Dallas County

A city address is usually permitted by the city, not the county — but not always, and some authorities keep building and hand electrical to someone else. Getting this wrong costs the whole submittal, because every requirement below belongs to whoever actually holds jurisdiction. Check the overlays in the same pass: an HOA, a historic district, a windstorm certification or a system-size cap can reshape the design, and all of them are cheaper to find now than after the array is laid out.

• Is this authority the AHJ for residential solar at this address? No — not the AHJ for residential rooftop PV in unincorporated Dallas County 88% · department scope page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Building — commercial only. Electrical — none, county holds no electrical jurisdiction. New residential construction is notice-only with inspection delegated to the builder's third-party inspector. 85% · department permit list
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? No — no county permit is required for a rooftop PV retrofit on an existing single-family home 82% · department permit list
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Neither — Dallas County issues no electrical permit of any kind 85% · issued-permit reports 2024-2026
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? No county requirement. Private deed restrictions or an HOA may still apply as a matter of private contract — the county is not a party and does not check. 75% · department scope page
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? No — a Specific Use Permit cannot exist here. 'In Texas, only cities — and not counties — have the authority to adopt zoning ordinances', and TX Loc. Gov't Code 233.153(d)(2) forbids construing the residential building code subchapter to authorise county zoning. 88% · department scope page

Several authorities require the electrical permit to be pulled by a licensed electrician, or require the contractor to be registered with them BEFORE applying. Registration is not same-day. This is second on the list rather than fourth because it is the step most likely to stop the job before the drawings matter.

• Who is allowed to pull the electrical permit? No county permit exists, so no county rule. State law governs: electrical work for the public requires a TDLR-licensed electrician/electrical contractor (Occ. Code ch. 1305). A person who owns and resides in the dwelling is exempt for work 'not specifically regulated by a municipal ordinance' — and in the unincorporated area there is no municipal ordinance. 80% · state statute (archived capture)
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? No — DUAS publishes no contractor-registration requirement 62% · department permit list
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes — no county permit to obtain, and the state licensing exemption covers an owner-occupier 70% · state statute (archived capture)

Almost everywhere wants a site plan, a one-line or three-line electrical diagram, equipment cut sheets with listings, and a structural attachment detail. Build it against the published checklist rather than the last jurisdiction you worked in — the checklist is what the reviewer marks against.

• What documents make up a complete submittal? Not applicable to rooftop PV (no county permit). Where a DUAS permit type IS triggered (e.g. a floodplain ground mount) a complete application is: completed application; authorization form if an agent is applying; fee (debit/credit only); copy of plat if platted; property deed; scope-of-work description; site plan; survey if unplatted. The substantive submittal for a rooftop system goes to Oncor, not the county: signed tariff application, interconnection agreement, layout sketch, one-line diagram, placard proofs, equipment details, and minimum 5 inspection photos. 85% · published checklist
• How many copies, and in what format? County: survey at 11x17 as PDF; 'Full size (24x36) may be required'. Oncor: each diagram a single-page, flattened, non-editable PDF under 2MB. 80% · published checklist
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? County: a site plan is a listed component of any complete DUAS application, but no content specification is published. Oncor requires a bird's-eye Layout Sketch showing service address, ESI ID, all equipment labelled with manufacturer/model/quantity/voltage, the Visible Lockable Labeled Disconnect, the Oncor meter, the measured distance in feet between them, a north arrow, street name and driveway. 88% · utility DG requirements
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Yes — but by the UTILITY, not the county. Oncor requires a one-line diagram showing accurate equipment order, all existing equipment, and a separate VLLD between customer equipment and the Oncor meter. 90% · utility DG requirements
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? No county PE stamp requirement for residential PV — no threshold exists because no county permit exists. (Contrast: the county's COMMERCIAL fire-code building permit does require a Fire Code Design and Compliance Review Sheet 'signed and sealed by a licensed architect or engineer registered in the State of Texas'.) 72% · adopted fire code (OCR'd)

Most authorities now take the whole application through a portal, and several states cap or constrain what a residential solar permit may cost. Check whether plan check is billed separately before you quote the job.

• Which permit portal does this authority use? MyGov / MGO Connect — www.mgoconnect.org, jurisdiction 'Dallas County Unincorporated' 92% · department page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Yes for the county's permit types — application, documents and card payment all go through MyGov, with a separate Paymentus link for DUAS fees. Moot for residential rooftop PV, which has no county application. 80% · portal/department page
• What does a residential solar permit cost? $0 — no county fee for a residential rooftop PV system 78% · published fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Flat — every DUAS permit fee that exists is a flat amount by permit type (platting is the only tiered one, by lot count and acreage) 80% · published fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? No separate plan-check fee on the DUAS schedule. The Fire Marshal's (commercial) schedule does carry 'Plan Review and Revision $250.00 per hour' and notes the AHJ may have a PE review plans at the developer's cost. 75% · published fee schedule

Interconnection is a separate process from the permit and usually the longer pole. Where the utility does not depend on the permit being issued, running both at once is the single biggest saving available on a residential job.

• What is the stated plan-review turnaround? Not published by DUAS. Statutory backstop for the county's commercial fire-code building permit: 30 days to issue or deny, and if the county does neither within 30 days the work is deemed approved (TX Loc. Gov't Code 233.063(c)-(d)). Special Event applications must be in 45 days ahead. 72% · state statute (archived capture)
• Which utility handles interconnection here? Oncor Electric Delivery (TDU) 65% · county issued-permit report
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? No dependency — the Oncor interconnection runs entirely independently of the county, because the county issues nothing to depend on. Sequence is: customer selects installer; installer sends tariff application for customer signature; installer submits via Oncor's eTRACK installer portal; Oncor reviews, performs a study, prepares the interconnection agreement; all parties sign; Oncor issues the PTO letter; meter reprogrammed. 85% · utility interconnection page

The NEC edition a jurisdiction enforces is often a cycle behind the newest one published, and local amendments sit on top of it. Rapid shutdown, conductor sizing and labelling all change between editions, so the edition in force is the first thing to establish, not the last.

• Which NEC edition is in force? 2023 NEC — by state adoption, not county adoption. 16 TAC 73.100: 'Effective September 1, 2023, the department adopts the 2023 National Electrical Code'. Occ. Code 1305.201(e) makes it the floor in unincorporated areas: 'Electrical work performed in an unincorporated area of the state must be installed in accordance with standards at least as stringent as the requirements of the state electrical code'. 82% · state administrative rule (archived capture)
• Which building code edition is in force? None for an existing dwelling — Dallas County has adopted no building code reaching alterations or retrofits of a detached house. For NEW residential construction outside a city ETJ, TX Loc. Gov't Code 233.153(a) sets the standard as the IRC edition in force in the county seat (City of Dallas), and the county collects a Notice of Residential Construction naming the IRC version the builder will use. 70% · state statute (archived capture)
• Which fire code edition is in force? 2024 International Fire Code, with Appendices B, C, D, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N and O — Dallas County Fire Code, Court Order 2015-1143, amended 10-21-2025, effective 10-21-2025. BUT s.1.2: 'this Code does not apply to detached one- and two-family dwellings.' 90% · adopted fire code (OCR'd)
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes — Exhibit A to the Dallas County Fire Code is a schedule of additions, insertions, deletions and changes to the 2024 IFC, including an amended Chapter 12 (Clean Energy Systems) and amended/added Sections 1207 and 1208. All of it is confined to buildings within the code's scope, which excludes detached dwellings. 88% · adopted fire code (OCR'd)
• What is the installation judged against? The 2023 NEC as the state electrical code (Occ. Code 1305.201(e) + 16 TAC 73.100). There is no county electrical code, no county inspector, and no county plan review to judge it against — compliance is a matter of the licensed electrician's obligation, not a county sign-off. 82% · state statute (archived capture)

Ridge setbacks and roof access pathways are fire-service requirements and they constrain the array layout. They are the most common cause of a redesign after the fire department comments on a plan set.

• What ridge setback and access pathways are required? No county ridge setback or access pathway requirement applies to a detached one- or two-family dwelling. The Dallas County Fire Code adopts the 2024 IFC but s.1.2 excludes detached one- and two-family dwellings, and TX Loc. Gov't Code 233.062(a) would bar the county from reaching them even if it wanted to. 85% · adopted fire code (OCR'd)

Which rapid-shutdown rule applies follows directly from the NEC edition in force, and the initiation device has to be at a location the fire service can reach and identify. This is inspected, and it is labelled.

• Is rapid shutdown required, and to which NEC edition? Yes, via the state-adopted 2023 NEC (Article 690.12) — not via any county rule. Nobody at the county inspects for it. 72% · state statute (archived capture)

The NEC sets a baseline for permanent markings at the service equipment and the disconnecting means. On top of that, an authority may specify its own wording, and the utility may specify more again. Where any of them writes its own text, a generic off-the-shelf label set will not pass — this is the detail most often fixed on a return visit.

• Which placards does this authority require at the service equipment? The AHJ requires none. The UTILITY does: 'Oncor requires caution or warning placards on all distributed generation projects to alert company employees of a potential alternate source of power.' Class 1 where the visible AC disconnect is within 10 ft of the Oncor meter; Class 2 where it is farther; Class 3 for pad-mount transformer or high-voltage delivery installations. 88% · utility DG placard specification
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? County: No. Utility: yes — Oncor gives example wording, e.g. 'CAUTION / POWER TO THIS SERVICE IS ALSO SUPPLIED FROM ON-SITE SOLAR/WIND GENERATION / AC SYSTEM DISCONNECT' (Class 1), and for Class 2 the same with 'DISCONNECT LOCATED ON WEST WALL OF THIS STRUCTURE'. 85% · utility DG placard specification
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? Material is specified; letter height and colour are not. Oncor: 'Placards materials are to be UV resistant and follow the same material standards as utilized in the National Electric Code.' Colour cast acrylic is accepted, as are outdoor-rated sticker-type placards of similar NEC specification, both with a UV inhibitor rated for exterior use. If cast acrylic is used the customer must supply adhesive tape — preferred 3M Scotch VHB family (4956, 4941, 4936 or 4926), minimum 1 inch wide, double-sided, exterior VHB. 82% · utility DG placard specification
• Is a site plan / facility map placard required, and what must it show? Yes for Class 3 installations (DG remote from the Oncor meter, pad-mount transformer or HV delivery). The site map must show: location of the Oncor meter and delivery equipment; location of the generator's main AC disconnect; facility address; a north indicator with basic street and building layout; and a map title, e.g. 'Solar System Disconnecting Means'. Three sets are requested — one for existing Oncor equipment, one spare for future equipment replacement, one for the customer's main equipment. 85% · utility DG placard specification
• Does the UTILITY specify placards beyond the AHJ's? Yes — and here the utility is the ONLY placard authority, because the AHJ specifies none. Oncor's placard scheme is additional to the NEC and explicitly so: 'Oncor placard specifications are not intended to replace any requirements in the National Electric Code.' Placard proofs must be uploaded to the Placards section of the eTRACK installer portal (separately from the design packet, or review is delayed), and Class 1 proofs may alternatively be shown on the layout sketch or one-line. 90% · utility DG requirements
• Where must the labels be placed? On the visible AC disconnect, not on the Oncor meter: 'Placards are requested to be located on the visible AC disconnect and not on the Oncor meter.' Where the disconnect is remote from the meter (Class 2), a placard goes at the meter location AND on the disconnect. For Class 3, identical placards on the Oncor equipment and on the customer's main equipment, mounted by Oncor's operations group, plus a drilled two-hole caution placard attached to the secondary cables inside the Oncor pad-mount transformer. 88% · utility DG placard specification

Where the AC disconnect must sit relative to the meter is usually the utility's rule, not the building department's. Battery storage frequently carries its own permit, its own inspection and its own fire conditions.

• Where must the AC disconnect be, relative to the meter? A single separate Visible Lockable Labeled AC Disconnect (VLLD) MUST sit between the Oncor meter and all sources of distributed generation, on an accessible EXTERIOR wall within 10 feet of the Oncor meter, and must be accessible at all times. It must have an external handle and be lockable — 'Molded-case breakers are NOT considered acceptable VLLDs.' Beyond 10 ft triggers Class 2 or Class 3 placards. The distance in feet must be stated on both the layout sketch and the one-line, and the words 'Visible Lockable Labeled Disconnect' must be written out in full at least once on each drawing before the acronym VLLD is used. No meter collars — the meter socket space is reserved for Oncor. 92% · utility DG requirements
• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? No county approved-equipment list. Oncor distinguishes a 'certified' system — an inverter-based system tested and certified to UL-1741 Utility Interactive — from a non-certified one, and routes them down different application paths; non-certified and small induction systems attract a tariff study fee. 70% · utility FAQ
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Permitted, and unregulated by the county at a detached dwelling. The Dallas County Fire Code's ESS provisions (amended IFC 1207, added 1208, NFPA 855 2023, FM Global DS 5-33, UL 9540A) apply by their own terms 'to all commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities', and the code as a whole does not apply to detached one- and two-family dwellings. The permit thresholds (>15 cu ft of lithium-ion batteries; >20 kWh at SOC over 30%; commercial bulk storage; any facility integrating batteries with renewable systems) sit inside that commercial-only section. 85% · adopted fire code (OCR'd)
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? No — no separate county ESS permit or inspection for a detached dwelling. Oncor does require an interconnection agreement for a battery: 'If the battery system operates in parallel, for any length of time, with the utility then an interconnection agreement is required.' 78% · utility FAQ
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? Not as a building — the county has no residential structural code reaching it. But it is very likely to need a Development / Floodplain Development Permit: the county states 'Most of the County's unincorporated area is considered to be in the floodplain. As a result, no development is allowed within the unincorporated area without a permit which either verifies that the development is not located within the floodplain or that it will be sufficiently elevated or protected from flooding.' The Floodplain Management Regulations (Court Order 2019-0322) define DEVELOPMENT as 'any man-made change in improved and unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations or storage of equipment or materials.' Fee: Development Permit Level 1 $35, Levels 2-3 $100, Level 4 $250. 74% · department scope page + adopted floodplain regulations

Booking is a portal, a phone call or an email depending on the authority, and the notice required is rarely zero. Book before the work is finished rather than after — the lead time, not the work, is usually what sets the date.

Nothing recorded for Dallas County on this step yet — 3 questions checked and found unpublished. The guidance above is general.

Some authorities inspect their own solar work; some delegate it, and a few do not inspect the PV equipment itself at all. Who is coming determines what they will look at.

• Does this AHJ perform its own final solar inspection? No — Dallas County performs no inspection of a residential rooftop PV system. It performs no residential final of any kind: even for new residential construction it takes a notice and never inspects itself. 85% · state statute (archived capture) + county permit reports
• If delegated, to whom? Nobody, for rooftop PV — there is no inspection to delegate. For NEW residential construction the builder contracts the inspections to one of six permitted types: a licensed engineer, a registered architect, a TREC-licensed professional inspector, a municipally employed plumbing inspector licensed by the TSBPE, a building inspector employed by a political subdivision, or an ICC-certified residential combination inspector. The same or different inspectors may be used for each stage. 88% · state statute (archived capture)

A rough-in or mid-roof inspection, where one is required, has to happen before the work it covers is closed up. Missing a stage means opening something back up, and it is the most expensive kind of correction.

• Which inspections are required, and in what order? None for rooftop PV. For NEW residential construction on a vacant lot, three third-party inspections in order: foundation, before placement of concrete; framing and mechanical systems, before covering with drywall or other interior wall covering; and on completion of construction. For an addition, the same stages 'as necessary based on the scope of work'. Notice of the final inspection result must reach the county within 10 days. 88% · state statute (archived capture)

The approved plan set, the permit, and the equipment listings should be on site and reachable. Inspectors routinely verify that installed equipment matches what was approved, and that the labels are the ones the plan set promised.

• Is there a published inspection checklist? No county inspection checklist for solar exists. Oncor publishes a nine-item submission checklist in its Residential/Small Commercial Project Requirements covering service address, ESI ID, equipment labelling, the written-out VLLD wording, the meter-to-VLLD distance, placard class, placard proofs uploaded, equipment matching the eTRACK tab, and inspection images uploaded at the Agreement Available step. 80% · utility DG requirements
• Does the inspector verify labels and listings? No county inspector verifies anything on a residential PV system. Oncor performs a documentary check instead of a site inspection: a minimum of five clear photos — street view with house number, equipment nameplates showing model number (per-site photos, 'DO NOT use stock photos or the same photo for multiple projects'), the exterior wall showing equipment connected to the utility meter and main service panel, the installed panels/inverters/ESS/batteries/ATS, and images of all VLLDs and their placarding — and the equipment on the drawings must match the equipment tab in eTRACK. 88% · utility DG requirements

Passing gives you a final or an equivalent sign-off. That is not the same as permission to operate: PTO comes from the utility, and who tells the utility the inspection passed varies. A system left switched off for weeks is usually waiting on this handover.

• What is issued on pass? Nothing is issued by the county for a residential PV system — there is no county final, no green tag and no CO. The document that ends the process is Oncor's Permission To Operate (PTO) letter, sent to both customer and installer once the interconnection agreement is signed by all parties. 85% · utility interconnection page
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? Installer — the installer submits the project through Oncor's eTRACK web installer portal and uploads the required inspection images at the 'Agreement Available' step; Oncor then issues the PTO. There is no AHJ notification step because there is no AHJ involvement. 88% · utility DG requirements
• Is there a re-inspection fee? No county re-inspection fee reaches a residential PV system. The Fire Marshal's schedule (commercial) sets Fire & Safety Final Re-Inspection at no charge for the first, then $125.00, then $175.00; TABC-related re-inspections are $150.00 then $200.00. 75% · published fee schedule