Finding basic rules for building house in the county in Texas

[Arti Piland]

Where can we find basic information & rules on building a house in the county in Texas?  We have already contacted local city & county officials & are finding out bits & pieces of information on building a house in the county.  First, they said there are no rules & then there was something said of a setback & then well restrictions, etc. We gathered that over several phone calls with different people of different city & county departments.  Shouldn't there be one place to find this information?  We feel that there is probably one place, whether in a book or online, where we should be able to find all construction regulations, building requirements, etc. for building a house(s) in the county.  Does anyone know where to find this regardless of what Texas county it is?

[Jon Klaus]

There is not one place to get the answers for building out in the county. Are you dong septic? You'll need a permit with the county health department, but the installer can handle that. Talk to water company. A Co-op? Electric. Oncor? Or Co-op? What kind of road? TX-DOT can tell you about driveway entrance, culvert, and setback.

Getting a soil test?  If it's your first build, I recommend engineer stamped foundation and framing plans, licensed mechanical, electrical, and plumbing.  There's no city to require inspections along the way, so your own third party inspector is good idea.

If you don't want to mess with all this personally, get a GC with strong references.