Dallas County · Texas
Commercial Contractor in Dallas
Ground-up commercial, tenant build-outs and franchise locations in Dallas, TX — estimating, permitting, construction and closeout under one contract.
What We Build in Dallas
Dallas commercial work splits between tenant improvement inside existing stock and ground-up on the edges. The TI volume is the larger share: retail and restaurant spaces turning over, office suites being reconfigured, and medical and dental practices fitting out shells. Ground-up concentrates in the southern and eastern industrial corridors.
Our office at 740 E Campbell Rd in Richardson is inside Dallas County, so a Dallas project is a daily drive rather than a travel job — no mobilization premium, and a superintendent who can be on site the same morning.
Permitting & Code in Dallas
Who issues the permit
Permits are issued by the City of Dallas Development Services Building Inspection division through the DallasNow portal. A commercial project routes in parallel to structural, zoning and land use, fire, mechanical, electrical and plumbing reviewers, and a change of occupancy or use triggers a Certificate of Occupancy application separate from the building permit — the step most often missed on a first-time tenant build-out.
Which code applies
Dallas enforces the 2021 International Building Code and 2021 International Residential Code with City of Dallas amendments, the 2020 National Electrical Code, and the 2021 mechanical and plumbing codes. Texas has no mandatory statewide building code, so the local amendments are the operative document.
What drives cost and schedule
On a Dallas tenant build-out the schedule risk is rarely construction — it is review cycles and landlord coordination. Parallel discipline review means an incomplete set stalls on whichever reviewer it shorted, and a Certificate of Occupancy cannot be issued until every trade inspection clears. Ground-up work adds the North Texas foundation problem: expansive clay that demands a geotechnical report rather than an assumption.
Code and permitting details verified 2026-09-07 against City of Dallas — Commercial Permitting & Inspections. Adopted editions change — confirm current requirements with the authority before relying on this for design.
Dallas Commercial Construction Questions
Construction on a typical retail or restaurant tenant build-out runs 10 to 16 weeks. The variable is not the build — it is the permit. Dallas routes commercial plans to structural, zoning, fire, mechanical, electrical and plumbing reviewers in parallel, and a set that is incomplete for any one of them stalls there. Budget review time separately from construction time, and confirm whether your project needs a Certificate of Occupancy, which is a separate application from the building permit.
If the use of the space is changing, yes — and it is a separate application from the building permit, filed through the City of Dallas. It cannot be issued until every trade inspection has cleared. This is the single most common thing missed on a first commercial build-out, and it is what stops a tenant opening on the date they planned.
Dallas enforces the 2021 International Building Code with City of Dallas amendments, alongside the 2020 National Electrical Code and the 2021 mechanical and plumbing codes. Because Texas has no mandatory statewide building code, those local amendments — not the unamended model code — are what plans are reviewed against.
Commercial construction in other cities
Planning a Commercial Project in Dallas?
Tell us the scope, the site and the timeline. You get a line-item estimate that separates construction, site work, permitting and allowances, so you can see exactly what you are paying for and what is still open.