Houston City Council unanimously approved a five-year agreement Tuesday authorizing Houston Public Works to spend up to $20.4 million on services from SAFEbuilt Texas LLC, according to ABC13 Houston. The agreement is structured around individual work orders, allowing the department to seek extra capacity or specialized expertise when needed rather than maintaining a permanent contractor workforce.
What the agreement covers
The potential work spans permit administration, plan and development review, inspections and code-compliance assistance, ABC13 reported. It also covers technical reviews involving engineering, residential and commercial construction, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire systems, along with rights of way. Houston can request particular services as needed instead of activating the full range at once.
Councilman Joaquin Martinez said the arrangement responds to development activity that has outpaced the permitting operation's existing capacity, ABC13 reported. He also cited the broader cost of permanent employees, including wages, benefits and leave. Under the agreement, officials say, outside assistance is intended to help address delayed work while the city's existing permitting, inspection, code-enforcement and public-safety functions remain in place.
Funding and staffing
What public permit data can show
The City of Houston Open Data portal maintains monthly and yearly records of single-family and multifamily building permits applied for in Houston. That dataset provides a way to examine changes in permit activity over time, including comparisons with the period before the pandemic, although the source information cited here does not provide the figures needed to quantify that change.
The agreement does not require Houston to replace current permitting employees with SAFEbuilt personnel, according to ABC13 Houston. The city estimates spending $1.31 million in fiscal year 2027 and about $19.09 million during the remaining years of the five-year agreement. The Building Inspection Fund will cover the work, and the adopted FY2027 budget includes the funding.
The purchase is exempt from Houston's Hire Houston First ordinance because the city is using a cooperative purchasing agreement, ABC13 reported.
How other cities use outside inspection capacity
Houston's approach has counterparts elsewhere. Dallas City Council approved a four-year contract in June 2025 with SAFEbuilt Texas LLC, Bureau Veritas North America Inc. and Shums Coda Associates Inc. for third-party plan review and inspection work, according to a City of Dallas bulletin. Dallas said using multiple firms would allow it to shift assignments when one provider is unavailable and provide backup during staff vacancies or unusually heavy permit-submission periods.
North Chicago has used SAFEbuilt for plan reviews and building inspections since entering an agreement with the company on August 17, 2022, according to the City of North Chicago. The city later sought to extend the agreement through August 2027, citing a need for specialized inspections and the ability to adjust outside help as construction demand changes.
