Verified against the city’s published rules · page updated October 21, 2026 · rules change — confirm with the city before applying
In El Paso (El Paso County), a homeowner can pull a building permit for work on the home they live in, but not the electrical permit. That goes to a contractor holding a TDLR Electrical Contractor license and registered with the city. Everything below is from the city’s code, fee schedule, forms and pages, with dates, plus the Texas Occupations Code.
The City of El Paso Planning & Inspections Department issues electrical permits inside the city limits, through its One Stop Shop.
The One Stop Shop is at 811 Texas Ave., El Paso, TX 79901. Its published number is (915) 212-0104, and its email is osshelp@elpasotexas.gov. The department page lists call center hours of Monday to Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Lobby hours start at 8:00 a.m.
Applications, status checks and invoices run through the city’s Citizen Access Portal, an Accela site at aca-prod.accela.com/elpaso. The department page links it as “Apply for Permit, Apps. Status, Invoices & More.”
The state electrical licensing law, Chapter 1305 of the Texas Occupations Code, gives counties no electrical permitting role and does not mention them. Section 1305.201(d) says electrical work inside a city’s limits “must be installed in accordance with all applicable local ordinances,” and §1305.201(e) says work in an unincorporated area must meet standards “at least as stringent as the requirements of the state electrical code.” This page covers addresses inside the city limits of El Paso (El Paso County) only.
The rules are in Title 18 of the city code. Chapter 18.02 is the administrative code and Chapter 18.16 the electrical code, both rewritten by Ordinance 019528, adopted August 1, 2023.
Installing, altering, repairing or replacing any electrical system needs a permit first.
Section 18.02.105.1 says anyone who wants to “erect, install, enlarge, alter, repair, remove, convert or replace any electrical” system must “first make application to the building official and obtain the required permit for the work.” Section 18.02.105.4 makes electrical a separate subcontractor permit from the building permit.
The department’s one-page flyer, “When Do I Need a Permit?” (file dated May 2019), lists what needs no permit. The electrical item is “Replacement of any switch, receptacle, fuse, fan, light fixture or similar equipment that does not alter mechanical, electrical or plumbing systems.” Swapping a fixture is on that list. Adding a circuit or changing a panel is not.
Starting early costs more. A contractor who begins residential electrical work before the permit pays “three hundred percent of the established permit fee” (§18.02.106.29). A homeowner who does the same pays 200% (§18.02.106.30). Neither payment stops prosecution under the code.
No. El Paso issues homestead permits for building work, but trade permits go only to registered contractors.
Section 18.02.105.29.1 lets an owner act as their own general contractor on the house they live in. One condition is that the owner “provides proof that all electrical, plumbing, mechanical or irrigation work shall be performed by contractors registered with the department.” The next line reads: “Permits for trades will only be issued to contractors licensed by the state and registered with the city.”
The city’s flyer says the same: “With the exception of irrigation work, only a contractor registered with the City may be issued a trade permit.” The older Homeowner’s Affidavit (revised June 17, 2016) is blunter. It says a homeowner “may NOT obtain mechanical, electrical, plumbing, irrigation, and/or fire systems permits” unless licensed by the state and registered with the city.
State law exempts an owner who lives in the dwelling only for work “not specifically regulated by a municipal ordinance” (Tex. Occ. Code §1305.003(a)(6)). El Paso’s ordinance regulates this work. If you own the house, your part is choosing the electrician.
Your electrician needs a TDLR Electrical Contractor license and an annual registration with the city, and the city charges nothing to register.
Texas requires a license from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) to perform or offer electrical work (§1305.151). TDLR says a business “must employ a licensed Master Electrician to apply for an Electrical Contractor license.” You can check any name on TDLR’s license search, or read how to look up a Texas electrical license.
El Paso adds registration. Section 18.02.104.2 says contractors “shall file an annual registration application with the department to be eligible to apply for and obtain permits.” Section 18.02.104.6 bars electrical contracting without a master electrician’s license or a full-time master electrician on staff.
The city’s Contractor Registration Requirements sheet (Rev. 07/2024) lists four items for an electrical contractor: assumed name or corporate documents, the application, the Electrical Contractor license and the Master Electrician license. It adds: “TDLR Master Electrician profile must reflect your business name on the TDLR website.” The code also asks electrical contractors for copies of their bond and liability insurance policies (§18.02.104.2), which the sheet does not list. A registered contractor “may not obtain a permit on behalf of an unregistered contractor” (§18.02.105.21).
Texas Occupations Code §1305.201(f) reads: “A municipality or region may not collect a permit fee, registration fee, administrative fee, or any other fee from an electrician who holds a license issued under this chapter for work performed in the municipality or region. This subsection does not prohibit a municipality or region from collecting a building permit fee.” El Paso’s code exempts electrical contractors from its registration fee “Pursuant to the State Occupations Codes,” and the requirements sheet says “No Annual Fee.” The city does charge the permit fees below, and this page does not decide how they fit the statute.
Find TDLR-licensed electrical contractors filed in El Paso County. See the other Texas city electrical permit guides.
El Paso’s FY 2027 Schedule C lists a $110 base fee with item charges and a separate valuation table, and does not say which one prices a job on an existing house.
These lines are from the city’s FY 2027 Schedule C, Departmental Fee List, linked from the department’s Forms & Docs page. City Council adopted it with the FY 2027 budget on August 18, 2026, for the fiscal year that began September 1, 2026:
Each line adds an “applicable technology fee.” Schedule C sets that fee at “4.5% of the application fee.”
The same schedule also has a valuation table under “Electrical Permits,” starting at $76 for work over $1,000 up to $6,000. It says the item fees apply to “ordinary minor repairs costing under $1,000.00 or jobs without building permits.” It does not say plainly which table prices a stand-alone job on an existing house, and we give no total. Ask the One Stop Shop at (915) 212-0104 for the total before you budget.
Your electrician schedules inspections through the city’s automated inspection line.
Section 18.02.107.1 says the building official inspects “upon notification from the permit holder or his agent.” The city’s inspection line, 915-313-6100, runs 24 hours a day. The caller needs the permit number, the inspection code and the first six digits of an authorization code “established when your contractor registration was completed,” so in practice the contractor books it.
The city’s code sheet (file last updated September 2022) lists the electrical steps. They include 300 temporary service, 345 slab, 305 underground, 340 rough, 310 service release and 320 final.
A failed or not-ready inspection brings the $100 re-inspection fee (§18.02.106.27). Schedule C lists inspections outside business hours at “$127 (Two Hour Minimum),” and the building official must approve them first (§18.02.107.10). A permit expires if the holder goes six months without calling for and receiving an inspection (§18.02.105.23).
El Paso enforces the 2020 National Electrical Code with local amendments (§18.16.020). The department’s Currently Adopted Codes list, a file dated October 2025, also names the 2020 NEC.
Panel changes carry a local rule on the outside disconnect, and generators and solar have their own fee lines.
We report what the city and state texts say, and we did not confirm anything with the city by phone.
We do not state which fee table prices a stand-alone residential permit or give a permit total. The no-permit list comes from a 2019 flyer. We do not say how the city’s permit fees fit §1305.201(f).
License and permit information from the City of El Paso and the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, read September 29, 2026. Neither this site nor the information as presented here is endorsed by the State of Texas or any state agency.
Every figure on this page comes from one of the documents below, each published by the body that sets, measures or administers the thing it describes. We record the document’s own date and the date we read it, because published pages change without notice.
| Source | Document date | We read it |
|---|---|---|
| City of El Paso Municipal Code, Title 18, Chapter 18.02, Building and Construction Administrative Code (§§18.02.104.2, 18.02.104.6, 18.02.105.1, 18.02.105.4, 18.02.105.21, 18.02.105.23, 18.02.105.29.1, 18.02.105.29.2, 18.02.106.27, 18.02.106.29, 18.02.106.30, 18.02.107.1, 18.02.107.10), official Municode text | Ch. 18.02 as amended in its entirety by Ord. No. 019528, adopted August 1, 2023; code codified through Ord. No. 019889, enacted June 23, 2026 (Supp. No. 95, Update 4, online August 26, 2026) | 2026-09-29 |
| City of El Paso Municipal Code, Title 18, Chapter 18.16, Electrical Code (§§18.16.020, 18.16.110), official Municode text | Ord. No. 019528, adopted August 1, 2023; same code supplement as above | 2026-09-29 |
| City of El Paso, FY 2027 Schedule C, Departmental Fee List (Planning & Inspections lines 449, 458 to 460, 502 to 544, 630, 765; Information Technology lines 2402 to 2408), scanned PDF read by OCR and checked against page images | column headed ‘FY 2027 Adopted Fees’; page footers read ‘FY 2027 Proposed’ (budget-book page numbering) and ‘(As amended on 08/18/2026)’; PDF title ’27. Budget Reso Fy26-27.pdf’ (agenda item 27 of August 18, 2026); PDF created August 27, 2026, modified September 3, 2026 | 2026-09-29 |
| City of El Paso, FY 2027 Budget Resolution (City Council regular meeting August 18, 2026, agenda item 27, file 26-0916, ‘Approved as Revised’; paragraph 43 on Schedule C) and news release ‘City Council Adopts FY 2027 Budget’ (08/18/2026) | resolution adopted August 18, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning September 1, 2026; news release at https://www.elpasotexas.gov/assets/Press-Releases/2026.08.18-NEWS-RELEASE_City-Council-Adopts-FY-2027-Budget.pdf | 2026-09-29 |
| City of El Paso Planning & Inspections, department home page (One Stop Shop contact, hours, Citizen Access Portal link) | undated city web page; hours marked ‘Effective Oct 30 2023’ | 2026-09-29 |
| City of El Paso Planning & Inspections, Forms & Docs | undated city web page | 2026-09-29 |
| City of El Paso Planning & Inspections, When Do I Need a Permit? (one-page flyer, image PDF read from the page image) | undated on its face; PDF created May 15, 2019 | 2026-09-29 |
| City of El Paso Planning & Inspections, Homeowner’s Affidavit for Building Permit and Homeowner Information Sheet | marked ‘Revised: 06/17/2016’; not linked from the current Forms & Docs page | 2026-09-29 |
| City of El Paso Planning & Inspections, Contractor Registration Requirements | marked ‘Rev. 07/2024’ | 2026-09-29 |
| City of El Paso Planning & Inspections, Contractor Registration Application | undated form | 2026-09-29 |
| City of El Paso Planning & Inspections, Currently Adopted Codes and Amendments | undated on its face; PDF created October 2, 2025 | 2026-09-29 |
| City of El Paso Planning & Inspections, Permitting IVR Inspection Line and Inspection Codes | undated on its face; PDF created July 11, 2018, modified September 27, 2022 | 2026-09-29 |
| City of El Paso, Accela Citizen Access portal (home page) | undated portal page | 2026-09-29 |
| Texas Occupations Code ch. 1305 (§§1305.003(a)(6), 1305.151, 1305.201), official text, Texas Legislature | current text; §1305.201 last amended by Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 285 (H.B. 3329), eff. September 1, 2017; chapter contains no reference to counties. Raw text read from the Legislature’s resource file behind that page (tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/OC/htm/OC.1305.htm) | 2026-09-29 |
| TDLR, Apply for a New Electrical Contractor License (master electrician of record); TDLR License Search | undated agency web page | 2026-09-29 |
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