Gently rolling Blackland Prairie grassland with deep dark cracking clay soil in the foreground and post oak along a fence line.
Johnson County No county building code

Barndominium Builders in Johnson County, TX

Johnson County is where Fort Worth runs out of Tarrant County and keeps going. The county reached 218,048 people in 2025, up 20.5% in five years, and most of the land worth putting a barndominium on is unincorporated. Out there the county says plainly, on its own website, that it cannot require or perform building inspections and cannot issue a certificate of occupancy. What it does not say is that twelve incorporated cities hold territory inside this county, and each of them projects an extraterritorial jurisdiction reaching between half a mile and five miles past its limits. Fort Worth's own city limits touch Johnson County, so its five-mile ring lands here. Texas courts have held that a city out there can make you plat but cannot enforce its building code. The septic permit, the county development permit, the floodplain rules and the recorded deed restrictions all apply regardless.

Johnson County at a glance

County
Johnson County
Population
218,048
Where we build
Cleburne, Fort Worth, Arlington, Parker County, Ellis County

ZIPs 76009, 76028, 76031, 76033, 76044, 76050, 76058, 76059 and more

Site visits
We meet you on the tract, Cleburne or anywhere else in Johnson County
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Building conditions in Johnson County

What actually changes from one Texas jurisdiction to the next: who issues the permit, whether the residential code is enforced there at all, what the structure has to be engineered to, and what the ground is like. These are the numbers your drawings have to satisfy.

Build conditions for Johnson County , Texas . BUILD CONDITIONS JOHNSON COUNTY, TXJohnson CountyNO COUNTY BUILDING…ADOPTED RESIDENTIAL CODENO COUNTY BUILDING…This jurisdiction publishes no design wind speed. It is settled in writing with the authority overyour parcel before the frame is ordered.ZONING · NONE — A TEXAS COUNTY CANNOT ZONENo county minimum lot area; minimum…Local Government Code 233.153(d)(2) withholds zoning power from acommissioners court even where Subchapter F has been adopted. What…COUNTY DEVELOPMENT PERMIT$240 for a single-family residential…An accessory structure without plumbing is $120. A conventional,evapotranspiration bed or low-pressure dosing septic permit is $375…WHO ISSUES THE PERMITJohnson County Development ServicesJohnson County Annex, 2 N Mill Street, Suite 305, Cleburne, TX76033. Phone 817-556-6380, Monday to Friday 8am to 11:45am and 1pm…
Build conditions for Johnson County, drawn from the sourced facts on this page. Every figure above is cited in the quick-facts panel below, with its source and vintage.
Fort Worth's city limits are inside this county
Fort Worth is one of only five Texas cities that lie in four or more counties, and Johnson is one of its five. Because Fort Worth is over 100,000, Local Government Code 42.021(a) gives it a five-mile extraterritorial jurisdiction measured from its corporate boundary — and part of that boundary is in Johnson County. The Census carries a Fort Worth row for Johnson County with a population of zero in every year since 2020: the territory is real, incorporated and empty, and it still anchors a five-mile ring.

U.S. Census Bureau 2020 place-by-county file st48_tx_place_by_county2020.txt and Vintage 2025 sub-county estimates sub-est2025.csv, both read 1 September 2026; Texas Local Government Code § 42.021(a)

What a city can and cannot do out there
It can make you plat. In Collin County v. City of McKinney the Dallas Court of Appeals held that a home-rule city lacks authority to enforce its building codes and related inspection requirements in its extraterritorial jurisdiction, but does have authority to require a landowner to plat — a fight that began over a driveway. The Texas Supreme Court reached the same answer for general-law cities in Town of Lakewood Village v. Bizios. The Supreme Court has never decided the home-rule question itself, so ask the city and read the title commitment.

Collin County, Texas v. The City of McKinney, No. 05-17-00546-CV (Tex. App.—Dallas, 10 May 2018), opinion PDF at search.txcourts.gov; Town of Lakewood Village v. Bizios, 493 S.W.3d 527 (Tex. 2016)

The county says it cannot inspect buildings
Johnson County's Land Development and Platting page states that counties in Texas do not have the statutory authority to issue certificates of occupancy because counties cannot require or perform building inspections, and that Johnson County therefore has no authority to issue one — while noting that a city within the county may require one.

Johnson County Development Services, Land Development and Platting, johnsoncountytx.org/departments/development-services/land-development-and-platting, read 1 September 2026

A county permit you do need before you start
Johnson County issues a Development Permit for any new development, mobile homes included, before construction begins anywhere in the unincorporated county, under its Flood Damage Prevention Order of 2019 and its FEMA floodplain responsibilities. It costs $240 for a single-family residential permit and $120 for an accessory structure without plumbing, and it can pull in a form board survey and an elevation certificate. It is a drainage and floodplain instrument, not a building code.

Johnson County Development Services and its Development Services Fees schedule effective 23 October 2023, johnsoncountytx.org/departments/development-services and /permit-fees, read 1 September 2026

Twelve cities, twelve rings
Twelve incorporated places hold territory in Johnson County, and Local Government Code 42.021(a) sizes each one's extraterritorial jurisdiction by its population: Fort Worth at 1,028,117 reaches five miles, Mansfield at 84,444 and Burleson at 56,907 reach three and a half, county seat Cleburne at 39,942 reaches two, Crowley, Joshua, Venus, Alvarado, Keene and Godley reach one, and Grandview and Rio Vista reach half a mile. Those rings overlap, and a tract can be inside one without any sign at the roadside.

Texas Local Government Code § 42.021(a); U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 sub-county population estimates sub-est2025.csv, read 1 September 2026

The climate zone answer is 3A out here, 2A in town
Johnson County is one of eight Texas counties that changed climate zone between the two model-code maps, from 3A to 2A. Which map applies depends on the edition. On unincorporated land the state energy code governs, and Health and Safety Code 388.003(a) sets that as the energy chapter of the 2015 International Residential Code — a pre-2021 edition, so Zone 3A. Cleburne adopted the 2021 codes, which put the same ground in Zone 2A. Same county, two zones, decided by whose code you are under.

Texas Health and Safety Code § 388.003(a); State Energy Conservation Office, Single-Family Construction code history ending at the 2015 IRC Chapter 11, comptroller.texas.gov/programs/seco/code/single-family.php, read 1 September 2026

Also worth knowing before you build in Johnson County

Population and growth
218,048 in 2025, up from 180,955 in 2020 — 20.5% in five years, ahead of Denton County and more than three times Tarrant County's rate. The frontier is moving: Godley went from 1,441 to 5,093, Venus from 4,532 to 8,870, and Cleburne from 31,275 to 39,942 over the same period.

U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 county estimates co-est2025-alldata.csv and sub-county estimates sub-est2025.csv, read 1 September 2026

Getting out of an ETJ is a large-acreage remedy here
Senate Bill 2038 lets landowners petition to be released from a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction, and release is one-way. But Local Government Code 42.101(6) switches the routes off for the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality located in four or more counties, one of which has a population of 2.1 million or more and is adjacent to a county with 2.6 million or more, where the land is a lot of less than 12 acres or a single lot in a platted subdivision of 25 or more lots. Fort Worth is a five-county city whose counties include Tarrant, which adjoins Dallas. Do not assume release is available.

Texas Local Government Code §§ 42.101, 42.104 and 42.105, statutes.capitol.texas.gov, read 1 September 2026; county populations from Census Vintage 2025 county estimates

The acreage line moves at the ETJ boundary
A tract escapes subdivision platting above five acres inside a municipal extraterritorial jurisdiction, but has to be above ten acres to escape it under the county's own subdivision authority. A seven-acre split can be exempt on one side of an invisible line and a platting job on the other.

Texas Local Government Code §§ 212.004(a) and 232.0015(f), statutes.capitol.texas.gov, read 1 September 2026

One plat authority per ETJ, fixed by agreement
Local Government Code 242.001 requires exactly one named plat authority in each extraterritorial jurisdiction, settled by agreement between the city and the county. Fort Worth publishes interlocal agreements with Denton, Johnson, Tarrant, Parker and Wise Counties on its own extraterritorial jurisdiction page. Which body holds plat authority over a given tract is a question for both offices, and if land is released the county takes over subdivision regulation rather than nobody doing so.

Texas Local Government Code §§ 242.001 and 242.001(j); City of Fort Worth, Extraterritorial Jurisdiction, fortworthtexas.gov/departments/development-services/etj, read 1 September 2026

Cleburne runs the 2021 code
The county seat adopted the 2021 International Residential Code, the 2021 International Building Code and the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code with the North Central Texas Council of Governments recommended amendments, by Ordinance 10-2022-75 passed 25 October 2022. Its residential building permit fee is 19 cents a square foot for new construction plus a $20 administrative fee, with a $25 minimum.

Cleburne Code of Ordinances §§ 150.015 and 150.016, codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/cleburne/latest/cleburne_tx/0-0-0-9232, read 1 September 2026

Septic is where the county really does hold a permit
Texas uses no percolation test. Site suitability is decided by soil texture class, and required capacity keys off the living area of the dwelling rather than the whole footprint — which matters when a barndominium's shop space is most of the building. Johnson County is the authorised agent for the state, and its permit is $375 for a conventional, evapotranspiration bed or low-pressure dosing system and $475 for an aerobic one.

30 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 285; Johnson County Development Services Fees effective 23 October 2023, johnsoncountytx.org/departments/development-services/permit-fees, read 1 September 2026

Two state rules that survive the county's silence
Occupations Code 1301.052's rural exemption expressly excludes plumbing performed in conjunction with new construction, so a licensed plumber is required even where no local code applies. And Health and Safety Code 388.004 obliges a builder working outside any municipality to certify energy compliance and keep the documentation until the third anniversary, giving a copy to the owner.

Texas Occupations Code § 1301.052 and Texas Health and Safety Code § 388.004, statutes.capitol.texas.gov, read 1 September 2026

Setbacks and frontages the county does set
A Texas commissioners court cannot zone, but Chapter 233 does let it fix building and set-back lines. Johnson County has used that power: Order 2022-64 establishes minimum lot frontages and Order 2022-65 establishes building and setback lines. Neither is a building code, and both are worth reading before a site plan is drawn.

Johnson County Commissioners Court Orders 2022-64 and 2022-65, listed in the county's published orders index at johnsoncountytx.org/commissioners-court/public-information/orders and linked from its Land Development and Platting page, read 1 September 2026

An excavator grading a compacted building pad on a cleared lot, with survey stakes and a drainage swale visible.
Below the slab

The expensive surprises are in the ground, not the building

What moves a Texas budget is usually below grade, and it is soil rather than rock: shrink-swell clay. The Blackland Prairie and the Gulf Coast clays move enough between a wet season and a dry one to drive the foundation design across the state's largest markets, which is why several DFW cities require an engineer's seal on the foundation of every new house. Those are the same conditions that decide whether a septic field passes its soil and site evaluation, so the grading plan, the foundation and the drainfield get resolved together rather than one at a time. We price the dirt before we price the building.

What we build in Johnson County

All nine of our services — kits, custom plans, post-frame and steel construction, site preparation, permitting and engineering, through to turnkey builds — are available across Johnson County. What a project costs depends far more on the parcel than on square footage, so we work from your land rather than from a rate card.

See what we build

What a build looks like

Three stages every Johnson County project passes through, from a raw parcel to a finished home. Site work first, because that is where the budget is decided.

Aerial view of an undeveloped rural lot with cleared grass, a live oak and cedar elm treeline, and a pale gravel access track.
Stage one

The parcel

Zoning, setbacks, flood zone and utility access get checked before anything is drawn.

An excavator grading a compacted building pad on a cleared lot, with survey stakes and a drainage swale visible.
Stage two

Pad and permit

Clearing, grading and a compacted pad, while the submittal works through Johnson County.

A finished barndominium at dusk with warm interior lighting glowing through its large windows.
Stage three

Frame to finish

Shell erected and dried in, then systems, insulation and interior finish through to CO.

Those are the rules for Johnson County. Tell us what you want to build and we will draw it to them.

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Where we build around Johnson County

Johnson County and the rural land around it. The buildable acreage for a project this size usually sits outside the city limits, which is frequently what changes who issues your permit.

Our Johnson County service area, covering Johnson County and the surrounding rural acreage. This map marks the territory we serve, not a branch location.

Keep reading

The questions that usually come next once you know what Johnson County allows.

Barndominium Cost Guide

Sourced per-square-foot ranges by tier and by size, with a calculator built on the same figures.

Read it

Is It Legal in Texas?

Classification, zoning, the HOA gate, and why "nonresidential farm building" does not cover a home.

Read it

How Long Does It Take?

Census build-duration data, and what actually sets the permit clock where you are building.

Read it

Nearby areas we build in

Others we cover in this part of Texas. The permitting authority, the adopted design criteria and the zoning can all differ from one to the next.

Fort Worth

Tarrant County
Arlington

Tarrant County
Parker County

Parker County
Ellis County

Ellis County

Building in Johnson County: common questions

7 questions we get asked most often about building in Johnson County. If yours is not on the list, ask it directly.

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Does Johnson County have a building code for unincorporated land?
A Texas county has no general building-code authority in its unincorporated area. The only route is Subchapter F of Local Government Code Chapter 233, which reaches a county only if its commissioners court has affirmatively adopted a resolution or order, and Texas keeps no list of which counties have. Johnson County's own material points away from it: the county states it cannot require or perform building inspections, its Development Services department lists development, septic, road bore, pipeline, subdivision, junkyard and slaughterhouse permits with no building permit among them, and its published index of orders from 2014 to 2026 contains none adopting a residential code. Subchapter F dates from 2009 and that index does not reach that far back, so call Development Services on 817-556-6380 and ask before you rely on it.
My land is outside every city. Can a city still regulate it?
Yes, in part, and this is the question to settle before you buy here. Twelve cities hold territory in Johnson County and each carries an extraterritorial jurisdiction sized by its population — half a mile for Grandview and Rio Vista, one mile for Alvarado, Joshua, Keene, Godley, Venus and Crowley, three and a half for Burleson and Mansfield, two for Cleburne, and five miles for Fort Worth, whose city limits touch this county. Inside one of those rings a city can require you to plat and can set street and drainage specifications. Texas courts have held it cannot enforce its building code out there. There is no sign at the roadside, so ask the city and read the title commitment.
Can I get my land released from a city's ETJ?
Sometimes, and the exceptions bite hardest exactly here. Senate Bill 2038 created a petition route and an election route, and release is one-way once granted. But Local Government Code 42.101(6) switches those routes off in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality located in four or more counties, one of which has a population of 2.1 million or more and is adjacent to a county with 2.6 million or more, where the tract is a lot of less than 12 acres or a single lot in a platted subdivision of 25 or more lots. Fort Worth lies in five counties, one of them Tarrant, which adjoins Dallas. Treat release as a large-acreage question, not a general right. And note what release does and does not change: subdivision regulation passes to the county, so the regulator changes rather than disappearing.
Which climate zone is Johnson County in?
Both answers are current, and which one is yours depends on the code you are building under. Johnson County is one of eight Texas counties that moved between the two model-code climate maps, sitting in Zone 3A on the pre-2021 map and Zone 2A on the 2021 and 2024 map. On unincorporated land the only energy code that applies is the state one, and Health and Safety Code 388.003(a) fixes that as the energy chapter of the International Residential Code as it stood on 1 May 2015 — a pre-2021 edition, so Zone 3A. Cleburne and Burleson adopted the 2021 codes, so the same ground inside their limits is Zone 2A. The insulation and fenestration tables are not the same in the two, so establish the edition first.
What permits will a barndominium here actually need?
Outside the cities, usually three things and sometimes a fourth. A county Development Permit before construction begins, $240 for a single-family residential structure, issued under the county's Flood Damage Prevention Order and capable of pulling in a form board survey and an elevation certificate. An on-site sewage facility permit, $375 for a conventional system or $475 for an aerobic one, with the county acting as the state's authorised agent. A plat, if the tract has been split and the split is not exempt. And a licensed plumber on the work, because the rural exemption in Occupations Code 1301.052 expressly excludes plumbing done in conjunction with new construction. Inside a city, the city's own permit and inspection schedule replaces most of that.
Do I have to plat before I can build?
It depends on the acreage and on which side of an ETJ line the tract sits, and the two thresholds are different. A tract escapes platting above five acres inside a municipal extraterritorial jurisdiction, but has to exceed ten acres to escape it under the county's own subdivision authority. Local Government Code 242.001 also requires exactly one named plat authority in each ETJ, fixed by agreement between the city and the county — Fort Worth publishes an interlocal agreement with Johnson County on its extraterritorial jurisdiction page. Since a city genuinely can enforce platting out there, this is the requirement most likely to catch a rural buyer by surprise.
What binds the land if no building code does?
More than most buyers expect. Recorded deed restrictions do the work zoning does in other states, and Texas courts enforce them. Johnson County itself sets minimum lot frontages by Order 2022-64 and building and setback lines by Order 2022-65, which come from a different part of Chapter 233 than the building-code option and need no opt-in. Floodplain regulation applies under Water Code 16.3145 through the county's development permit. A slab on expansive clay loses the private-dwelling exemption in Occupations Code 1001.056(c)(2), so an engineer designs the foundation. And a builder outside any municipality has to certify energy compliance under Health and Safety Code 388.004 and keep the documentation for three years.

Building in Johnson County?

Start with the plan. Tell us what you want to build and we will draw it, then confirm what Johnson County will actually let you put on the parcel and what wind load it has to meet. That conversation costs nothing.

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