Do You Need a Permit for a Concrete Slab in Dallas?

Not if it is flat and low. The city's list of work needing no permit includes construction of decks, platforms, walks or driveways not more than 30 inches above grade and not over any basement or story on single-family or duplex premises. Put a roof over it and the test changes: erection of patio covers with an area less than 200 square feet is also exempt at a one- or two-family home, as long as the cover stays out of the front yard and side yard setbacks. Anything larger is permit work. Dallas publishes the complete list as Chapter 52, Section 301(b) of the Dallas City Code, and that list, not a contractor's reading of it, is what an inspector works from. If your slab sits close to any of those lines, call Planning and Development on 214-948-4480 before the forms go in.

That part needs a paving permit, and you cannot pull it yourself. A permit to install paving on city property, meaning the drive approach, sidewalk, curb and gutter, will be issued to only a bonded paving contractor. Dallas Public Works separately requires a permit for any construction work within the public right-of-way, and for work outside it that will cut, break or otherwise damage the right-of-way. Right-of-Way Permit Management answers on 214-948-4290. The paving application asks for site plans drawn to scale and dimensioned with a North arrow, so settle early whether drawings are in the company's price or yours.

Anything structural. Generally a Dallas building permit is needed for work involving structural elements of a building, so a slab carrying a garage, an addition or a shed on a foundation is permit work even where a patio of the same size is not. A permitted slab then gets two inspections before any concrete arrives: a footing and foundation inspection once excavations are complete and the required reinforcing steel is in place, and a concrete slab inspection after the in-slab steel and building service equipment are in. Historic and conservation districts add their own requirements for exterior work. The slabs and foundations page covers what gets built; the general permit guide covers Plano, Frisco, Richardson and Arlington, which each run their own desk.

For the approach at the street, a bonded paving contractor, because the city issues that permit to nobody else. For a building permit, a contractor registered with Dallas in the right class, since a listed contractor without a valid city registration may not obtain any permit required for that work. The homeowner route exists and is narrow: no license is required for general building work on your own property, and the city has a Homeowner's Exemption from Contractor Registration for an owner doing the work on the house they live in, without paid help. If a company asks you to take the permit out so that it can do the work, read the warning signs in the hiring guide. How we vet our pros lists the registration checks that happen before any request is passed on.

Most residential slab permits come to an estimated $107 to $300 or more, but there is no flat city slab fee to quote. Planning and Development publishes a fee guide and a 2025 Fee Estimate Worksheet, both effective July 1, 2025, and the worksheet is where a real number for your job comes from. As of October 2025 the city went back to collecting fees early in the process instead of at three separate stages, which changes when you pay rather than what you pay. Fees can be paid in person at 320 E. Jefferson Blvd, Room 118. Budget ranges for the work itself are in the Dallas cost guide and on tear out and replace.