Guide
Most drain lines on your own lot need no permit. Regrading, curb cores, floodplain lots and new houses are where cities step in, and each city draws the line in a different place.
Updated November 5, 2026
Most yard drainage work on your own lot needs no permit, but three kinds of work often do: changing the grade or drainage pattern, earthwork in a floodplain, and anything in the street right-of-way such as a curb core. Rein Irving Drainage Company checks the rule for each address before work starts, because every city around Irving draws the line differently.
Texas has no single permit for yard drainage. Each city decides, through its building code, development code or fee schedule, which drainage work it wants to review. Some cities, like University Park and Grand Prairie, write detailed rules about where water must go. Others, like Dallas, exempt most house lots from grading permits but review floodplain work closely. The table below summarizes what each nearby city publishes.
| City | When a permit or plan comes up | Fees and contacts |
|---|---|---|
| Irving | Depends on the work and the address | We confirm the requirement per address before work starts |
| Dallas | Single-family and duplex lots under two acres are exempt from the grading permit; earthwork in a floodplain is reviewed | Where a grading permit is required, site plan review is $0.025 per square foot with a $313 minimum; Floodplain Management 214-671-2219 |
| Grand Prairie | Earthwork permit when the plat calls for one, the lot is over half an acre, or the grade or drainage pattern changes from the subdivision plan | $50 for a residential lot under half an acre, $100 above |
| Coppell | Residential curb core for yard drains issued as a permit in 2022 | $100 curb core permit; engineering inspection of drainage improvements $1.20 to $1.50 per linear foot |
| University Park | Drainage plan approved before a building permit; roof water piped to the curb or alley; side yards capped at 5% grade | Plan review is part of the building permit |
| Southlake | Drainage and grading plan for new houses and additions, matching the subdivision plan; engineered study where none exists | Plan prepared with the building submittal |
| Grapevine | Building rules include a lot drainage fee, and foundations are sealed by a professional engineer | $150 lot drainage fee |
| Fort Worth | Lot-to-lot drainage is treated as a private matter between owners | Stormwater customer service 817-392-6261 |
Fees and rules change, so treat this table as a starting point and confirm with the city for the address in question. The city pages for Dallas, Grand Prairie, Coppell, University Park and Southlake go into more detail.
On most lots, these jobs stay inside the property and leave the overall drainage pattern as it was:
“Usually” matters here. If the outlet sends concentrated water onto a neighbor, or if the city has a specific rule about roof water (University Park), the job still has to meet it even without a permit.
Reshaping a yard so water leaves it in a different direction is the most common trigger. Grand Prairie’s earthwork permit applies when the grade or drainage pattern changes from the subdivision plan. Dallas exempts house lots under two acres from its grading permit, but not in a floodplain. See yard grading for how a regrade is planned.
In Dallas, earthwork in a floodplain is reviewed even where a normal lot would be exempt. Filling or reshaping ground in a mapped flood zone can push water onto other properties, which is why cities look at it. If your yard floods from a creek rather than from rain falling on the lot, read floodplain or drainage problem first.
University Park requires an approved drainage plan before a building permit. Southlake asks for a drainage and grading plan with new houses and additions, and an engineered study where the subdivision has no drainage plan. Grapevine charges a $150 lot drainage fee and requires foundation designs sealed by a professional engineer.
The strip between your property line and the street, including the curb, gutter and usually the driveway approach, is city right-of-way. A curb core, where a drain pipe passes through the curb to empty into the gutter, is work on city property. Coppell issues it as a permit with a $100 fee. Other cities may require a permit, set construction details, or decline a core at a particular spot. Driveway approaches are the same: changing one is city business, which matters for street water flooding a driveway.
Whatever the permit answer, Texas requires a call to 811 before digging so buried gas, electric, water and communication lines are marked. Drain trenches are shallow, but service lines to a house can be shallower. Private lines such as sprinklers and landscape lighting are not marked by 811, so they are found by hand.
The order is simple:
Rein Irving Drainage Company plans and manages each job; installation is carried out by licensed and insured drainage contractors we work with.
If you know roughly what you want built, the cost tool gives a quick range. To find out what your city requires for your yard, send your address and a description and we will check before any work is planned.
Either can apply, depending on the city, but whoever plans the job should find out what is required before digging. Ask any contractor which permits apply to your address and who will pull them, and get the answer in writing.
Usually not by itself, because the water stays on your lot. It can still break a city rule if it sends concentrated water onto a neighbor's lot, and University Park requires roof water to reach the curb or alley rather than an emitter.
A city can stop the work, require changes or ask for the work to be uncovered for inspection. Unpermitted curb cores and grading changes can also come up when the house is sold.
Send your address and a short description of the work you have in mind.
