Tarrant 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 — Tarrant County is not the AHJ for residential rooftop PV in its unincorporated area. It requires no permit, performs no plan review and performs no inspection. 95% · county development guideline (rev. July 2026)
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Neither. The County permits no building and no electrical work on residential property. Engineering Services issues only: ROW encroachment, utility, cell tower, floodplain, move-building, residential and non-residential OSSF, and junkyard/salvage permits. The Fire Marshal issues construction permits only for commercial, public and 4+-unit multifamily buildings. 92% · department permits page + adopted fire code
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? No 97% · county development guideline
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Neither — no county electrical permit of any kind exists for residential work in unincorporated Tarrant County. 90% · department permits page
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? Possibly — deed restrictions and HOA/POA rules may apply and the County directs owners to consult them, but the County has no authority to enforce them. Texas Property Code §202.010 bars a POA from prohibiting a solar energy device except on eight enumerated grounds, and approval may not be withheld where placement would not cause unreasonable discomfort or annoyance. 88% · county guideline + Tex. Prop. Code §202.010
• Is there a historic-district review? No 78% · county development guideline
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No 62% · county development guideline
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? No — Tarrant County has no zoning power and therefore no SUP mechanism. Commissioners Court sits only as the appeal body for Fire Code decisions (Fire Code §4.002), which does not reach residential solar. 85% · county guideline + adopted fire code
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? None from the County. At utility level, Oncor treats DER as generally under 10 MW and connected below 60 kV; residential systems fall far inside that. 72% · utility DG 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 one — there is no county electrical permit to pull. Electrical work itself remains subject to statewide licensing under Texas Occupations Code ch. 1305; the county neither licenses nor enforces it. 80% · department permits page + Tex. Occ. Code ch. 1305
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? No 80% · department permits page
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes — no permit is required of anyone, homeowner or contractor. The County's statement is unconditional as to who installs. 85% · county development guideline

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? Nothing is submitted to the County. No application, no drawings, no checklist. The only submittal in the process is the utility interconnection application (Oncor), not a county one. 88% · department permits page + county guideline
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Not required by the County. 85% · county development guideline
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? No — not required by the County. (Oncor's interconnection application requires technical DER design and equipment details; the exact drawing set was not verifiable — see not_found.) 85% · department permits page
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? No structural PE stamp required by the County, at any threshold. The County has no residential building code enforcement mechanism and does not review structures. 85% · department page
• Is an electrical PE stamp required, and at what threshold? No electrical PE stamp required by the County, at any threshold. 82% · department permits page

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? None for solar. Tarrant County operates no building-permit portal at all: Engineering Services takes its forms by Adobe Sign e-sign widgets and email to tspermitting@tarrantcountytx.gov, and the Fire Marshal takes cash, company check, cashier's check or money order. 82% · department pages
• Can the whole application be completed online? N/A — there is no county application to complete. The interconnection application is entirely online, via Oncor's DG portal at oncor.anbetrack.com. 82% · utility installer page
• What does a residential solar permit cost? $0 — no county permit and no county fee. 90% · fire code permit fee schedule (adopted 2018, amended 2020)
• How is the fee calculated? N/A — no fee, therefore no calculation basis. 88% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? No 85% · 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? None — the County performs no plan review for residential solar. The only turnaround in the process is Oncor's: roughly three to four weeks for a complete certified-system interconnection application. 80% · utility DG page
• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? N/A — no permit is issued, so nothing expires. 85% · adopted fire code
• Which utility handles interconnection here? Oncor Electric Delivery for most of the county; Tri-County Electric Cooperative (TCEC, Azle) serves parts of north and north-west Tarrant County, including unincorporated pockets. MUST be confirmed per address. 55% · utility own history page
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? No dependency on a permit — the utility is the sole gatekeeper. Sequence (Oncor): installer sends the customer a tariff application to sign → installer submits via the DG portal → Oncor reviews, studies, prepares an interconnection agreement → all parties sign → Oncor issues a Permission To Operate letter to customer and installer → meter reprogrammed. 82% · utility DG 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? None enforced by the County. Tarrant County adopts NFPA 70 only by reference inside its Fire Code (§2.001(d): references in the IFC to an electrical code 'are hereby replaced by ... NFPA 70 Electric Code that has been adopted by the State of Texas'), and that Fire Code reaches only commercial, public and 4+-unit multifamily buildings. The operative NEC therefore comes from state licensing law, Tex. Occ. Code §1305.101, which requires the commission to adopt each new NEC edition after NFPA publishes it every three years. 75% · adopted fire code + Tex. Occ. Code §1305.101
• Which building code edition is in force? Contested within the County's own publications. The July 2026 guideline says new residential structures and improvements that increase square footage or value by more than 50% 'shall be constructed to the International Residential Code (IRC) published as of May 1, 2008, or the version of the IRC applicable to City of Fort Worth'. The Engineering Services web page covering the same rule says International Building Code (IBC) instead. Either way it is self-certified by the builder, applies only to builders building for resale, and a rooftop PV retrofit does not meet the >50% trigger. 85% · county guideline vs department page
• Which fire code edition is in force? Tarrant County Fire Code — adopted 5 Jun 2018 (Court Order 127763), effective 1 Aug 2018, amended 11 Nov 2025 (Court Order 146355) effective 1 Jan 2026. Internally inconsistent on edition: Ch. 2 adopts the International Fire Code 2015 Edition and recognises the IBC 2015 Edition, while Addendum 1 states the amendments are to the International Fire Code 2021 Edition and that 'all other provisions of the International Fire Code, 2021 Edition apply as stated'. Scope excludes one- and two-family dwellings. 80% · adopted fire code (amended eff. 1 Jan 2026)
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes — Addendum 1 to the Tarrant County Fire Code is a set of local amendments to the IFC (IFC 102.5 'Application of residential code' deleted in its entirety; amendments at 112.4, 202, 307.4.3, 308.1.4, 308.1.6.3, 503.2.1, 503.2.3, 503.3, 505.1, 807 and others). None of them touches solar PV, photovoltaic systems, or energy storage. 90% · adopted fire code
• What is the installation judged against? Nothing enforced by Tarrant County. In practice the installation is judged against (a) the NEC as the statewide electrical code under Tex. Occ. Code ch. 1305, enforced through electrician licensing rather than by any local inspector, and (b) Oncor's interconnection requirements — UL 1741 utility-interactive inverter certification, a visible lockable AC disconnect, and the Oncor placard specification. 78% · utility installer page + Tex. Occ. Code ch. 1305

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? None imposed by Tarrant County on a one- or two-family dwelling. The Tarrant County Fire Code defines 'Building' as a commercial establishment, public building, or multifamily dwelling of four or more units, so single-family roofs are outside its construction-permit scope entirely; and the code contains no solar access-pathway or ridge-setback provision for any occupancy. 85% · adopted fire code

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? Not required or verified by Tarrant County — it adopts no NEC edition applicable to a single-family dwelling and inspects nothing. Rapid shutdown reaches the installation only through the NEC as the statewide electrical code (NEC 690.12), whose current Texas edition I could not confirm. 65% · adopted fire code + Tex. Occ. Code §1305.101

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? None from the County. All placard requirements here are the utility's: Oncor requires caution/warning placards on all distributed generation projects to alert its employees to a potential alternate source of power, mounted on the visible AC disconnect. 80% · utility placard guideline (rev. 01/03/2012)
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No for the County. Oncor supplies example wording rather than mandated wording — Class 1: 'CAUTION / POWER TO THIS SERVICE IS ALSO SUPPLIED FROM ON-SITE SOLAR/WIND GENERATION / AC SYSTEM DISCONNECT', or 'Caution / Alternate Power Supply / AC System Disconnect'. Class 2 adds a direction line, e.g. 'DISCONNECT LOCATED ON WEST WALL OF THIS STRUCTURE'. Class 3: 'CAUTION / POWER TO THIS SERVICE IS ALSO SUPPLIED FROM ON-SITE PHOTOVOTAIC GENERATION / SEE MAP FOR LOCATION OF MAIN AC DISCONNECT'. 80% · utility placard guideline
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? No letter height and no colour specified by either the County or Oncor. Material is specified by Oncor: colour cast acrylic, or sticker-type material if outdoor-rated and 'of similar specifications as required in the National Electric Code'; both must carry a UV inhibitor rated for exterior use. Where acrylic is used the customer must also supply the operating technician double-sided exterior adhesive tape, minimum 1 inch wide, VHB type — preferred brand 3M Scotch VHB family, 4956, 4941, 4936 or 4926. 85% · utility placard guideline
• Is a site plan / facility map placard required, and what must it show? Only in Oncor's Class 3 case — a pad-mounted-transformer or high-voltage point of delivery, or a DG system remote from the Oncor meter. The site map must show: (1) location of the Oncor meter and Oncor delivery equipment; (2) location of the generator's main AC disconnect; (3) facility address; (4) north indicator and basic street and building layout; (5) a map title, example 'Solar System Disconnecting Means'. Three sets are requested — one for existing Oncor equipment, one held for future replacement of that equipment, one for the customer's main equipment — with the contractor furnishing placards and adhesive tape, and Oncor's own operations group mounting them on Oncor equipment. Typically not triggered on an overhead-fed single-family home. 85% · utility placard guideline
• Does the UTILITY specify placards beyond the AHJ's? Yes — entirely. Since Tarrant County requires no placards at all, 100% of the labelling obligation on a job in unincorporated Tarrant County is the utility's. Oncor sets three classes by the distance and arrangement of the visible AC disconnect relative to its meter, and asks for proofs of the placards to be submitted with the interconnection application. 80% · utility placard guideline
• Where must the labels be placed? On the visible AC disconnect — explicitly not on the Oncor meter. Class 1 (disconnect within 10 feet of the Oncor meter): one placard on the disconnect. Class 2 (disconnect more than 10 feet away): a placard on the disconnect and an additional placard at the Oncor meter location naming the wall the disconnect is on. Class 3: placards on Oncor's delivery equipment and identical placards on the customer's main equipment, plus, where fed from an Oncor pad-mounted transformer, a further pre-drilled caution placard attached to the secondary cables inside the transformer so it survives a transformer swap. 88% · utility placard guideline

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? Oncor requests the visible, lockable AC disconnect on an exterior wall close to the Oncor meter, ideally within 10 feet of it (Class 1). It must have a visual break appropriate to the voltage, be accessible to utility personnel, and be capable of being locked in the open position. Where the DG is fed from a sub-breaker under the main breaker, Oncor's expectation is that the sub-breaker stubs back out to an outside wall into a visible lockable disconnect by the meter and only then runs to an alternate location; a remote disconnect is 'only in unusual circumstances' and triggers the Class 2 double-placard treatment. 88% · utility placard guideline
• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? Not by the County. Oncor: a 'certified' system means an inverter-based system tested and certified to UL 1741 Utility Interactive; a system that does not meet UL 1741 is treated as non-certified and takes a slower, variable review path. 80% · utility installer page
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Yes, with no county condition published. Tarrant County imposes no permit, siting rule or fire condition on a residential ESS: the Fire Code's scope excludes one- and two-family dwellings and the code contains no energy-storage provision at all. Oncor's condition: if the battery operates in parallel with the utility for any length of time, an interconnection agreement is required. 70% · adopted fire code + fee schedule + utility installer page
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? No 60% · fire code fee schedule
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? Not as a permitted structure — there is no building permit and no structural review. But the County's setback rule does apply to it: 'any building or structure should not be located within 25 feet from the edge of the right-of-way of any County Road or within 50 feet from the edge of the right-of-way of any State highway.' A ground mount near a county road or state highway must respect those distances. 80% · county development guideline
• Is there a local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing? None. Tarrant County publishes no local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing. 80% · adopted fire code + county guideline
• Is a specific mounting system or attachment spacing required? None. No mounting system or attachment spacing requirement is published by the County. 80% · development regulations manual + fire code

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.

• How is an inspection booked? N/A — no county inspection of residential solar is booked, by any channel. The County states it has no authority to perform building inspections on residences. 88% · department page
• How much notice is required? N/A — no county inspection. 85% · department page

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 — Tarrant County performs no final solar inspection, and has no authority to. 92% · department page + county guideline
• If delegated, to whom? Not delegated — no third party inspects on the County's behalf for residential solar. The nearest analogue is a different regime: for new homes built for resale, Tex. Loc. Gov't Code ch. 233 subch. F requires the builder to hire inspectors and self-report to the County; that does not extend to a PV retrofit. Oncor reviews and issues Permission To Operate, but that is an interconnection approval, not a code inspection. 78% · department page + utility DG pages

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 from the County. The only sequence that exists is Oncor's interconnection sequence (see q23), ending in a PTO letter. 80% · department page + utility DG page
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? No 80% · department page

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 85% · department pages
• What must be on site at inspection? Nothing required on site by the County — there is no county visit. Oncor's process is document-based via the DG portal, with the signed tariff application and interconnection agreement held by the parties. 75% · department page + utility DG page
• Does the inspector verify labels and listings? No county inspector exists to verify anything. Label verification here is the utility's: Oncor requests proofs of the placards for review with the interconnection application, and for Class 3 installs its operations group approves the placard installation and communicates acceptance to the Oncor Distribution Specialist after a site visit. 75% · utility placard guideline

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 from the County — it states expressly that it does not issue Certificates of Occupancy for residential homes, and there is no final, green tag or letter. The operative sign-off on the job is Oncor's Permission To Operate letter, issued to both customer and installer once the interconnection agreement is signed by all parties. 85% · county guideline + utility DG page
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? Installer. There is no AHJ in the loop at all: the installer sends the customer the tariff application, submits the project via Oncor's DG portal, and Oncor issues the PTO letter direct to customer and installer. No county sign-off feeds into it. 88% · utility DG page
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $0 — no county re-inspection fee applies to residential solar, because no inspection occurs. For contrast, the Fire Marshal's schedule charges re-inspections after the second re-inspection at 50% of total cost, on commercial and multifamily work only. 82% · fire code permit fee schedule
• How are corrections issued and cleared? N/A at county level — no county corrections process for residential solar. Corrections, if any, come back through Oncor's interconnection application review in the DG portal. 72% · utility installer page