Fort Worth | Plats, Permits and Fees

Fort Worth Plats, Permits and Fees: Plat Types, Replat Notice, Building Permit Fees and Impact Fees

A Fort Worth project that adds homes needs three things: a plat, the recorded map that creates legal lots; a building permit; and impact fees, one-time charges for new water, sewer and road capacity, collected before the permit is issued. This page covers each, with the fees in force from October 1, 2026 and the review times the City publishes. The Fort Worth overview gives the short version.

Who Approves Plats

The City's Platting Information page says "The City Plan Commission (CPC) is the group of citizens appointed by City Council to exercise all the powers of approval, disapproval, and vacation of plats and plans." The Development Review Committee is "the group of City staff that assists" it. Under the Subdivision Ordinance, Chapter 31 of the City Code, the Commission may delegate construction plan decisions and some waivers to the Development Services Director, and a 2021 amendment (M&C 21-0698) let the director conditionally approve plats. In practice most plats with no waiver are "administratively approved by the Plan Commission's Executive Secretary," a staff role the director fills.

The platting page lists the steps: a pre-application review, then the application, letter of authorization and plat uploaded to Accela, the City's online permit system. Before some plats can be accepted, "IPRC plans approved" and "CFA application accepted" are needed. IPRC is the Infrastructure Plan Review Center, which reviews street, water and drainage plans; a CFA is a Community Facilities Agreement, the contract under which the developer builds public improvements. The Development Review Committee hears applications with a waiver request, and those that need a conditional approval for items that will take longer than the 30 days allowed for administrative approval. The 30 days come from Local Government Code 212.009, which requires a decision on a filed plat "within 30 days after the date the plat is filed."

Plat Types

• Concept plan. Not recorded. Required when preliminary plats come in stages and the owner's contiguous land is "greater than one square mile (640) acres."
• Preliminary plat. Not recorded; approved by the City Plan Commission before a final plat. "A preliminary plat is not required if there is no dedication or construction of public or private streets required for access and if four (4) or fewer lots are to be platted."
• Final plat. Conforms to the preliminary plat; "does not require a public hearing and is administratively approved."
• Minor plat (final short plat). "permitted for four (4) or fewer lots that have not been previously platted and recorded," each lot fronting an existing public street and meeting the zoning lot size.
• Replat. Redraws lots on land already platted. It "does not vacate the previous plat of record" and may not change covenants.
• Amending and correction plats. May fix errors "without public notice, a public hearing, or approval of other lot owners," under Local Government Code 212.016.
• Vacated plat. Cancels a recorded plat; it needs "a public hearing and approval of the City Plan Commission."

The platting page lists published review targets: "Plat Application: 21 calendar days or less for First review (7 calendar days or less for each subsequent review," drainage study and traffic impact study 10 business days each, and water or sewer studies 3 to 20 business days by type. A floodplain map change through FEMA, a CLOMR or LOMR, takes "270 days from FEMA First review; 15 days for City's review."

Replats: Hearing or No Hearing

Two City documents state the hearing rule for replats differently. The Subdivision Ordinance PDF, Sec. 31-42(e), says "A public hearing is required if a replat requires a waiver" and "A replat may be administratively approved if no waivers are required or requested," with written notice "to each lot owner of record within 200 feet of the lots replatted not later than the 15th day after the date the replat is approved." The platting web page instead says "A public hearing is required if additional single family or two family zoned lots are created."

State law decides. Local Government Code 212.015 covers a replat of land that in the last five years was limited "to residential use for not more than two residential units per lot." If such a replat "requires a variance or exception, a public hearing must be held," with notice 15 days ahead to owners within 200 feet in the original subdivision. If it does not, the City gives notice of the approval within 15 days. A protest by owners of "at least 20 percent of the area of the lots or land immediately adjoining the area covered by the proposed replat and extending 200 feet" means approval needs "at least three-fourths of the members present." The ordinance text matches the statute; the web page sentence does not, and the statute controls. The fee schedule prices both kinds.

Waiver requests on plats go to a Commission hearing with mailed notice to owners within 200 feet "not less than ten days prior to the date of Commission hearing," under Sec. 31-62(c) as amended in 2026.

Plat Fees From October 1, 2026

Source: Ordinance No. 26-28781, City Code Sec. 2-321, adopted September 15, 2026, in force October 1, 2026; the same figures appear on the City's platting fee sheet. Nonresidential plats are charged per acre instead. County filing fees are extra.

By VanPlex arithmetic, a replat that turns one lot into two with no hearing costs $503 plus 2 times $29.53, which is $562.06, before the $16.87 technology fee and the county filing fee. A hearing continued at the applicant's request after notice adds $709.

Building Permits

Houses, duplexes and townhouses under the residential building code use Table 1-C-3, "R USE GROUPS," which charges by new floor area. A building with three or more homes on one lot is commercial construction, as the multifamily page explains.

Source: Ordinance No. 26-28781, Chapter 7, Table 1-C-3. Above 24,500 sq ft: $8,001 plus $0.20 per sq ft.

• Third-party review. For one- and two-family homes and townhouses, when a private firm does both plan review and inspections the fee is multiplied by 35 percent; plan review alone by a firm, 70 percent; inspections alone by a firm, 55 percent.
• Other charges. A technology fee of $16.87 applies to all permits. The plan review deposit ($291 or $113) "is not required for additions and remodels to existing Group R-3 Occupancies." Expedited plan review costs a $500 application fee and $1,125 per hour.
• Timing. The Review Timeframes page lists "Residential: 7 business days" for first review comments on a building permit and "Zoning Change - 3 months."

Water and Wastewater Impact Fees

The Current Impact Fees page says the Council "adopted the new fees on June 10, 2025 with Ordinance Number 27745-06-2025" and that "The Oct. 1, 2026, costs remain in effect until the next study is completed." The fees "apply to plats recorded on or after April 1, 2017, with building permits issued on or after Oct. 1, 2026," and are set by meter size.

Source: City of Fort Worth, Current Impact Fees, table "Impact fees effective Oct. 1, 2026."

The City's water impact fee page says the fees "are assessed based on the size of the water meter installed" and that "The size of the water tap and service line supplying the meter does not affect the amount of the impact fee charged." Irrigation meters pay the water fee only. Under SB 2477, the City told the Council in August 2025, it may not charge impact fees on a building converted to housing "unless land was subject to impact fees" before.

Transportation Impact Fees

The Transportation Impact Fees page says the fees "are applied to individual building permits and collected prior to issuance of the building permit," that the ordinance was first adopted in 2008 and last amended in November 2022, and that "Transportation Impact Fees for residential developments will increase as of June 1, 2026." The fee is the number of development units, times vehicle-miles per unit, times the rate per vehicle-mile for the service area.

• Vehicle-miles per unit. The 2022 study gives 4.61 for "Single-Family Detached Housing," 2.79 for "Detached Multifamily Housing," which it describes as "1-4 rental dwelling units" and "Includes duplexes, condos, and townhomes," and 2.50 for "Multifamily Housing (Low-Rise)."
• Rates. Schedule 2, "Collection Rates effective 6/1/2026," sets residential rates at "65% of Sch 1." For an assessment date on or after November 1, 2022, the residential rate is $1,067.30 in area A, $2,033.20 in B, $3,965.65 in Z and $4,138.55 in M. Areas L and W are $0.00 because they are "largely built out with minimal growth projected."
• Example. By VanPlex arithmetic, a house in area A pays 4.61 times $1,067.30, which is $4,920.25, and each duplex unit there pays 2.79 times $1,067.30, which is $2,977.77.

Find your service area on the City's service area map before you budget. The 2025 state law SB 1883 also changed how cities review impact fees; the City's 2025 briefing says its advisory committees were reset so that "50% must represent the real estate, development, or building industries."

Park Fees and Tree Permits

Park dedication. The 2024 Park Dedication Policy defines the Central City as "the area within I-820." There, "the Developer shall pay a Central City Flat Fee per each additional detached single- family or two-family residential Dwelling Unit," and "Fees must be paid before a building permit will be issued." The fee table ends with "$1,300.00" for 2023, and the policy lets the City adjust it "on an annual basis up to the annual amount of change in the Consumer Price Index." VanPlex did not find the 2026 figure in a City document. For multifamily, the maximum fee is the number of units times a dwelling unit factor of ".005," times the average land value, divided by a density factor of 1, 4 or 40 for suburban, urban and downtown areas, collected "prior to the issuance of a final certificate of occupancy."

Trees. Sec. 31-81, as amended in 2026, says "Prior to the submission of any plat for review and approval by the City, the applicant shall apply for an urban forestry permit or a waiver from such permit." The base fee is $296 for the first five acres, and the City lists 7 business days for review. Removing a significant tree without approval carries a penalty of "$1,200/diameter inch or $30/canopy sf," by the City's urban forestry fee sheet.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Fort Worth overview and financing two to four units.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)