Austin building permit search: new construction permits and active builders

Austin new construction by the numbers (Jan to Sep 2026)

Trade permits in the same months: 12,663 electrical, 8,634 mechanical and 11,715 plumbing. Monthly new single-family permits ranged from 150 in February to 226 in June, and September had 162.

Who is building new homes in Austin?

Contractors of record on new single-family permits, January to September 2026:

204 permits had no contractor listed, which is common when an owner pulls the permit. The rest are spread across hundreds of smaller custom builders, and that long tail is where a new sub has the best shot.

How the Austin permit process works

New homes go through the city's Residential Plan Review division, which checks plans against the Land Development Code and the 2024 International Residential Code. Applications, fees and inspections run through Austin Build + Connect (AB+C).

For a sub, the useful moment is issuance. Trade permits (electrical, mechanical, plumbing) are pulled separately, so a building permit with no trade permits yet is a job where the subs may not be set.

How to search permits in Austin, step by step

1. Open AB+C Public Search. You don't need an account.
2. If you have a permit number, use the "Search By" tab. Austin permit numbers look like 2026-012345 BP: year, six digits, then the type (BP building, EP electrical, MP mechanical, PP plumbing). The same tab takes a folder RSN, ROW ID or case number.
3. If you have an address, use the second tab. Enter the house number and street name, click Search, pick the matching address, then Continue. Abbreviate highways the city's way: IH 35, SH 71, FM 620.
4. To find new work rather than one house, leave the address blank and use the Types and Date Range fields on the same tab. You don't have to fill every field.
5. Open a result and click Detail. "People Details" shows who is on the permit, and "Related Permits" lists the trade permits tied to the building permit.

That last step is the one subs care about. If a new building permit has no EP, MP or PP under Related Permits yet, those trades probably haven't pulled permits for the job. Per the AB+C Manual, not every related case is grouped, so search the address again before you assume.

The bulk route

For a whole month at once, filter the open dataset 3syk-w9eu to permit type BP, work class "New" and permit class "R- 101 Single Family Houses". The city's disclaimer says open data may differ from official records, so confirm in AB+C before you bid. Or skip the filtering: the FirstBid Austin board does it every morning.

What's on the Austin board today

35 new single-family permits issued Aug 21, 2026 to Oct 27, 2026. Median size 4,219 SF. Busiest ZIPs: 78757 (8), 78704 (8), 78745 (4).

Five most recent permits on the board, October 29, 2026. House numbers and full permit numbers are on the board.

Trade guides

Jump straight to a trade on the board: HVAC · Electrical · Plumbing · Roofing · Solar

Questions contractors ask

Who is building new homes in Austin?

See the builder table above. It ranks contractors by new single-family permits from city data. Milestone, Brookfield, Perry Homes, Century Land Holdings and Taylor Morrison led January to September 2026.

Where can I see new construction permits in Austin?

Filter the city dataset 3syk-w9eu to permit type BP and work class New, or use the FirstBid Austin board, which lists them daily.

How do I search building permits in Austin?

Use AB+C Public Search at abc.austintexas.gov. It needs no account. You can search by property and date range. For bulk data, use the Issued Construction Permits dataset (3syk-w9eu) on data.austintexas.gov.

How many new homes were permitted in Austin in 2026?

City open data shows 1,661 new single-family house permits (class R-101) issued from January through September 2026, plus 114 two-family and 100 five-or-more-family buildings.

Who are the biggest home builders in Austin?

By new single-family permits issued January to September 2026: Milestone Community Builders (100), Brookfield Residential Texas Homes (84), Perry Homes (81), Century Land Holdings II (70) and Taylor Morrison of Texas (65).

Are Austin building permits public?

Yes. The city publishes them as open data, and the Texas Public Information Act covers requests for records that are not posted.

Do subs pull their own permits in Austin?

Yes. Electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits are issued separately from the building permit and show up as their own permit types (EP, MP, PP) in the city's data.

Other cities: Miami-Dade County, FL permits · Orlando, FL permits

Sources

1. City of Austin, AB+C Public Search. https://abc.austintexas.gov/web/permit/public-search-other
2. City of Austin Open Data, Issued Construction Permits (dataset 3syk-w9eu). https://data.austintexas.gov/d/3syk-w9eu
3. City of Austin, Austin Build + Connect (AB+C) portal. https://www.austintexas.gov/development-services/austin-build-connect-abc
4. City of Austin Development Services, Residential Plan Review. https://www.austintexas.gov/development-services/residential-plan-review
5. Office of the Texas Attorney General, Public Information Act Handbook. https://oag.state.tx.us/sites/default/files/files/divisions/open-government/publicinfo_hb.pdf