Dallas AC installation permits

Step 1: find the authority for your address

1. Check the city on your property tax record, not your mailing address. Dallas Central Appraisal District and the other county appraisal districts show the taxing city for each property.
2. Inside a city: that city's building inspection office issues the permit.
3. Outside any city: in unincorporated Dallas County, development permits go through the County's Department of Unincorporated Area Services.
4. Call the office if in doubt. The table below links each one.

The City of Dallas

• All permits are submitted through DallasNow, the City's permitting portal.
• Contractors need a TDLR license and an MEP registration with the City.
• The City enforces the 2021 International Residential, Mechanical and Energy Conservation Codes with Dallas amendments, effective 12 May 2023.
• From 1 June 2026, plumbing and mechanical rough inspections are scheduled together on the same day.
• An owner may do the work without a license only on a home they own and occupy as a homestead, with the exemption recorded by the appraisal district and a notarized form reviewed by the City.

Verify: we found no official page giving the current residential mechanical permit fee, or stating the like-for-like replacement rule in one line. Ask Development Services or the contractor.

Sources: City of Dallas Building Inspection and Current City Code, read 2026-10-20; mechanical permit application, no-license checklist (form dated 30 April 2024), read 2026-10-20.

Permit offices in and around Dallas

Only places we could trace to an official page are listed. "Re-check" means the wording came from the official page's search listing rather than a full read; confirm it on the page before relying on it.

Plano was researched, but we found no official page stating its HVAC replacement rule, so it is not listed. Contact Plano Building Inspections directly.

Garland, which also has its own electric utility, has a local page.

Which cities this site takes requests from, and why only some have their own page, is on service areas.

Who may apply

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) licenses air conditioning and refrigeration (ACR) contractors, and ACR companies must employ a licensed ACR contractor at each permanent location. Cities may adopt their own standards for these contractors, which is why most DFW cities also require a local registration before they issue a permit.

The licensing chapter does not apply to a person doing ACR work in a building owned solely by that person as their home (Texas Occupations Code §1302.053). Cities still expect a permit and an inspection for that work, and add their own paperwork: Dallas asks for a notarized form and a recorded homestead exemption; Carrollton asks for a homestead affidavit; Mesquite notes that a homeowner who pulls the permit takes on the liability.

Texas Occupations Code ch. 1302 (§1302.053 homeowners; §1302.303 municipal standards). Statute text was read from a public mirror on 2026-10-20; verify the wording on the official site.

New installation or replacement

Fort Worth's residential page says changing, moving or repairing a central heating and air-conditioning system requires a mechanical permit. Garland requires permits for replacement of air-conditioning units. Carrollton requires one when any part of the indoor or outdoor unit is repaired or replaced. If the job also adds ducts or a new electrical circuit, ask the contractor whether any other permit applies.

Dallas permit fees

The City of Dallas publishes one fee schedule for Building Inspection. It does not have a line called “AC replacement”, so the fee for your job depends on how the City classifies the permit. These are the lines that can apply to a house:

Verify: The City of Dallas Building Inspection fee schedule (revised 1 October 2020) lists alterations or repairs to single-family and duplex structures at a $125 base permit fee plus $100 for each additional trade, a $75 re-inspection fee per trade, and a $120 contractor registration fee for “other trade contractors”. It does not name an AC change-out line, so confirm which fee applies and whether the 2020 schedule is current.

Source: City of Dallas, Building Inspection Division Fee Schedule for Permits and Services (REV 10-01-2020), read 2026-10-20. Fee figures you may see online for “Dallas” such as a $50 minimum and $25 re-inspection come from Dallas, Georgia; they do not apply here.

On a quote, the permit fee is normally folded into the price. Ask the contractor to confirm it is included and to give you the permit number. A quote that leaves the permit out is not cheaper, only incomplete.

Inspection and what to keep

• The permit number, and the date the final inspection passed.
• The invoice, which must show the contractor's TDLR license number and the TDLR consumer notice.
• The AHRI certificate for the matched system, and proof the equipment warranty was registered.

A home buyer's inspector or insurer may ask for these later.

How to read a permit record

Once the contractor gives you a permit number, look it up on the issuing city's portal (DallasNow inside Dallas; Fort Worth uses Accela; Grand Prairie a Customer Self-Service portal). Portals differ in layout, so treat the list below as what to look for, not a description of any one screen.

1. The address. It should be your property, exactly. A permit pulled on the wrong address does not cover your job.
2. The permit type. AC work is usually filed as mechanical. If the job also adds a circuit or moves the disconnect, ask whether an electrical permit was filed as well.
3. The applicant or contractor. This should be the company on your contract, or the licensed contractor it employs. Compare the name with the TDLR license record.
4. The scope or description. A short line such as a system replacement. If it describes a different job, ask why.
5. The status. Wording varies by city: issued, active, inspection scheduled, failed, passed, finaled or closed. What you want at the end is a passed final inspection.
6. The inspection history. Each inspection with a date and a result. A failed inspection is not unusual on its own; what matters is that a later one passed.

If you cannot find the record, ask the contractor for a screenshot or the permit document, then ask the city office. Some portals need an account to search.

Homestead permits explained

A homestead permit lets an owner do their own HVAC work, legally and with a permit, on the home they live in. It comes from two layers that work separately.

The state layer. The licensing chapter does not apply to a person doing ACR work in a building owned solely by that person as their home (Texas Occupations Code §1302.053). That removes the state license requirement. It does not remove the city's permit and inspection.

The city layer. Each city decides what it wants from a homeowner applicant. From the official pages listed above:

Other cities were not confirmed, so ask the office directly. Three practical points apply almost everywhere. A rental, a home you do not live in, or a home without a recorded exemption generally does not qualify. The work still has to pass the same inspection a contractor's would. And refrigerant is its own barrier: under EPA's Section 608 rules, refrigerant for these systems may be sold only to certified technicians or their employers, so a homeowner cannot simply buy it to charge a new system.

Section 608: US EPA, Section 608 refrigerant sales restriction, read 2026-10-20 (verify on the current EPA page).

What to ask about the inspection

Each city applies its own adopted code, and inspectors decide what they check on the day. Rather than a code list, here are questions that tell you whether the contractor expects the job to pass. Ask them before you sign.

• Who books the inspection, and do I need to be home? Attic and indoor equipment usually needs access.
• Which code edition does my city enforce? TDLR adopted amended ACR rules effective 1 September 2026, moving the state’s adopted model codes from the 2021 to the 2024 editions. Cities enforce their own adopted codes; Dallas’s current set is the 2021 codes with local amendments. A contractor who knows the answer for your city has usually worked there.
• Was the system sized from a load calculation? Dallas enforces the 2021 International Residential Code and 2021 IECC with Dallas amendments, effective 12 May 2023. The IRC requires equipment to be sized from a load calculation (ACCA Manual J) rather than a rule of thumb. Ask for the printout.
• How will the condensate drain and any secondary pan be handled? With an attic unit, this is where water damage starts.
• Does the outdoor unit need a new disconnect or breaker? If so, ask whether that is covered by the mechanical permit or needs another.
• If the inspection fails, who pays to fix it and re-inspect? Put the answer in the contract.
• When will I get proof the final passed? A date or a status on the portal, not just a verbal "it's done".

Verify: re-inspection fees, if any, are set by each city. None is published here.

Put the permit in the contract

Most permit problems are agreement problems. A quote that is silent on the permit leaves you to find out later whether one was pulled. The written contract should say:

1. Who applies, by name, and that the work will be done under a permit from the city that covers your address.
2. Whether the permit fee is included in the price or billed separately. Do not accept a fee figure you cannot match to the city's schedule.
3. That final payment follows a passed final inspection, or at least that the contractor will give you the permit number and final result.
4. The TDLR license number and consumer notice. The licensee’s number must appear on all advertising, proposals and invoices, an invoice is required for all ACR work, and proposals, invoices and written contracts must carry the notice “Regulated by The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, P.O. Box 12157, Austin, Texas 78711, 1-800-803-9202, 512-463-6599; www.tdlr.texas.gov”.

For a lien on a homestead, Texas requires work and materials to be contracted for in writing, with the consent of both spouses if the owner is married, before the work starts. Under Texas Business and Commerce Code §601.051, a consumer may cancel a consumer transaction until midnight of the third business day after signing, where the sale was solicited and agreed somewhere other than the merchant’s place of business and the price is over $25. Neither is a reason to delay a permit; both are reasons to have the paperwork in writing before the crew arrives.

Texas Constitution Art. XVI §50; Property Code §53.254 (verify); Texas Business and Commerce Code ch. 601, read 2026-10-20.

Worked scenarios (hypothetical)

The examples below are invented to show how the rules combine. They are not advice for a specific property.

A Dallas mailing address in another city

Say a homeowner's letters say "Dallas, TX", but the appraisal record lists the taxing city as Garland. The permit comes from Garland Building Inspection, whose page says permits are required for replacement of air-conditioning units. A contractor registered only with the City of Dallas would need to register with Garland too.

An owner replacing their own system in Fort Worth

Say the owner lives in the home and has a homestead exemption. The state license exemption applies to their own home, and Fort Worth's page allows a homestead permit for an owner-occupied primary residence. They still apply, pass inspection and need a certified technician for the refrigerant work. If the house were a rental, the homestead route would not fit.

A leak top-off in Carrollton

Say a technician only adds refrigerant. Carrollton's HVAC page says that alone does not need a permit. If the technician then replaces the coil, any part of the indoor or outdoor unit has been replaced, and Carrollton's page says a permit is needed. The same job in another city may follow a different rule.

A house outside any city

Say the property sits in unincorporated Dallas County. There is no city office; development permits go through the County's Department of Unincorporated Area Services with the Fire Marshal. Whether a separate HVAC permit is issued there was not confirmed, so ask the department before work starts.

Common permit mistakes

• Trusting the mailing address. Check the appraisal record for the taxing city.
• Assuming suburbs copy Dallas. Fort Worth, Garland, Irving, Richardson, Mesquite, Carrollton and Grand Prairie each run their own process and registration.
• Accepting "no permit needed" for a replacement. Fort Worth, Garland and Carrollton all say a permit applies to replacement work. Ask the contractor to show you the city rule if they say otherwise.
• Paying in full before the final. The final inspection is the one point where a third party looks at the work.
• Losing the record. Keep the permit number, the final date, the invoice and the AHRI certificate together. A buyer or insurer may ask.
• Relying on an old fee or code page. Some city pages still cite older code editions. Confirm with the office.

If a permit was never pulled

If you find out after the fact, start with the contractor: ask for the permit number in writing. If there is none, ask the city office how it handles work done without a permit. Cities set their own process for this, so this page does not describe one. If the contractor will not respond, complaints against a licensee are filed with TDLR online or by mail. TDLR complaints.

Sources

• City of Dallas: Development Services, Building Inspection (DallasNow portal)
• Fort Worth: Development Services (Accela portal)
• Garland: Building Inspection, mechanical permits
• Irving: Inspections, fee schedule
• Richardson: Building Inspection
• Mesquite: Building Inspections
• Carrollton: Building Inspection, HVAC trade page
• Grand Prairie: Building Inspections, residential mechanical work
• Unincorporated Dallas County: Dallas County Department of Unincorporated Area Services, with the Fire Marshal
• Texas Occupations Code ch. 1302
• TDLR, ACR rule adoption (2026)
• TDLR complaints
• 16 Tex. Admin. Code §75.71
• US EPA, Section 608 refrigerant sales restriction
• Texas Constitution Art. XVI §50; Property Code §53.254
• Texas Business and Commerce Code ch. 601
• City of Dallas, "Current City Code"
• City of Dallas, Building Inspection Division Fee Schedule for Permits and Services (REV 10-01-2020)

Questions

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