and tank replacement require a septic permit, inspection, and approval through the County Inspector's Office⁶. The published county fees include $275 for a single-family conventional or listed non-aerobic system and $375 for a single-family aerobic-spray system⁸. The county rules principally cover unincorporated land; incorporated cities are excluded unless an interlocal agreement makes the county rules applicable there⁷. A narrow state exception may apply when a tract is at least 10 acres, has a single-family home as its only dwelling, and keeps every part of the system at least 100 feet from the property line, among other conditions¹⁴. Call the County Inspector's Office at 979-968-1809 before installing or repairing a system⁶.

Unincorporated Fayette County sets no county zoning-based occupancy restriction for RVs, tiny homes, manufactured homes, accessory dwellings or temporary camping, and no zoning-based minimum dwelling size, setback, lot-coverage or building-height limit¹⁰. Private deed restrictions can still limit use of a Fayette County parcel². Placement or construction of a tiny home or manufactured home in unincorporated Fayette County still requires the applicable development permit, and septic permitting applies where the county OSSF program has jurisdiction^1,6,8. An owner installing industrialized housing for personal use may avoid industrialized-builder registration but must obtain a state residential installation permit; that exception does not cover ordinary site-built homes¹¹.

1. Before construction in unincorporated Fayette County, request a development application from Floodplain Management and establish whether Class A or Class B applies^1,13.
2. Apply to the County Inspector for a septic permit before installation, repair, alteration or tank replacement within the county program's jurisdiction⁶.
3. Register a new well with the Fayette County Groundwater Conservation District; larger wells need a well permit⁹.
4. Resolve subdivision platting before a covered sale contract or conveyance outside municipal limits; utilities need a written determination of plat approval or inapplicability¹².
5. For an agricultural division, establish each daughter tract's separate, exclusive public-road access, conveyed and recorded with the tract; agricultural use alone does not establish an exemption¹².
6. Obtain a TxDOT driveway permit before constructing a driveway onto a state highway¹⁵.

For a new lot in unincorporated Fayette County, distinguish total area from buildable area: subdivision plat documentation requires lots or tracts of at least 2 acres configured for compliant sewage disposal¹². The subdivision regulations separately require 170 feet of width and depth for platted or exempt lots, subject to stated shape exceptions and Commissioners' Court approval, and at least 1 acre of buildable area outside the 1%-annual-chance flood zone for new lots¹². An agricultural exemption requires separate, exclusive access at least 30 feet wide to an existing public road, owned in fee or easement, conveyed and recorded with each daughter tract¹². A daughter tract with an access path or public-road frontage below 60 feet is barred from further division; ask Commissioners' Court how the dimensional rules apply to the proposed agricultural exemption¹². Only 4% of Fayette County soils are rated without severe limitations for conventional septic drain fields, so arrange a site evaluation before relying on a conventional system¹⁶.