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The difference worth checking
Dallas lists tenant change on an existing Certificate of Occupancy (CO) as a new-certificate trigger. San Antonio describes an update for certain owner/lessee changes with essentially the same use, but listed categories still need a new certificate. Both describe new-CO requirements for changed business use.
For a name-only change, Dallas’s specific FAQ directs a standalone DallasNow CO application. Its currently linked fee schedule lists a $30 Record Change category separately from the general CO permit fee; the city assesses the actual submission. Multifamily properties with recorded violations instead need a new CO and building inspections. San Antonio’s linked DBA (doing business as) form requires fire review and inspection for specified uses, including repair and maintenance shops, and applies the COO-No Construction fee category. Neither the word “update” nor an application format proves that the chosen site needs no inspection or has a lower total charge.
Request the prior CO and actual operator/use facts for the chosen unit, then continue with that city’s guide. This comparison cannot choose a use classification, inspection route or opening date.
Scope
- Two-city comparison only, not a Texas-wide rule. Actual site/use, legal operator and construction/fire/trade conditions still matter. Published fee categories do not establish which charge or inspection route either city will assign to an actual request.
Next step
Use the chosen city’s guide to confirm its actual tenant/use route before relying on the former operator’s CO.
Sources & review notes
Dallas Building Inspection
Passage, dates and research notes
official-guidance · Main guidance
A change of tenant on an existing CO
Reviewed for the named tenant/use and DBA change routes only. The standalone application requirement describes the submission process; it does not assign the general CO fee to every name-only request. The DBA-only paragraph and currently linked fee schedule (r1-local-dallas-fees2025) both publish the $30 Record Change category. For multifamily uses, this option requires no recorded code violations; otherwise a new CO and building inspections apply. City staff assess the actual request, final charges and inspections. No complete municipal, county or sector survey is claimed.
San Antonio Development Services
Passage, dates and research notes
official-guidance · Main guidance
If there has been a change in occupancy or business use
Limited review of the named process; not a complete municipal, county, special-district or sector survey.
City of San Antonio Development Services Department
Passage, dates and research notes
official-guidance · Complete two-page application; Property Information listed-use fire-review condition; printed Rev 9/26
If yes, a fire review and inspection will be required
Read the complete currently linked two-page form. The listed warehouse, manufacturing, storage, retail including rack-display, repair/maintenance-shop, laboratory and hospital uses trigger the stated fire-review/inspection and COO-No Construction fee-class condition. Printed Rev 9/26 is a form revision label, not an inferred enactment/effective date. No numerical fee, actual site classification, approval or guaranteed process is established. The form also asks about changed use, related work and business-specific attachments; these are not treated as universal duties for every business.
City of Dallas, Planning and Development
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · FAQ: How do I make changes to an existing CO?; record-change paragraph
as a stand-alone CO application
Full main CO page reread. The specific FAQ supplies the standalone DallasNow application route and request description; the record-change paragraph gives the conditional DBA-only category. The currently linked original fee PDF (r1-local-dallas-fees2025) corroborates its $30 Record Change fee. A standalone application is not automatically the general CO category. The multifamily no-recorded-code-violations exception remains; the city determines actual fees, documents and inspections. No application submitted or universal inspection waiver inferred.
City of Dallas, Planning and Development
Passage, dates and research notes
official-guidance · Cover disclaimer; printed pages2 and6: general CO and Record Change fee rows
Record Change Fee
Original official PDF downloaded200 and locally extracted with pdftotext. Read the cover disclaimer and named CO/Record Change rows; $30 Record Change is a category, distinct from $375 general CO permit. The city assesses final fees at submission for the project. Do not use the fee table as universal eligibility or inspection permission. Other permit categories not represented as comprehensively reviewed.
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