Austin Solar Plan Sets

Avila Solar Drafting produces permit-ready solar plan sets for installers working in Austin and across the surrounding jurisdictions. Standard turnaround is 2–3 business days from a complete intake, with free revisions for six months. Austin sets are built for a two-desk market: the drawings have to satisfy a City of Austin electrical permit and an Austin Energy interconnection packet, which are separate submissions with separate requirements.

Key takeaways

• 2–3 business days standard, 1–2 on Fast Roof, 1 business day where Fast Roof is paired with a Roof Order or EagleView XML.
• Free revisions for six months from the order date.
• There is no “solar permit” in Austin. The filing is an Auxiliary Power Electrical Permit, and it carries three mandatory uploads.
• Austin switches NEC editions mid-project season — 2023 NEC now, 2026 NEC from September 1, 2026 by city ordinance.
• Ground-mounted and solar-shingle systems inside city limits change the deliverable — engineer-stamped plan sets and a separate building permit, where a standard roof retrofit needs neither.

What ships in an Austin solar package

Austin does not issue a product called a solar permit. Residential and commercial PV is filed as an Auxiliary Power Electrical Permit — application type Electrical, work type Auxiliary Power — and every one of those filings carries three mandatory uploads:

• The Distributed Generation Planning Application, Austin Energy’s form, filed alongside the city permit rather than after it.
• A wire diagram and design packet — the drawing work, and the part that carries the technical burden for both desks.
• An Interconnection Agreement, now required for all residential distributed generation and for commercial systems at or above 500 kW-ac.

The design packet we deliver carries the cover sheet and code summary naming the editions the set was drawn to, the site plan with equipment locations and the service point, the roof plan with array layout by plane and fire access pathways, the electrical single-line with conductor and overcurrent sizing, grounding and the interconnection method, structural details where the scope requires them, and the placard and labelling schedule. The jurisdiction-agnostic walkthrough is on what’s in a plan set.

Where the deliverable changes: ground mount and solar shingles

One Austin distinction is worth knowing before you quote rather than after. A standard residential rooftop retrofit inside city limits does not go to plan review — commercial work does. But ground-mounted systems and solar-shingle installations inside city limits are treated differently: they require engineer-stamped plan sets, a separate building permit and a City of Austin inspection.

That is a change in scope, price and schedule triggered by a mounting decision, not by system size. We flag it at intake so the quote reflects the real deliverable. Our ground mount plan sets service covers the structural scope, and we hold seals in-house through engineering stamps so a triggered stamp does not put your schedule into someone else’s queue.

Two code editions in one project season

Austin is one of the earliest adopters of the 2026 NEC in Texas. The city adopted it by Ordinance No. 20260423-048, passed by Council on April 23, 2026, with an effective date of September 1, 2026. Until that date the 2023 NEC governs.

For anything being drawn now that is a live scheduling question rather than a footnote. A set drawn in August and reviewed in September may be looked at against a different edition than the one on its cover sheet, and label schedules in particular do not travel between cycles. We flag boundary-date Austin projects at intake and confirm with the reviewer which edition governs before the cover sheet is finalised.

Austin also runs the 2024 IBC, IRC and IECC, effective July 10, 2025, alongside the rest of the 2024 I-code family — which puts it a full building-code cycle ahead of Dallas and Houston. Worth noting on the statewide picture: the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has proposed adopting the 2026 NEC effective September 1, 2026, published in the Texas Register in March 2026, but final adoption is not yet confirmable from the codified rule. Austin’s own adoption is settled by ordinance regardless. The statewide view is on our Texas solar plan sets page.

Turnaround, and what the clock waits on

A standard Austin set is 2–3 business days. Fast Roof runs 1–2 business days, and 1 business day paired with a Roof Order or EagleView XML file. The count starts at a complete intake, which is a different moment from the order.

Complete means survey data, an equipment list with model numbers, existing service and panel details, and roof measurements. Austin adds two items worth settling at intake rather than mid-draft: whether the array is roof, ground or solar shingle, because that decides whether a stamped set and a building permit enter the scope, and the system’s AC rating, because it decides whether Austin Energy’s engineering review is triggered at all. Our site survey checklist is what our designers work from.

Revisions and the review your set passes first

Revisions stay free for six months from the order date — comment responses from either desk, equipment substitutions, and changes driven by site conditions, with no new order and no restart fee.

Before an Austin set reaches you it goes through a senior designer who did not draw it, checking code citations, sizing and consistency across sheets. We guarantee accurate solar plan sets, drawn to the electrical and building code requirements of your specific jurisdiction and designed to pass first-time review. We do not promise an approval — that belongs to the reviewer. Our pre-submittal checks are worth running against any set.

What moves the price of an Austin set

Cost tracks scope: roof complexity and plane count, whether a main panel upgrade or line-side tap is involved, whether storage is in the design, and how complete the site data is at intake. Austin’s own two levers are the mounting type, since ground mount and solar shingle pull a stamped set and a building permit into the job, and the system rating, since crossing Austin Energy’s engineering threshold changes what has to be sealed. Supplying a Roof Order or EagleView XML remains the single biggest saving on both price and speed. Current figures per product line are on the solar plan sets page.

Austin-area jurisdictions we draw for

City of Austin, unincorporated Travis County, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Pflugerville, Leander, Kyle, Buda, San Marcos, Hutto, Lakeway, Bee Cave, Dripping Springs, Manor and Elgin. Several of these sit outside Austin Energy’s service territory and run their own municipal utility or co-op interconnection rules, so both the code cycle and the utility requirements are confirmed per order. Examples of our work are in the portfolio.

Austin Solar Plan Sets FAQs

Order an Austin plan set

Two desks and a code change mid-season is a lot to track per project. We draw to the edition that will actually govern the review, build the packet both submissions need, ship in 2–3 business days, and revise free for six months.

Or call 971-410-0655 if you want a jurisdiction checked before you order. Avila Solar Drafting LLC, 11995 SW Walker Rd, Beaverton, Oregon · 971-410-0655 · info@avilasolar.com. We draft for Texas installers from our Beaverton office — there is no Texas branch.