Heating and cooling in Houston
Houston Public Works runs its Mechanical Inspections office at 1002 Washington Ave., 4th Floor, and takes calls at 832.394.8850 from 8 am to 4:30 pm. The city's list of work needing a mechanical permit and inspection names a condenser replacement, an evaporator replacement, a furnace replacement and duct alterations. The city's Alteration of HVAC permit page prints "Fee: 2% of total job cost plus $47.00. Admin fee: $33.56." with a 180-day valid period and plan review required.
That row carries no effective date. The city's 2026 fee notice, effective January 1, 2026, lists the same $33.56 administrative fee and a $91.06 minimum for most Building Code Enforcement permits. Contractors with a TDLR license buy the mechanical permit online in the iPermits portal. If you do the work under Houston's Homeowner's Permit option, the city says you are the one who schedules the mechanical inspections. Houston's A/C registration page tells contractors to pay the applicable registration fee in iPermits.
TDLR's FAQ says Occupations Code section 1302.304 has barred cities since September 1, 2021 from charging A/C contractors who hold a TDLR license any registration fee, though building permit fees stay. The two pages don't match, so ask the Mechanical Inspections office which fees apply to your job. Census estimates for 2020 to 2024 list 1982 as Houston's median year built. Before you accept a quote, decide who pulls the mechanical permit, because that choice also decides who calls for the inspections.
What heating and cooling work costs near Houston
Nobody's given us a quote for work in Houston yet, so this page can't show a city price. The Texas page lists the estimates with what technicians earn (the Texas mean in May 2025 BLS wage data is $28.43 an hour, which is their pay, not your price) and some city permit fees. How we estimate costs.
Permits for heating and cooling work in Houston
Texas cities issue the permit for replacing a furnace, air conditioner or heat pump, and each city sets its own fee; the ones cited on our Texas page all require one. TDLR licenses the air conditioning and refrigeration contractor, so ask for that license number as well as what your city's permit office needs.
Heating and cooling jobs in Houston
Sources for Houston
- Houston Permitting Center: Alteration of HVAC (HPWCODE1019) Read Oct 23, 2026.
- Houston Permitting Center: Mechanical Inspections Read Oct 23, 2026.
- TDLR: ACR frequently asked questions Read Oct 23, 2026.
- ACS 5-year B25035 Median Year Structure Built