The approvals a restaurant build-out needs in Dallas or Fort Worth, from permit to opening

Several approvals, roughly in this order

A restaurant build-out in Dallas or Fort Worth typically needs confirmation that a restaurant can operate at the address, a building permit with electrical, mechanical and plumbing review, a health department plan review before construction starts, accessibility review under the Texas Accessibility Standards when the project costs $50,000 or more, a series of inspections, a food establishment permit and a certificate of occupancy. Signs and alcohol sales need their own approvals. The exact steps and forms vary by city, so confirm them with your jurisdiction before you commit to a date.

At Harrison Construction we manage permitting as part of our pre-construction work, and I have learned that the approvals, not the construction, are where most restaurant schedules are won or lost. Each review has its own clock and its own comment rounds, and several of them depend on each other. Here is how they usually fit together, based on what the cities publish and what we see on our projects.

First question: is a restaurant allowed here?

Before drawings go anywhere, confirm that a restaurant is an allowed use at the address and find out what review the change will trigger. Dallas states that a new certificate of occupancy is needed for the first use of a building, a change of use, a change of tenant on an existing certificate, or an increase or decrease in floor area, and that a change of use may require a site plan, a floor plan and possibly a parking analysis. Fort Worth states that any building used or occupied in the city must have a certificate of occupancy, and that a different type of business in a space needs a new one.

Turning a retail store into a restaurant is a change of use, and restaurants often face added review for parking and occupancy. These questions are worth asking before you sign a lease, which is why they sit near the top of my checklist in how to tell if a space can really become a restaurant. A broker who knows restaurant sites can usually tell you quickly whether a center already has restaurant parking and approvals in place.

The building permit and its trade reviews

A restaurant finish-out almost always needs a building permit, because it changes walls, ceilings and the electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems. The application is built on drawings prepared by an architect and engineers, and the city's reviewers check them against the building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, energy and fire codes the city has adopted. Expect comments. A first-round approval with no corrections is the exception, not the rule.

The kitchen exhaust hood and its fire suppression system deserve special attention, along with the fire alarm and sprinkler work if the space has them. Ask early whether your city's fire department reviews and inspects that work separately, and who on your team will prepare those submittals. Coordinating the hood supplier, the mechanical engineer and the fire suppression installer before submission saves a comment round later.

Health department plan review comes before construction

A food establishment needs the health department's approval of its plans, and the timing catches people off guard. Fort Worth's consumer health rules say that when a food establishment is newly constructed, extensively remodeled, changes ownership or is converted from an existing structure, properly prepared plans and specifications must be submitted for review before the construction, remodeling or conversion begins. Dallas's consumer health division directs owners planning new construction, a remodel, a change of ownership or a change of use to its Planning and Development department.

The health review looks at things the building reviewers may not focus on: the layout of the kitchen, the equipment and how it is installed, the number and placement of sinks, the finishes in food areas and the handling of waste. Equipment changes made after approval can require going back to the reviewer, so lock the equipment list before submission whenever you can.

Texas accessibility review for projects of $50,000 or more

Texas runs its own accessibility program alongside the federal ADA. According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, projects with a total estimated cost of $50,000 or more must submit a full set of construction documents for review under the Texas Accessibility Standards, the project must have that plan review before it is inspected, and projects below the threshold are still required to comply with the standards. In practice that means a plan review during design and an accessibility inspection after construction, both of which belong on the schedule from the start.

For a restaurant, accessibility touches the entrance, the dining room layout, the counters, the restrooms and the routes between them. It is far cheaper to get right on the drawings than to fix after the inspection. The same rules apply to medical and dental offices, where I see accessibility left too late more often than almost anything else; I cover that in the mistakes that delay a dental or medical office build-out.

Inspections, the health permit and the certificate of occupancy

Once construction starts, the work is inspected in stages: underground plumbing before the slab is patched, rough-in electrical, plumbing and mechanical before the walls close, then final inspections for each trade, fire and building. A failed inspection holds up the work behind it, so a good superintendent checks the work before the inspector arrives. The health department typically inspects the finished kitchen before the food establishment permit is issued.

The certificate of occupancy comes last. Fort Worth states that a certificate of occupancy will be issued after all final inspections are approved, and that a shell building will not receive one until a separate tenant finish-out permit is completed. Dallas describes the same sequence: once all inspections are passed, the certificate is released. Until you hold it, you cannot legally open, so build time for final inspections and any corrections into the schedule rather than planning to open the day construction ends.

The approvals people forget

Several approvals sit outside the building permit and are easy to overlook until they hold up an opening. Your landlord usually has to approve your plans, sometimes before you can even submit to the city. A franchisor has its own design approval. Exterior signs typically need a separate permit and the landlord's sign criteria; Huzeifa Rajabali explains that process in getting the storefront sign, permit and landlord approval right.

If you plan to sell alcohol, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission handles that permit, separately from the city's construction and health approvals. Utility providers may need applications for new or upgraded service, and that work can have its own lead time. Put each of these on the schedule with an owner and a date, the same way you would a construction task.

• Landlord approval of construction drawings
• Franchisor design approval, if you are a franchisee
• Sign permit and landlord sign criteria
• Alcohol permit, if you will serve or sell alcohol
• Utility applications for new or upgraded service
• Fire department submittals for hood suppression and alarm work

Where the approval schedule usually slips

In my experience, approvals rarely slip because a reviewer is unreasonable. They slip because the submission was incomplete, the drawings from different consultants did not agree, or the answers to comments took weeks to come back. A kitchen equipment list that changed after the health submission, a hood drawing that does not match the mechanical plans, or a landlord approval that arrived late can each add a full review cycle.

The fix is coordination before submission and fast turnaround after. We check that the architectural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical and equipment drawings tell the same story, and when comments arrive, we route them to the right consultant the same day and track the responses until the reviewer signs off.

• Equipment changes after the health submission
• Drawings from different consultants that conflict
• Slow responses to reviewer comments
• Landlord or franchisor approvals arriving late
• Utility work scheduled too late to support inspections

Each city runs its own process

Dallas and Fort Worth each publish their own procedures, fees and forms, and the dozens of suburbs around them have their own as well. Reviewers, turnaround times and the order of steps can differ noticeably from one jurisdiction to the next. A mailing address is not always a reliable guide to which city controls a property, so confirm the jurisdiction before you submit anything.

This is one reason to work with a contractor and design team who have recently permitted work in the city where your restaurant will be. They will know how that city handles restaurant reviews, what reviewers tend to comment on and how long each step usually takes there. That knowledge does not appear on any city website, but it shows up in your opening date.

How we carry the permit load for you

Permitting is part of our pre-construction services. We confirm the approval path with the city, coordinate the design team's drawings so they are complete before submission, submit and track each application, coordinate responses to reviewer comments, schedule and attend inspections and keep you informed throughout. Our motto is Adapt and Overcome, and nowhere is it more useful than when a review comes back with a correction two weeks before a planned opening.

If you are planning a restaurant in Dallas–Fort Worth, call us before the drawings go to the city, or better, before the lease is signed. And if your opening date is already fixed, read my guide on finishing a build-out before the free-rent clock runs out, then let us look at where your approvals stand today.

Questions people ask me