Schertz, Texas metal buildings

Inside the limits, the Schertz Inspections Division at 1400 Schertz Parkway, Building 1, 210-619-1750. The owner or an authorized agent applies before building, enlarging, altering, moving or changing the use of a structure, through the CityView web portal. The city quotes 30 days for the first review of new commercial construction and 14 for each round after, against 14 and seven days for a new house. It builds to the 2018 International Building, Residential and Fire Codes, with the 2026 National Electrical Code in force for electrical work filed on or after September 1, 2026.

The city boundary crosses three counties. Measured on the Census Bureau maps, about 45 percent of Schertz lies in Bexar County, 34 percent in Guadalupe and 22 percent in Comal, and the city floodplain page lists FEMA map panels in all three. None of that matters to the permit inside the limits, but it decides who answers outside them.

In the extraterritorial jurisdiction, the Inspections Division says it reviews plans for proposed construction where applicable, and the Planning Division handles plats there; under Local Government Code chapter 212 a city cannot demand its own building permit out there. Past that, a commercial building on the Guadalupe County side needs the County Fire Marshal permit under the fire code order in force since February 1, 2026, and on the Bexar County side the Fire Marshal decides when a structure other than a single-family dwelling needs a permit, after Public Works signs an authorization. Comal County is outside the counties this site covers, so a lot there means calling Comal County before relying on anything here. Each county is laid out on the Guadalupe County sheet and the Bexar County sheet.

Checked at City of Schertz Inspections Division, building permits, 2026-10-05.

Checked at U.S. Census Bureau, TIGERweb incorporated places and counties, Schertz city boundary, 2026-10-05.

Checked at City of Schertz Engineering, flood plain management, 2026-10-05.

Checked at City of Schertz, building permits, inspections and registration, 2026-10-05.

Checked at City of Schertz, Planning and Zoning Division helpful information, 2026-10-05.

Checked at Texas Legislature Online, Local Government Code Chapter 212, municipal regulation of subdivisions and property development, 2026-09-13.

Checked at Guadalupe County Commissioners Court, Order Adopting a Fire Code and Regulations for Its Enforcement, January 27, 2026, 2026-09-13.

Checked at Bexar County Public Works Department, Building Permits, 2026-09-13.

Checked at Bexar County Fire Marshal, Permits and Applications, 2026-09-13.

That depends on whether the lot is in a platted subdivision. The Unified Development Code caps an accessory building at an eight foot wall and 15 feet overall on subdivision lots of a set size, such as 80 by 100 feet, and says the cap is not meant for one owner on several acres, where the building can reach 35 feet with no variance. For anyone planning a shop with a tall roll-up door, that one sentence decides whether the plan works.

The rest of section 21.8.2 is short. There has to be a house or other main use on the lot first. The building stays three feet off common property lines, five feet off the side line if it sits in a side yard, out of every easement, and out of the front yard. It counts toward the zoning district limit on impervious cover, and a lot under half an acre may hold no more than three accessory structures. A metal carport on a house lot has its own section: attached to the house, at least five feet off the line, over a concrete or asphalt drive, one story, and open on at least two sides.

The permit line is 120 square feet. A movable one-story shed at or under that size on a house lot needs no building permit unless it sits in a flood hazard area, but any slab under it needs a flatwork permit. Over that size it is an accessory building permit, priced at $0.50 per square foot with a $50.00 minimum, plus a plan review fee of half the permit fee. For a 1,200 square foot shop that comes to $600 and $300 by this site arithmetic. The type of building is covered on metal shop buildings and detached garages and RV garages.

Checked at City of Schertz Unified Development Code, sections 21.8.2 and 21.8.3 (Municode, Supplement 11), 2026-10-05.

Checked at City of Schertz Inspections Division, building permits, 2026-10-05.

Checked at City of Schertz, Schedule of Fees, Inspections 2025-26, effective November 1, 2025, 2026-10-05.

Offsets in the walls more than a material. Section 21.9.5 hands the choice of exterior materials and glazing to the national model code, so a metal skin is not ruled out by the zoning code, but it does rule out a long flat box. On a commercial building, any wall over 30 feet long that faces or adjoins a public street, or faces a side lot line, needs a horizontal offset at least two feet deep, and the new plane has to be at least 20 percent of that wall. An industrial building gets the same rule only on street-facing walls over 100 feet, and an office or public building on walls over 50 feet. Each of the three also needs a vertical articulation or elevation change of at least two feet on every wall, across at least 20 percent of its length, laid out to screen the rooftop units.

Ask that any quote for a Schertz commercial lot show how its walls meet those offsets. A detached accessory building on a commercial or manufacturing lot uses the same exterior materials, sits behind the main building, and may not take required parking.

The order of approvals is set too. The city chart for non-residential work runs an optional pre-development meeting, a plat, a clearing and grading permit, recording the plat, a commercial site plan and then the building permit. No building permit issues until the site plan and engineering plans are approved, and the city acts on a complete site plan within 30 days. On the posted fee schedule a $100,000 commercial building carries a $707.00 permit fee and a $353.50 plan review fee by this site arithmetic, with a $25.00 technology fee, and starting without a permit adds $200.00. From $50,000 of construction the plans also go to TDLR: the TDLR registration sheet. The building itself is on commercial steel buildings.

Checked at City of Schertz Unified Development Code, section 21.9.5 (Municode, Supplement 11), 2026-10-05.

Checked at City of Schertz Unified Development Code, sections 21.8.2 and 21.8.3 (Municode, Supplement 11), 2026-10-05.

Checked at City of Schertz, Development Process (Planning and Zoning Division), 2026-10-05.

Checked at City of Schertz Unified Development Code, section 21.9.12 (Municode, Supplement 11), 2026-10-05.

Checked at City of Schertz, Schedule of Fees, Inspections 2025-26, effective November 1, 2025, 2026-10-05.

Checked at Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Architectural Barriers frequently asked questions, 2026-09-13.

Black clay, across most of the city. Laying the three NRCS county soil surveys over the city limits, this site measures Houston Black clays on about 22 percent of Schertz, Lewisville silty clay on about 13 percent and Heiden clay on about 11 percent, and NRCS rates all three very limited for small commercial buildings because they shrink and swell. About 74 percent of the mapped ground in the city carries that very limited rating, and only about six percent rates not limited, most of it Sunev loam.

Some of the very limited ground is low ground. Patrick soils, mapped as rarely flooded, cover about six percent of the city and are rated very limited for flooding, and about 12 percent of the city is soil mapped as flooded to some degree. A soil report before the slab is drawn is the only way to know which of these a lot sits on. What the steel erector needs from the concrete is on the slab and foundation sheet.

Checked at USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, soil surveys TX029, TX187 and TX604, read through Soil Data Access against the Census Bureau Schertz city boundary, 2026-10-05.

City water in Schertz is Carrizo Aquifer water, pumped since March 2003 through the corporation Schertz formed with Seguin, and the city designs the system for at least 750 gallons a minute of hydrant flow. Where house pressure runs over 80 psi the city code wants a pressure-reducing valve. New water and wastewater impact fees apply to land platted on or after June 1, 2025, assessed with complete building permits filed from July 1, 2025, so a lot platted under the old rates and a newly platted one can carry different bills. Public Works is 210-619-1800.

A new roof and parking lot also adds a monthly bill. Schertz charges a drainage utility fee on improved property inside the limits, and for a non-residential parcel it measures the impervious cover: each acre of roof and paving counts as 5.77 units at $8.00 a month, or $46.16 a month an acre by this site arithmetic.

The Edwards Aquifer plan only reaches the Comal County side. On the TCEQ map of regulated zones a transition zone covers about 4.6 percent of the city, all of it in the Comal County part, and the recharge zone runs up to the city edge there without crossing it; the Bexar and Guadalupe parts of the city carry no regulated zone. TCEQ requires an approved plan before construction on a regulated zone, so a lot on the Comal side gets checked on the TCEQ map first: the Edwards Aquifer sheet.

Checked at City of Schertz Public Works, water and wastewater utility, 2026-10-05.

Checked at City of Schertz Engineering, impact fee programs, 2026-10-05.

Checked at City of Schertz Public Works, drainage utility, 2026-10-05.

Checked at Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Edwards Aquifer regulated zones map service, queried against the Census Bureau TIGERweb Schertz city and county boundaries, 2026-10-05.

Checked at Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Edwards Aquifer Protection Program, 2026-09-13.

Inside the city, construction in the floodplain is on the city permit list. Outside it, the county offices take over, and the two counties this site covers do it differently. On the Guadalupe County side, Environmental Health, 830-303-8858, requires a septic permit on every lot, $600 for a commercial system, and a floodplain development permit at $300, and Road and Bridge, 830-379-9721, charges $500 for a commercial driveway. On the Bexar County side, Public Works, 210-335-6700, reviews any construction near the 100-year floodplain at $50 an activity, permits every septic system, and charges $35 a driveway onto a county road (county records, checked 2026-09-13).

A new drive onto a state highway is TxDOT Form 1058 at the San Antonio District, 210-615-1110, and no work starts in the right of way before the permit is fully executed: the TxDOT and county driveway sheet.

Checked at City of Schertz Inspections Division, building permits, 2026-10-05.

Checked at Texas Department of Transportation, access management manual, driveway permits, 2026-09-13.

Checked at Texas Department of Transportation, San Antonio District, 2026-09-13.

Checked at Guadalupe County Environmental Health Fee Schedule, approved March 2025 and revised October 23, 2025, 2026-09-13.

Checked at Guadalupe County, Road and Bridge and Other Fee Schedule, effective March 12, 2025, 2026-09-13.

Checked at Bexar County Public Works Department, Floodplain Development Permits, 2026-09-13.

Checked at Bexar County Environmental Services, On-Site Sewage Facilities, 2026-09-13.

Checked at Bexar County Public Works Department, Right-of-Way Permits, 2026-09-13.

Come to the first call with four answers: inside or outside the limits and which county, whether the lot is platted and when, how long the walls facing the street will be, and what the soil report says. On a commercial lot the wall offsets and the impact fee year move the number as much as the steel tonnage does, and on a house lot the eight foot wall cap can change the building entirely.

One independent metal building contractor receives each request and decides which projects to take. Texas has no builder license, which the San Antonio and Bexar County permit sheet explains, and Schertz registers every contractor working in the city, at no charge. The full sequence for the region is in the start-to-finish San Antonio guide.

Checked at Sunset Advisory Commission, Texas Residential Construction Commission; TDLR regulated industries list, 2026-09-13.

Checked at City of Schertz, building permits, inspections and registration, 2026-10-05.

Checked at City of Schertz, Schedule of Fees, Inspections 2025-26, effective November 1, 2025, 2026-10-05.