Permits
Generator permit fees and inspections by DFW city
Published residential generator permit fees: Colleyville $100 for a stand-alone electrical permit, Coppell $130, Flower Mound $150, Fort Worth priced by capacity rather than a flat fee, Irving $130 minimum, McKinney $80. Each city charges on its own basis, and the table lists only what each publishes, checked against its own document on October 9, 2026.
City by city
| City | Published fee | Permit and inspections | City source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colleyville Tarrant County | $100 for a stand-alone electrical permit | City of Colleyville Residential Permit Fees (April 1, 2025) | |
| Coppell Dallas County | $130 | An electrical permit with a plumber attached whenever the generator ties into house gas piping. Four inspections: gas, electrical rough, electrical underground, final electrical. | City of Coppell: Generator Permits |
| Denton Denton County | No separate generator fee published | New and replacement generators both need a permit. Three inspections: plumbing rough where applicable, electrical rough, electrical final. | City of Denton: Generators |
| Flower Mound Denton County | $150 | A dedicated Residential Backup Power permit with three inspections: plumbing rough and gas test where a new gas line is run, electrical rough, then finals. | Town of Flower Mound Residential Backup Power Information Packet (rev. 10.01.2026) and Building Inspections Fee Schedule, effective October 1, 2026 |
| Fort Worth Tarrant County | priced by capacity rather than a flat fee — $6.10 up to 10kW, $9.85 to 20kW, $19.75 above, plus a service or subpanel charge | When inspections are performed by a third party, Fort Worth reduces the permit fee by multiplying it by 35% (0.35). | City of Fort Worth Development Fees Schedule, Ordinance 26-28781, effective October 1, 2026 |
| Grapevine Tarrant County | No separate generator fee published | One combined mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fuel gas application, with a fee charged per trade. | City of Grapevine Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Irrigation, Fuel Gas Permit Application |
| Irving Dallas County | $130 minimum | Filed as a home backup power installation through the MGO portal. You choose third-party review and inspection, or full in-house city review. | City of Irving SOP, Home Backup Power Installations – Review and Inspection |
| Mansfield Tarrant County | No separate generator fee published | Stand-alone electrical and plumbing-gas permits. The city will not issue the electric or gas service release until it has passed the inspection, so the inspection gates your connection. | City of Mansfield: SB 1202 Home Backup Power Installation Plan Review & Inspection (09/2025) |
| McKinney Collin County | $80 | McKinney has a dedicated Residential Standby Generator permit, filed through the CSS portal, separate from its stand-alone electrical and plumbing permits. | City of McKinney Permit Fee Schedule; Home Repairs & Permit Information |
| Midlothian Ellis County | No separate generator fee published | Midlothian has no generator line in its Master Fee Schedule. Its electrical permit minimum fee is $50, and a permit that is required but not listed on the schedule is priced on the total valuation of the work. | City of Midlothian Master Fee Schedule, effective 09/22/2026 (RES 2026-68) |
| Trophy Club Denton County | No separate generator fee published | Trophy Club has its own generator permit application rather than folding the work into a general one, and lets you choose between a town inspector and an approved third-party provider. | Town of Trophy Club Generator Permit Application |
Fees change: Fort Worth, Flower Mound and Denton all issued new fee schedules effective 1 October 2026. A city not in this table is one whose current document we have not checked, not one without a fee. The gas side usually needs its own plumbing permit, pulled by the plumber.
The two Texas laws behind these permits
Texas Local Government Code § 229.102 (SB 1252) says a city “may not adopt or enforce an ordinance, rule, or other measure that would regulate the installation or inspection of a residential energy backup system” of 50kW or less. The exception is a city-owned utility inside its own service area, which in this table means Denton. Cities still run a permit process, and the fees above are what they publish.
Texas Local Government Code § 247.0025 (SB 1202) lets an authorized third party review and inspect a home backup power installation instead of the city, and the city must issue the approval within three business days of being notified. A city may not charge for the review or inspection the third party performed, and a city that has not posted a fee schedule may not charge to issue the permit. Fort Worth’s schedule applies the third-party rule directly: when inspections are performed by a third party, Fort Worth reduces the permit fee by multiplying it by 35% (0.35).
Both are set out with the statute text on what your city can and cannot require. We are electricians, not attorneys, and this is not legal advice.
Questions
How much is a generator permit in McKinney?
McKinney publishes an $80 fee for a residential generator permit, separate from its $40 stand-alone electrical and mechanical permit fees. McKinney has a dedicated Residential Standby Generator permit, filed through the CSS portal, separate from its stand-alone electrical and plumbing permits.
Which DFW city charges the most for a generator permit?
The fees are not directly comparable, because cities charge on different bases: some publish a flat residential generator fee, some a minimum, and Fort Worth prices by generator capacity plus a service charge. Compare the total your contractor will pay at your address, which is part of the written quote.
Do I pay the permit fee or does the installer?
On our jobs the permit is pulled by us and is part of the quote, so it is one line in the written price rather than a separate bill. The gas permit, where one is needed, is pulled by the licensed plumber who does that work.
Can a third party do the inspection instead of the city?
For a home backup power installation, yes: Texas Local Government Code § 247.0025 (SB 1202) lets an authorized third party, including a licensed master electrician or electrical inspector, do the plan review and inspection. Several cities in this table say so in their own documents, and Fort Worth reduces its fee when a third party inspects. Some cities limit it to the electrical portion and keep the gas inspection.
The permit is part of our quote
We pull it, schedule the inspections and meet the inspector, across the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex.
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