Patio Covers in The Colonies, TX

The Colonies is inside the Amarillo city limits in Randall County, so the City's Building Safety department has jurisdiction and the published fee schedule applies.

What makes this neighbourhood different from Wolflin is the second approval. Two Texas nonprofit corporations are on record: the Colonies Master Association, Inc., chartered 31 August 2001, and Colonies Unit No. 9 Master Association, Inc., chartered 28 September 2001. We could not verify whether either publishes architectural guidelines or operates a review committee, and we will not assert that they do. What we will say is that where a master association exists, the sensible assumption is that your deed carries covenants and that an architectural approval is likely to be required.

Two things worth knowing about that process under Texas law. An architectural committee decision is presumed reasonable, and the burden is on the owner to show it was arbitrary, capricious or discriminatory. And in an association with more than 40 lots, a denial has to come in writing with reasons, and the board has to hear an appeal within 30 days of the request. That second provision is the one people do not know they have.

All five of these neighbourhoods sit inside the Amarillo city limits, so the City's Building Safety department has jurisdiction. Amarillo adopted the 2021 I-Codes effective January 2024: the 2021 IBC under Ordinance 8082, the 2021 Residential Code under Ordinance 8086, the 2021 Mechanical, Plumbing, Fuel Gas, Existing Building and Fire Codes under their own ordinances, the 2015 Energy Conservation Code and the 2023 National Electrical Code.

The permit trigger is quoted on the City's own page: any owner or authorised agent who intends to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish or change the occupancy of a building or structure shall first make application to the building official and obtain the required permit.

The exemption list is where patio covers get decided, and it does not include them. The exemptions are one-storey detached accessory structures such as tool sheds and playhouses under 200 square feet; decks under 200 square feet that are no more than 30 inches above grade, not attached to a dwelling and not serving the required exit door; and window awnings projecting no more than 54 inches. There is no exemption listed for patio covers or carports, and an attached cover is not detached. So an attached patio cover in Amarillo requires a building permit.

Fees are published: residential remodel or addition at $0.32 per square foot with a $135 minimum, new construction at $0.50 per square foot, residential plan review at $81, a $13 technology fee on every permit, revision of plans $81 and re-inspection $68. That is a per-square-foot basis rather than a valuation table, which makes an Amarillo permit one of the few you can predict before you apply.