Key takeaways
- Texas adopts the NEC statewide. TDLR names the 2023 NEC as the current minimum; the cycle moves to the 2026 NEC on September 1, 2026.
- Cities amend on top of that floor. Dallas enforces the 2020 NEC with Dallas amendments; Austin runs the 2024 ICC family.
- ERCOT does not interconnect small distributed generation. Your TDSP does: Oncor, CenterPoint Energy, AEP Texas, Austin Energy or CPS Energy, each with its own disconnect rule.
- Wind governs the structural sheet. Houston requires a hazard printout for the ASCE 7 edition referenced by the adopted building code, and instant permitting stops at 140 mph basic design wind speed.
- Drafting turnaround is 2-3 business days standard, 1-2 business days on Fast Roof. That is our drafting time, not AHJ plan review time.
Texas solar permitting splits three ways. The electrical code is set statewide by TDLR, the building code and submittal format are set city by city, and interconnection is run by your utility rather than by ERCOT. A plan set that satisfies one of those three authorities and ignores the other two is the plan set that comes back marked up.
That is why Texas solar plan sets cannot be drawn from a national template. Below is what actually changes between jurisdictions, sourced from the agencies and utilities that publish the rules.
Dallas has its own set of these problems, and three pages cover them: Dallas solar plan sets for the deliverable and turnaround, Dallas permit design for the submittal package and the city’s unresolved code cycle, and Dallas design and drafting for the electrical and structural side.
Which NEC cycle applies to a Texas solar plan set?
Texas is a state-adoption state for electrical code, which is unusual and simplifies part of your life. Under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1305, Section 1305.101(a)(2) requires that after the NFPA publishes a new National Electrical Code every three years, the state adopt the revised edition as the electrical code for Texas.
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation identifies the 2023 NEC, as it existed on August 25, 2022, as the adopted state electrical code, effective September 1, 2023. Under that same triennial requirement, Texas’s forthcoming cycle moves to the 2026 NEC, with an effective date of September 1, 2026. Draft in the back half of 2026 and you are working across a cycle boundary, so the sheet set must state which edition it was designed to.
The catch is Section 1305.201(c), which lets municipalities adopt procedures for local amendments to the NEC, and Section 1305.201(e), which sets the state code as the minimum standard in unincorporated areas. A city can therefore carry an older adopted chapter or bolt amendments onto the current one. Dallas Building Inspection lists the 2020 National Electrical Code with Dallas Amendments, effective June 13, 2022, alongside the 2021 IBC and 2021 IRC effective May 12, 2023. Fort Worth lists the 2023 NEC effective March 1, 2023, with the 2021 IBC and IRC and, notably, the 2015 IECC.
The honest answer to “which NEC?” in Texas is: the state edition, unless the city says otherwise, and the cover sheet must name it. For article-level detail on how 2023 NEC Articles 690, 705 and 706 interact on a PV and storage design, see our explainer on NEC solar and storage rules.
How do Texas cities differ on solar submittals?
Building code, submittal format and who may pull the permit are municipal decisions, and the four largest solar markets have made four different sets of them. Houston publishes a solar PV plan review list that names the stack outright: 2021 IRC or 2021 IBC, not both, plus the 2023 NEC, 2021 IFC, 2021 IEBC and 2021 IECC, with Houston amendments. The minimum package is a cover sheet with code analysis, a site plan, a scaled roof plan showing array layout, penetrations and anchorage, structural calculations sealed by a Texas PE, an electrical set built to 2023 NEC Article 690, spec sheets bearing listing-lab marks, and roof layout per 2021 IFC Section 1205.
San Antonio handles PV through Development Services Information Bulletin 153 and the BuildSA portal, and the applicant must be a state-licensed master electrician. It references the 2024 ICC codes with city amendments and requires a site plan, a roof plan with clearances per 2024 IFC 1205.2 and 1205.3, and single-line or three-line diagrams carrying conductor sizes, voltages, amperage and overcurrent protection.
Austin is a two-desk town: the city permit and the municipal utility review are separate tracks that both must clear. Austin Development Services lists the 2024 IBC, IRC, IFC and IECC effective July 10, 2025, with the NEC on the state schedule. Dallas sits on an older adopted electrical chapter than the state floor, which is exactly what turns a clean submittal into a correction cycle. We have covered the solar permitting nuances that catch out-of-state crews, and why solar permits get rejected.
| Jurisdiction | Permit authority | Adopted electrical code | Utility and a key requirement | Structural / wind requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | Houston Permitting Center, Houston Public Works | 2023 NEC with Houston amendments, with 2021 IRC or 2021 IBC | CenterPoint Energy: AC disconnect must be within 10 feet of the CenterPoint meter | Hazard tool printout for the ASCE 7 edition referenced by the adopted building code required in the submittal; PE-sealed structural calculations |
| Dallas | City of Dallas Building Inspection | 2020 NEC with Dallas Amendments, effective June 13, 2022 | Oncor: separate visible, lockable, labeled AC disconnect between meter and all generation; molded-case breakers not accepted | 2021 IBC and 2021 IRC with Dallas amendments, effective May 12, 2023 |
| San Antonio | San Antonio Development Services, BuildSA; applicant must be a state-licensed master electrician | 2024 ICC codes with city amendments | CPS Energy: IEEE 1547-2018 and UL 1741 compliance; lockable visible-break manual disconnect | Texas PE calculations once the array exceeds 6 lb/sq ft on a roof shallower than 4:12 |
| Austin | Austin Development Services plus Austin Energy review | NEC on the state cycle; 2026 edition effective September 1, 2026 | Austin Energy: DGPA required for every interconnection; PE-sealed drawings at 25 kW and above | 2024 IBC and IRC effective July 10, 2025; building permit triggered by non-parallel mounting |
Does ERCOT approve solar interconnections in Texas?
No, and it is worth stating precisely because it gets repeated wrong. ERCOT is the grid operator for most of the state, not the interconnection authority for the residential and small commercial systems you are drafting.
ERCOT defines distributed generation as a facility at a customer’s point of common coupling rated ten megawatts or less and connected at 60 kV or below. Units at or below the registration threshold, currently 1 MW, do not register with ERCOT at all. Above that, some DG registers as a Distribution Generation Resource or a Settlement Only Distribution Generator. In every case ERCOT points the owner back to the same place: complete interconnection requirements with the host transmission and distribution service provider, which also owns metering and reporting.
Your TDSP is. Oncor, revised May 1, 2025, requires a single separate visible lockable labeled AC disconnect between the Oncor meter and all sources of distributed generation, with an external handle, lockable, on an accessible exterior wall. Molded-case breakers are explicitly not acceptable. Oncor wants a layout sketch with a north arrow and the ESI ID, a one-line diagram, the disconnect-to-meter distance called out on both drawings, and Class 1 placard proofs within 10 feet or Class 2 or 3 proofs beyond it.
CenterPoint Energy, serving the Houston area, takes the stricter line in its small-scale DER documentation: the AC disconnect must be within 10 feet of the CenterPoint meter, with a one-line diagram labeling the disconnect, utility meter and generation equipment. CPS Energy’s distributed generation manual requires IEEE Standard 1547-2018 and UL 1741 compliance, allows certified equipment up to 50 kW AC, and requires a manual disconnect with a visual break, accessible to CPS Energy personnel and lockable open. Austin Energy, revision 14.0 dated March 31, 2025, tiers its process below 25 kW, 25 to 499 kW, and 500 kW up to 10 MW, requires a Distributed Generation Planning Application for every interconnection, requires drawings sealed by a Texas PE at 25 kW and above, and requires inverters certified to UL 1699B, UL 1741 and IEEE 1547 running default IEEE 1547-2018 settings.
Four utilities, four disconnect rules, four drawing packages. That belongs on the plan set the first time, separating a sheet set that is ready to submit from one that is merely drawn.
How do Texas wind loads change the structural sheet?
A ground mount outside Lubbock and a flush array in Corpus Christi are not the same engineering problem, and the plan set has to show which one you solved.
Houston publishes no single citywide mph figure. Its solar plan review requirements send the designer to 2021 IRC Table R301.2(1) footnote n for residential work or 2021 IBC Section 1609.3 for commercial, run the site coordinates through the hazard tool for the ASCE 7 edition referenced by the adopted building code, and attach the printed result to the submittal. A package without it is incomplete on arrival.
The sharpest illustration of how much wind matters here comes from Houston’s own instant-permitting program. The Houston Permitting Center states that projects located where the basic wind speed design is 140 mph or greater are not eligible for the automated path. Wind-borne debris territory gets a human plan reviewer. Contractors must also be licensed by the State of Texas, registered with the City of Houston, and registered as an installer.
On the coast there is a second, separate regime. The Texas Department of Insurance runs a windstorm inspection program for the seacoast territory, and its adopted codes page lists the 2018 IRC and 2018 IBC as the standards a structure must be certified to, effective September 1, 2020, with wind speed determined per structure using the ATC hazards tool and the hazard tool for the ASCE 7 edition referenced by the adopted building code. AEP Texas, the TDSP headquartered in Corpus Christi, sits inside that territory. On the seacoast counties, the structural sheet and attachment schedule carry an insurance consequence, not only a code one.
San Antonio’s 6 pounds per square foot and 4:12 slope trigger is the other pattern worth memorizing: a threshold that quietly converts a routine residential job into an engineered one. That is usually when installers call us about engineering stamps, and we have written up when a PE stamp applies. Racking on open land follows different load paths again, which is why ground mount plan sets are their own product.
What does a submittal-ready Texas plan set contain?
Read those four jurisdictions side by side and the common denominator is obvious. Cover sheet with a code analysis naming the adopted edition. Site plan with structures, setbacks and service location. Roof plan to scale with array layout, penetrations, anchorage and IFC Section 1205 access pathways for the IFC edition that jurisdiction has adopted. Structural calculations and, where triggered, sheets sealed by an engineer licensed in Texas. A one-line or three-line diagram with conductor sizes, voltages, ampacities, overcurrent protection, inverter specs and grounding. Equipment cut sheets carrying listing-lab marks. Placard details. Then the utility layer: the disconnect dimensioned from the meter, the ESI ID where the TDSP asks for it, and interconnection drawings matching the permit drawings exactly.
Two deserve emphasis. First, the utility drawing and the AHJ drawing have to describe the same system; Oncor states flatly that all drawings must accurately reflect the system that is actually installed. Second, the field data has to be right before drafting begins, which is why we publish a site survey checklist. A full breakdown of the deliverable is in what a plan set includes, and commercial scopes add a layer again, covered under commercial solar PV designs.
What changes for Texas installers on September 1, 2026?
Two things land on the same date, unrelated except in the calendar.
The first is the code cycle. The statewide electrical code moves from the 2023 NEC to the 2026 NEC on September 1, 2026, and cities on the state schedule move with it. Austin’s technical codes page already lists the 2026 NEC with that effective date, and Fort Worth, which adopted the 2023 NEC on March 1, 2023, is proposing to adopt the 2026 NEC effective the same date, with a draft amendment out for comment. Expect a stretch where in-flight projects were designed to one edition and reviewed under another.
The second is licensing. Senate Bill 1036, passed by the 89th Texas Legislature and effective September 1, 2025, brought residential solar retail sales under TDLR at Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1806. Beginning September 1, 2026, residential solar retailers and salespersons must be registered with the department. The contract rules already applied from September 2025: no misleading performance or cost statements, a five-day cancellation right, and installation performed by a licensed electrical contractor. Nonresidential property, multifamily buildings of four or more units, and systems under 1 kW peak sit outside that scope.
Neither changes what a good drawing set looks like. Both change what must be named on it and who may sign for the work.
How Avila Solar handles Texas work
We are an outsourced drafting partner for solar installers. You send the site data; we return a complete, code-compliant, stamped-where-required sheet set built to the adopted cycle for that jurisdiction and to that utility’s interconnection drawing requirements. Standard turnaround is 2-3 business days from a complete intake. Fast Roof runs 1-2 business days. Those are drafting windows only. AHJ plan review and utility application timelines are set by the AHJ and the utility, and no drafting service controls them.
Pricing depends on scope and complexity — current figures are on the solar plan sets page. The work is built for businesses, and every business is exempt from the development and consultancy fee — solar installers, EPC firms, engineering firms, architects, developers and general contractors alike. That fee applies only to homeowners handling their own project. Avila Solar Drafting does not accept projects in APS or SRP territory in Arizona, the cities of Peoria and Phoenix, or Los Angeles County (LABD) in California. Everything in Texas is in scope, from a single-family reroof-and-mount to multi-building commercial portfolios.
FAQ
Which NEC edition should a Texas solar plan set be designed to?
TDLR identifies the 2023 NEC, as it existed on August 25, 2022, as the adopted statewide electrical code, effective September 1, 2023, and the statewide cycle moves to the 2026 NEC on September 1, 2026. Municipalities may adopt local amendments under Texas Occupations Code Section 1305.201, so check the city chapter too: Dallas lists the 2020 NEC with Dallas Amendments, effective June 13, 2022.
Does ERCOT approve residential solar interconnections?
No. ERCOT is the grid operator, not the interconnection authority for small distributed generation. ERCOT defines distributed generation as ten megawatts or less at a customer’s point of common coupling, connected at 60 kV or below, and states that units at or below its registration threshold, currently 1 MW, do not register with ERCOT. Interconnection is completed with the host transmission and distribution service provider, which also handles metering and reporting.
When does a Texas solar project need a PE stamp?
It depends on the jurisdiction and the system. San Antonio’s Information Bulletin 153 requires calculations from a Texas-licensed engineer for all commercial buildings, and for single-family or R-3 work once the array exceeds 6 pounds per square foot on a roof slope shallower than 4:12. Houston requires structural calculations and plans sealed by a Texas PE, and Austin Energy requires engineer-sealed drawings at 25 kW and above.
How do coastal Texas wind requirements affect a solar plan set?
Wind speed is determined per site, not per city. Houston directs designers to 2021 IRC Table R301.2(1) footnote n or 2021 IBC Section 1609.3, run the coordinates through the hazard tool for the ASCE 7 edition referenced by the adopted building code, and include the printout with the submittal. Houston also excludes projects from its automated permitting path where the basic wind speed design is 140 mph or greater. The Texas Department of Insurance windstorm program lists the 2018 IRC and 2018 IBC as seacoast certification standards, effective September 1, 2020.
How long does Avila Solar take to draft a Texas plan set?
Standard turnaround is 2-3 business days from a complete intake, and Fast Roof turnaround is 1-2 business days. Those windows describe our drafting time only. Municipal plan review and utility interconnection review run on the AHJ’s and the utility’s own schedules, which no drafting partner controls.
Get your next Texas plan set drafted
Send us the jurisdiction, the utility and the site data. You get back a complete, code-compliant sheet set built to the adopted cycle for that AHJ and drawn to that utility’s interconnection requirements, designed to pass first-time review.
Order online, or call and talk it through with a drafter first if the project has an unusual roof, an odd service, or a stamp question.
Or call 971-410-0655.
