Ten years of City of Austin commercial building permits: how many were issued, what they were worth, which project types are growing or shrinking, and which general contractors pull the most permits. Data through Oct 16, 2026; 2026 is a partial year.
Commercial building permits (BP) issued each year. The light bar shows Jan 1–Oct 16 of each year, for a like-for-like comparison with 2026.
Peak year: 2019 (5,379). Lowest full year: 2025 (3,888). Grouped into projects (multi-building jobs counted once): 3,504 in 2015, 3,008 in 2025, 2,329 in 2026 through Oct 16 versus 2,470 by the same date in 2025.
Sum of the job valuation reported on each project's permits. Most remodel permits list no valuation, so treat this as a floor, not a market size. A few very large projects swing the total.
402 of 3,008 projects in 2025 listed a valuation. Three obvious data-entry errors are left out of the sums (see How We Count).
Projects with work class "New": ground-up buildings, the earliest and largest bids for fire protection and low-voltage trades.
Projects by work class. Interior remodels and finish-outs are about three in four commercial projects every year.
| Work Class | 2015 | Peak Year | 2025 | Change Since 2015 | 2026 YTD | Change From Same Period 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remodel / Finish-Out | 2,660 | 2,660 (2015) | 2,332 | −12% | 1,719 | −11% |
| New | 352 | 596 (2019) | 352 | 0% | 304 | +6% |
| Shell | 51 | 159 (2017) | 36 | −29% | 41 | +32% |
| Addition + Remodel | 67 | 67 (2015) | 29 | −57% | 23 | −4% |
| Addition | 41 | 43 (2016) | 10 | −76% | 13 | +30% |
| Interior Demo | 180 | 293 (2019) | 173 | −4% | 153 | +20% |
| Demolition | 83 | 86 (2019) | 71 | −14% | 74 | +25% |
| Repair | 68 | 395 (2021) | 4 | −94% | 2 | −33% |
The 395 repair projects in 2021 (a typical year has about 30) were mostly freeze-damage repairs after the February 2021 winter storm.
Average projects per year whose permit text mentions each use, 2015–2017 versus 2023–2025. Keyword-based, so a project can match only its first category.
2026 so far (through Oct 16, versus the same period of 2025): office 335 (+22%), restaurant & bar 196 (+11%), multifamily 180 (+67%), retail 118 (+40%), medical 81 (+5%).
Ranked by distinct commercial projects on permits where the company is the listed contractor. Company names are lightly normalized (suffixes like LLC and "*MAIN*" tags merged).
| # | General Contractor | Projects | Permits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Novo Construction | 59 | 78 |
| 2 | Harvey-Cleary Builders | 45 | 146 |
| 3 | Needham Roofing | 41 | 41 |
| 4 | Hentana Construction LLC | 36 | 36 |
| 5 | Rand Construction Corporation | 32 | 40 |
| 6 | Foundation Specialists, Inc | 32 | 33 |
| 7 | North Gable Contractors | 32 | 32 |
| 8 | Maloba Builders and Services | 29 | 35 |
| 9 | CM Constructors | 28 | 32 |
| 10 | White Construction | 27 | 50 |
| # | General Contractor | Projects | Permits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harvey-Cleary Builders | 492 | 864 |
| 2 | Rand Construction Corporation | 469 | 609 |
| 3 | Trimbuilt Construction, Inc | 377 | 457 |
| 4 | Sabre Commercial, Inc | 343 | 423 |
| 5 | Jahn Construction LLC | 340 | 380 |
| 6 | The Burt Group | 306 | 374 |
| 7 | Structura, Inc | 298 | 369 |
| 8 | Novo Construction | 289 | 382 |
| 9 | Glotel Inc | 283 | 283 |
| 10 | Enertech Resources, LLC | 278 | 278 |
These are the yearly totals. Every Monday we send the week's new commercial permit leads, ranked for fire sprinkler, fire alarm and low-voltage contractors, with the general contractor on each job.
Start a Free 3-Week Trial → Browse the Weekly ArchiveSource: City of Austin Development Services open data. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Austin. Data may differ from official records.
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