Coverage region
Engineering Services Across Greater Houston
Sixteen counties from the Brazos bottoms to the Sabine. The highest plasticity clays in Texas, measurable ground subsidence, and a windstorm line that runs through Harris County itself.
Wind
What the wind here asks of a structure
What the wind environment requires of a structure in Greater Houston and Southeast Texas.
Five counties in this region, Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Jefferson, and Matagorda, sit inside the designated catastrophe area, and so does the part of Harris County east of State Highway 146. That line runs through a working metropolitan county, which is why the windstorm question here is asked address by address rather than county by county.
West of the line, design wind speeds fall steadily inland but remain high enough that roof attachment and opening protection are still the governing details on residential construction. Hurricane Ike in 2008 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017 both demonstrated how far inland roof and envelope damage extends.
Straight line wind from thunderstorm outflow is an underrated peril across the northern counties of this region, and it damages structures that were never designed for anything a hurricane would bring.
Soil
What the ground does, and what it does to a foundation
What the ground does here, and what a foundation has to be designed against because of it.
The Beaumont and Lake Charles clay formations under Harris, Fort Bend, Brazoria, Galveston, and the Golden Triangle include some of the most expansive soils in the United States. Plasticity indices in the forties and above are routine, and seasonal movement of an inch or more across a slab is normal behavior rather than a defect.
That single fact shapes almost everything. Post tensioned slabs proportioned to the plasticity index are the standard residential foundation, moisture stability around the perimeter is a maintenance obligation rather than landscaping advice, and mature trees within their drip line of a slab are a recognized cause of differential movement.
Ground subsidence adds a second, slower motion. Groundwater withdrawal has lowered ground surface across parts of Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties by measurable amounts, and it is regulated by the Harris Galveston Subsidence District and the Fort Bend Subsidence District. Subsidence is regional rather than differential, so it rarely damages a slab directly, but it changes drainage and flood elevations and therefore changes what a site requires.
Permitting
Who has authority, and what they ask for
Who has authority over the work, and what they ask for before they issue.
The City of Houston has no zoning but does have a full building code and an active permitting and inspection department, which surprises people who conflate the two. Sealed structural documents are required for the alterations and the new construction the code lists, exactly as in any other large Texas city.
The region contains dozens of incorporated cities, each with its own adopted code editions and local amendments, alongside large unincorporated areas permitted through the counties. A project on the wrong side of a municipal boundary can face a materially different submittal requirement.
Floodplain regulation has tightened substantially since Harvey. Harris County and the City of Houston both raised finished floor elevation requirements and adopted updated rainfall statistics, and those rules now drive foundation and site work on redevelopment throughout the region.
Service emphasis
What this region asks for most
All 8 service lines are available across the state. These are the ones the conditions above push to the front here.
Foundation Inspections and Certifications
The most expansive soils in the state make foundation performance the standing question.
Windstorm WPI-8 Certifications
Required in five counties here and in Harris County east of State Highway 146.
Structural Letters for Permits
Dense municipal permitting means alterations routinely need a sealed letter.
Repair Specifications
Damage has to be scoped in writing before it can be bid, permitted, or argued about.
Counties
The 16 counties in this region
Population centers include Houston, Galveston, Beaumont, The Woodlands, Sugar Land, Katy. Coverage is the whole list, not the centers.
- Austin
- Brazoria
- Chambers
- Colorado
- Fort Bend
- Galveston
- Hardin
- Harris
- Jefferson
- Liberty
- Matagorda
- Montgomery
- Orange
- Walker
- Waller
- Wharton
Elsewhere in Texas
The other seven regions
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