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Start with the exact unit and proposed use
A Certificate of Occupancy (CO) must be obtained before a covered commercial building or individual lease space is occupied. The city’s existing-building brochure excludes single-family residences and U-occupancies from its stated building-code requirement. Check the exact unit’s record and whether your operation changes the occupancy classification; changed classification requires approved plans and permits for a new CO.
Describe relevant storage, chemicals, powered equipment and public access. The city lists building, fire, food and other reviews, but that does not make every permit mandatory for every business.
Apply through the existing-building inspection route
The city’s CE-1278 brochure directs an existing-building or lease-space applicant to email form CE1045A or CE1045B to Occupancy.Inspections@houstontx.gov, or submit the documents in person at the Houston Permitting Center. It lists the supporting declaration, current Texas or U.S. photo identification, full business address and telephone number, approximate area and floors, and present/proposed and previous business type if known. A new business must give its name. Multiple-building sites need the specified site map; apartments need building and unit counts.
The inspection team records discrepancies. Its report identifies structural, electrical, mechanical or plumbing corrections and whether separate permits are needed before work. The brochure gives 180 days to obtain required permits and complete corrections. An owner or agent may obtain a required structural permit; electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits require a licensed contractor. Only the permit holder or licensed contractor can request inspections for that permitted work.
Budget for the inspection as well as the certificate
The 2026 fee schedule lists $537.12 for the first-story Certificate of Occupancy or life-safety inspection category. The January 2026 application separately lists a $94 CO fee on all applications and says a $33.56 administration fee per application is not included. Looking only at the certificate charge can understate the opening budget.
The space changes the inspection category: additional floors or a large area can add charges. Individual retail or office spaces under 3,000 square feet in multi-tenant buildings have a separate category; its rate also changes when the inspection is performed alongside the building-core inspection. Other permitted work or a warranted investigation can add charges. Use the city’s assessment of the actual project rather than treating one listed amount as the complete bill.
Corrections and final approval come before the certificate
After repairs and final inspections are approved, the October 2024 brochure says the CO is emailed automatically to the application address; it is not mailed. Its 180-day correction period does not replace the requirement to obtain the CO before occupancy. If an existing, unmodified space’s CO cannot be located, the brochure describes obtaining a duplicate instead.
The required application category, combined charges and the city’s assessment of the actual property remain separate.
What to establish before relying on the space
Check the parcel, address and unit: the Houston metro, Harris County and City of Houston are not interchangeable. A mailing address or landlord’s account of the previous tenant does not settle the responsible authority or proposed use.
Resolve the applicable occupancy and inspection questions before relying on the date at which rent, equipment orders or customer promises create costs. You may model a delay to understand exposure, but it is not the city’s promised timetable or a legally required lease clause.
Scope
- This is the city’s CE-1278 existing-building/no-change-of-use route, the January 2026 CE-1045-A form and the named 2026 fee categories. It is not the full new-construction, changed-use or every business-opening process.
- The actual municipal boundary, use classification, other building/fire/environmental/sector permissions, required corrections and complete city invoice depend on the project. The separate multifamily CE1045B form is not reviewed here.
Next step
Obtain the exact unit’s current CO and ask which approvals your proposed use requires before relying on the lease/opening plan.
Sources & review notes
City of Houston
Passage, dates and research notes
official-guidance · Business permits; certificate of occupancy; inspections
Certificate of Occupancy
Read complete city body. Commercial building/individual lease-space occupancy and occupancy classification changes are the stated CO triggers. Detailed Houston Permitting Center PDFs returned 403; no fees, timelines or parcel clearance inferred. City limits are distinct from Harris County/metro.
City of Houston, Public Works / Houston Permitting Center
Passage, dates and research notes
official-guidance · Complete CE-1278 brochure, revision 10/22/2024; application and inspection panels
Once all repairs have been made and the final inspections approved
Full 157-line official PDF representation read. This is the existing-building/lease-space, no-change-of-use route. Hash covers retained multi-document reader JSON, not PDF bytes. The October 2024 brochure describes automatic certificate email after final approvals. Older June 2021 how-to sheet instead asks applicant to request printing and gives a 5-calendar-day payment-link condition; do not blend these into one current universal process. The brochure does not establish numerical fees or a processing guarantee. Named 2026 fee categories and the January2026 commercial form are reviewed separately in r1-local-houston-fees2026 and r1-local-houston-form2026; no actual project bill is determined.
City of Houston, Public Works / Houston Permitting Center
Passage, dates and research notes
official-guidance · Pages 1–2: administrative/general inspection and occupancy inspection fee tables
Certificate of Occupancy or Life Safety Inspection
Actual official PDF reader representation read for the relevant complete tables on pages 1–2. The $537.12 first-story inspection, separate $94 certificate and $33.56 administrative categories are not a universal project quote. The table has additional-story/large-area amounts, a distinct small retail/office multi-tenant category and a simultaneous building-core-inspection variant. Remaining residential construction tables are not represented as reviewed. Direct original-PDF fetch was403; hash identifies retained reader result, not PDF bytes.
City of Houston, Public Works / Occupancy Inspections Section
Passage, dates and research notes
official-guidance · Full one-page form, 95 reader lines; January 2026 revision
Administrative Fee of $33.56 per Application Not Included
Full actual official one-page form read, including business/unit/use/area/floor and applicant fields, signature declaration, email submission route and complete fee panel. The form lists the $94 CO charge as effective04/01/2022 on all applications and excludes the $33.56 administration fee from the listed amounts. That old effective-date note does not make the whole January2026 form a 2022 document. Direct original-PDF fetch was403; retained hash covers actual reader result. No actual completed application, classification, inspection outcome or invoice is determined.
Detailed rule records (1)
Houston’s official business page states that a certificate of occupancy is required before a commercial building or individual lease space is occupied or its occupancy classification changes; building and related permit work may require inspection.
Houston business planning: permits and inspections Houston CE-1278: occupancy inspections for existing buildings without changes in use Houston 2026 Building Code Enforcement permit fee schedule Houston CE-1045-A application for occupancy compliance inspection, January 2026Keep this reading in your learning library.
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