Bexar, Medina, Wilson, Atascosa, Guadalupe, Karnes and Frio counties
Metal buildings in San Antonio, TX
Shops, warehouses, garages, equipment buildings, pole barns, church buildings and covered courts. Each request is sent to one independent metal building contractor, whose call it is which jobs to accept. This page lays out the permit path, the $50,000 TDLR line and the Edwards Aquifer plan, each tagged with its source and a checked date.
Or call (830) 251-6374.
- Sheet
- Home
- Jurisdiction
- Seven counties, TX
- Checked
- 2026-09-13
- Sources
- 8 primary documents
- Permit answers
- 25 on one list, county and city
- Also by county
- Floodplain, septic and driveway
- Cost to ask
- Nothing, and it signs you up for nothing
Price request, no charge
Price a building on your lot
Six boxes: who you are, how to reach you, the county, the building and the timing.
Your request reaches one independent contractor, and which jobs to accept is that contractor's call. You never pay Compass Camper LLC anything.
1. The lot
Name the county and the building.
The county sets which rules reach the lot. The building sets whether a city plan review and the accessibility standards come into it at all.
2. The hand-off
One independent contractor gets it.
One contractor. Not a national lead list, not five companies ringing your phone. Buildings like these take months to spec and permit.
3. The choice
Theirs to take, yours to sign.
Whether to take the job is the contractor's call, and whether to sign anything is yours. You never pay Compass Camper LLC anything.
Nine building types
Nine types, one sheet each. What the building is used for drives the paperwork, so pick by use. Two to start from: the commercial building sheet or the metal shop sheet. All nine with a line on each: nine building types.
Permit stack
Four permit questions, answered from the agency pages
Each answer below comes off the agency's own page, with the date it was checked. If a county's site says nothing on a point, this page tells you so rather than guess.
Which office permits a metal building in San Antonio?
In the city itself, San Antonio Development Services runs plan review on a commercial building. Its completeness check usually takes up to three business days, and a permit lapses once 180 days go by with no proof of work or progress. The city pages checked are written for commercial construction, so a residential building gets confirmed with the city.
Outside the city, in unincorporated Bexar County, the Fire Marshal Office (210-335-0300) decides when a structure that is not for single-family dwelling use needs a building permit, and that permit covers clearing the site as well as building on it. Applications are by appointment, after Public Works signs an authorization. Medina, Wilson, Atascosa, Guadalupe, Karnes and Frio each gets checked on its own, and none of them borrows Bexar's answer.
Both sides of the city line, county by county: metal building permits in San Antonio and Bexar County.
Checked at City of San Antonio Development Services, business and commercial projects, 2026-09-13.
Checked at Bexar County, building permits and fire marshal code enforcement pages, 2026-09-13.
When does TDLR registration kick in?
At $50,000 of estimated construction cost. From there up, the project must be registered with TDLR, short for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which means accessibility plan review and inspection under the Texas Accessibility Standards. Below that figure the standards still govern the building, and the owner may register it anyway on the Special Project Registration form. Private residences sit outside both the law and the standards.
TDLR's project filing fee is $175. The registered accessibility specialist who does the review and the inspection charges a separate fee, and TDLR does not publish that one.
What counts toward the $50,000, and the order the steps run in: the TDLR guide for jobs over $50,000.
Checked at Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Architectural Barriers frequently asked questions, 2026-09-13.
Checked at Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Architectural Barriers fee schedule, 2026-09-13.
Edwards Aquifer protection plan: what is it?
A plan the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has to approve before construction starts on the recharge, transition or contributing zone. Around San Antonio the program takes in Bexar and Medina from this site's seven counties, plus Comal, Uvalde and Kinney. Administrative review can run up to 30 days and technical review up to 90, so the plan goes at the head of the schedule, not the tail.
Zones, fees and wells: the Edwards Aquifer plan in Bexar and Medina.
Checked at Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Edwards Aquifer Protection Program, 2026-09-13.
Does the stormwater permit reach my lot?
It turns on how much soil the job disturbs. Where the work disturbs an acre or more and stormwater runs off to surface water in the state, the site needs coverage under the TCEQ construction general permit.
- Five acres or more: a Notice of Intent filed through STEERS, with a fee.
- One acre to under five: a stormwater pollution prevention plan and a posted Small Construction Site Notice. No notice of intent and no fee.
- Under one acre, on a lot that is not part of a wider common plan: no coverage needed.
Checked at Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, construction stormwater general permit TXR150000, 2026-09-13.
Is there a published price for a metal building here?
No. No metal building company serving the San Antonio area publishes a price for a finished building, and no figure on this site is one. The number rides on the footprint and clear span, the eave height, the doors, the slab and pad the ground calls for, how far it is to power and water, and the permits at your address.
Texas has no state license for a home builder or a general contractor, so this site does not call any contractor licensed. The trades that do carry separate state licenses are electricians, air conditioning contractors and plumbers.
Cost drivers, and the fees agencies post for their own reviews: what a metal building costs in San Antonio. The full sequence from lot to certificate: building a metal building in San Antonio.
Checked at Sunset Advisory Commission, Texas Residential Construction Commission; TDLR regulated industries list, 2026-09-13.
Seven counties, one table
Each county's own permit answer sits on its own sheet, checked at that county's site. This table is the index: the courthouse town, the main towns, and whether the TCEQ Edwards Aquifer program lists the county.
- Courthouse town
- San Antonio
- Towns
- San Antonio, Helotes, Converse, Live Oak, Universal City, Selma, Leon Valley
- Aquifer
- On the TCEQ program list
- Courthouse town
- Hondo
- Towns
- Hondo, Castroville, Devine, Lytle, Natalia
- Aquifer
- On the TCEQ program list
- Courthouse town
- Floresville
- Towns
- Floresville, La Vernia, Stockdale, Poth
- Aquifer
- Not on the list
- Courthouse town
- Jourdanton
- Towns
- Pleasanton, Jourdanton, Poteet, Lytle
- Aquifer
- Not on the list
- Courthouse town
- Seguin
- Towns
- Seguin, Schertz, Cibolo, Marion
- Aquifer
- Not on the list
- Courthouse town
- Karnes City
- Towns
- Karnes City, Kenedy, Runge, Falls City
- Aquifer
- Not on the list
- Courthouse town
- Pearsall
- Towns
- Pearsall, Dilley
- Aquifer
- Not on the list
Checked at Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Edwards Aquifer Protection Program, 2026-09-13.
These are the main towns in each county, not a full list of incorporated places. A town can run its own building department, so check with the town before leaning on a county answer. Where a town's own permit page was checked, what it says is on that county's sheet.
What owners ask
Is a permit required for a metal building in San Antonio?
It turns on which side of the city line the lot is on. Inside the city, a commercial building runs through plan review at San Antonio Development Services; the completeness check usually takes up to three business days, and a permit lapses once 180 days go by with no proof of work or progress. The city pages checked are written for commercial work, so ask the city about a residential building. Out in unincorporated Bexar County, the Fire Marshal Office decides when a structure that is not for single-family dwelling use needs a building permit, and that permit reaches clearing the site as well as building on it. Inside any other city, that city sets the rules. Checked at the city and county sites, 2026-09-13.
What if I buy a building and it isn't approved where I want to put it?
Check the lot before any deposit: where it sits decides who approves the building. Inside a city limit, that city handles the permit. Outside, the county answers, and these seven counties do not answer alike. In the extraterritorial jurisdiction, the unincorporated ring around a city, state law gives the city no power to require its building permit, but a city that adopted development plat rules can hold up any building or development permit on a covered tract until it approves the plat. Before paying, look up your exact lot's permit path, floodplain and driveway included, on the permit office list. Read your deed restrictions and ask whether the drawings need an engineer's seal. Checked at Texas Legislature Online, 2026-09-13.
Where is the $50,000 TDLR line?
At $50,000 of estimated construction cost. From there up, the project must be registered with TDLR (Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation), with accessibility plan review and inspection under the Texas Accessibility Standards. Below $50,000 the standards still govern the building; only the registration duty drops away. Private residences sit outside both the law and the standards. Checked at the TDLR Architectural Barriers pages, 2026-09-13.
Who actually puts the building up?
An independent metal building contractor, one per request. Texas issues no state license to general contractors or home builders, so nothing on this site calls a contractor licensed; electricians, air conditioning contractors and plumbers are the trades that carry separate state licenses. A finished building is not priced publicly by any metal building company serving the San Antonio area.
Where does the form go?
One independent contractor gets your request and chooses which jobs to take on; it does not go to a national lead list. Asking costs nothing and signs you up for nothing.
Have a lot and a building in mind?
One independent contractor gets your request and chooses which jobs to take on; it does not go to a national lead list.
Checked against the sources 2026-09-13.