Civil site engineering, from the tap to the whole site

A site development permit in Austin is reviewed by Development Services, Austin Water, Austin Energy, Austin Fire, Transportation and Public Works, and Watershed Protection, each against its own criteria manual. We put together the civil plan set those reviewers expect: cover sheet, existing conditions, demolition, site layout, grading and drainage, utilities, erosion and sedimentation controls, and the details and notes each department asks for.

Outside the city limits, the same project can touch Travis County, Williamson County, a city's ETJ, TxDOT for driveway and utility work in a state right-of-way, and TCEQ for stormwater and water quality. We've carried projects through each of them, and we tell you up front which agencies your site will hit.

Typical projects

• Commercial and multifamily sites that exceed site plan exemption limits
• Small Projects under LDC 25-5-3 and Site Plan Lite submittals
• Residential infill, duplexes, and small subdivisions needing site development permits
• Change-of-use and redevelopment projects on existing sites
• Sites in the ETJ or county jurisdiction with multi-agency permitting

A grading plan shows finished grades, drainage patterns, retaining walls, and how runoff leaves the site without crossing onto the neighbors. On a sloped lot it also settles the practical questions early: where the driveway can go, how tall the walls get, and whether the house pad works at the elevation the architect drew.

We work from your survey and the architect's plans, coordinate with the structural engineer on wall design, and produce a sealed sheet that fits the rest of the permit set. If the City or county asks for drainage calculations to go with it, those are part of the scope.

Typical projects

• Custom homes on sloped lots with retaining walls over 4 feet
• Steep or long driveways that need a profile
• Additions and ADUs that change where water drains
• Commercial pad sites and parking expansions
• Fixing a drainage problem the neighbor or the City has already flagged

Several Central Texas cities, Lago Vista among them, require a residential drainage review for a new home, with a checklist of their own. Austin and the counties require drainage studies for larger sites and for anything near a floodplain or a drainage easement. The report compares runoff before and after construction, shows where it goes, and documents that the project meets the local criteria.

We prepare the study, carry it through the city's comment cycles, and when the city wants one, provide the final drainage certification letter based on a survey of the finished grades.

What the scope usually includes

• Pre- and post-development runoff calculations
• Drainage area maps and flow paths
• Detention or water quality sizing where the jurisdiction requires it
• Responses to city comments through approval
• Final drainage certification from client-furnished as-built grades

A tap plan only works when there's a main to tap. When there isn't, Austin Water requires a Service Extension Request first. The SER is Austin Water's review of how your project will be served, and its determination sets what has to be built: a main extension, an upsized line, or a lift station in the rare case.

We prepare the SER application, respond to Austin Water's determination, and design the extension to the Utilities Criteria Manual so it can be permitted and built. Where an existing manhole has to be tapped or rehabilitated, we inspect it and prepare the condition assessment Austin Water asks for.

Typical projects

• Infill lots with water in the street but no wastewater main
• Tracts at the edge of Austin Water's system
• Commercial sites whose demand exceeds the existing line
• Subdivisions and multi-lot projects needing new mains
• Manhole condition assessments for rehab or new connections

A conceptual site plan is a sealed-quality layout drawn to the zoning, impervious cover, setbacks, tree protection, and utility constraints that actually apply to the parcel. It shows the unit count or building footprint the site supports, where access and utilities come from, and the issues that will show up in review. You get PDF and editable DWG files you can hand to the architect, the lender, or the seller.

Because we've sat on the developer side of these deals, the report is written for the decision you're making: buy, pass, or renegotiate.

Typical questions we answer

• How many units or how much building fits under current zoning?
• Is there water and wastewater capacity, or will the deal carry an extension?
• Which review path applies: exemption, Site Plan Lite, or full site plan?
• Which trees, slopes, or easements limit the layout?
• What does the permitting timeline look like for this site?

Permit coordination and tree variances

When a site plan needs a tree variance, a right-of-way permit, or an Austin Energy or Austin Fire sign-off, we prepare the application and work with the reviewer until it clears. We coordinate with your architect, surveyor, and arborist so the submittal goes in complete.

Traffic control plans

Work in the street, including a new tap, needs a traffic control plan approved by Austin Transportation and Public Works. We prepare TCPs to the City's standards and TxDOT's where a state road is involved, so your contractor's right-of-way permit isn't held up.

Value engineering and plan review

Before you bid a set of civil plans, we review them the way a developer's engineer would: oversized utilities, retaining walls that could be grading, detention that a different layout avoids, and phasing that moves cost later. The review comes back as a marked-up set and a short memo you can take to the design engineer.