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Certificate of Occupancy

A Certificate of Occupancy ensures that a building or land use complies with local codes and ordinances. Automatically issued for new buildings upon permit completion, a new certificate may be required for changes in use, square footage, or floor plans.

  • CONTACT INFORMATION
  • building@amarillo.gov
  • 806-378-3041
  • 806-378-3085
  • Simms Municipal Building
    808 S Buchanan St
    Suite 104
    Amarillo, TX 79101
  • Office Hours:
    Monday – Friday
    8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Applying for Certificate of Occupancy

Per City ordinance Sec. 4-10-21

“No land shall hereafter be used unless a Certificate of Occupancy and Compliance shall have been issued by the Building Official of the City, stating that the building or proposed use of land or Building complies with the provisions of this chapter and other Building laws of the City. A Certificate of Occupancy only permit is granted when there is a change of use or no Certificate of Occupancy was ever issued, and no alteration or addition are to be done. If alterations or addition are to be done, you will need to submit for a remodel/repair with a registered contractor.”

A Certificate of Occupancy permit is granted when no alterations or additions are to be made, but one of the following applies.

  • No Certificate of Occupancy was ever issued
  • There is a change of use

Every new commercial and residential building will automatically have a Certificate of Occupancy issued at the time the permit is completed. If alterations or additions are to be done on an existing commercial building, you will need to submit for a remodel/repair permit with a registered contractor and Certificate of Occupancy will be issued at the time of completion.

For permitting information and instructions, visit: amarillo.gov/building-safety/permitting-software-mgo.
View the short video introduction and then click on the blue →Access MGO Connect← to access the online portal.

Required Drawings

Site Plan Detail Sheet: Include property lines with dimensions, streets, and alleys. Existing building locations and sizes; parking lot location(s) and size, parking stalls and size.

Floor Plan Detail Sheet: Include size/ shape of entire building; layout of rooms to include use; dimensions; size/ location of windows and doors to include door swing. Also note the ceiling, floor, and wall finishing. All emergency lighting and egress plan.

Additional Requirements
Includes any Type of Kitchen or Bar Area

If you are applying for a Certificate of Occupancy and there is any type of kitchen or bar area, you will need to supply the grease trap calculation with engineer stamp. Final inspections from Building Safety and the Fire Marshal’s Office are required, with an additional inspection from Environmental Health if there will be food/drink services or sales. Refer to your permit for which inspection to schedule.

New or Used Auto Sales/Car Lot

If you are applying for a Certificate of Occupancy for a new or used auto sales/car lot, please see the TxDMV Dealership Premises Checklist. If any of the requirements on that checklist require construction, then you will need to have a general contractor apply for a repair/remodel. Your Certificate of Occupancy will be issued at the completion of the remodel. If you will be sharing an existing space, you will have to apply for an address change to include suite numbers for the offices. (Visit amarillo.gov/building-safety and see the “How do I apply for an address?” FAQ for instructions.

For additional details regarding a Commercial Certificate of Occupancy Application, please visit MGO Connect.

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If you encounter incorrect or substandard translations, you can help improve them by contributing better translations using Google Translate:

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Please note that the City of Amarillo does not control the process by which contributed translations are incorporated into Google Translate.

The City of Amarillo is dedicated to enhancing the accessibility and multilingual content available on our website.

City of Amarillo: Property Taxes Rebated Per Year by Agreement Type 

Overview 

The chart shows the dollar amounts of property taxes rebated per year over the last five fiscal years, broken down by agreement type. There were no Chapter 380 property tax rebates in the first two years listed. The total amount increased slightly each year, with a more significant increase in the most recent year. 

Values 

Numerical values presented on the image: 

 

Fiscal Year 2020/2021 

Fiscal Year 2021/2022 

Fiscal Year 2022/2023 

Fiscal Year 2023/2024 

Fiscal Year 2024/2025 

Chapter 311 

$533,080 

$547,426 

$574,947 

$591,249 

$821,350 

Chapter 380 

$0 

$0 

$37,387 

$39,172 

$61,013 

Presentation 

The bar chart shows the amount of property taxes rebated in the past five fiscal years, broken down by agreement type. The horizontal axis shows each of the past five fiscal years and the vertical axis shows the dollar amount rebated. For each fiscal year there is vertical column, comprised of two stacked columns, each of which representing the different agreement types. 

City of Amarillo: Number of Tax Abatements Granted Per Year 

Overview 

The chart shows the number of businesses that received a tax abatement from the City of Amarillo in the past five fiscal years. The 2020/21 and 2021/22 fiscal years each had four active abatements, 2022/23 had five, and 2023/24 and 2024/25 each had seven. 

Values 

Numerical values presented on the image: 

 

Fiscal Year 2020/2021 

Fiscal Year 2021/2022 

Fiscal Year 2022/2023 

Fiscal Year 2023/2024 

Fiscal Year 2024/2025 

Active Abatements Per Year 

4 

4 

5 

7 

7 

Presentation 

The bar chart shows the number of businesses that received a tax abatement from the City of Amarillo in the past five fiscal years. The horizontal axis shows each of the past five fiscal years and the vertical axis shows the number of active abatements each year. Each year has one column, with the height indicating number of active abatements in that year.

Amount of Taxes Abated Per Year 

Overview 

The chart shows the dollar amounts abated over the past five fiscal years from Chapter 312 tax abatement agreements. Each fiscal year shows a larger dollar amount abated, with minor growth over the first three years, a higher increase in the fourth year, and minor growth again in the fifth year. 

Values 

Numerical values presented on the image: 

 

Fiscal Year 2020/2021 

Fiscal Year 2021/2022 

Fiscal Year 2022/2023 

Fiscal Year 2023/2024 

Fiscal Year 2024/2025 

Taxes Abated by City of Amarillo 

$510,061 

$623,017 

$679,849 

$965,261 

$1,143,899 

Total Abated by All Entities Including City of Amarillo 

$1,569,512 

$1,926,332 

$2,103,099 

$2,884,936 

$2,959,496 

Presentation 

The bar chart represents the amount of taxes abated over the past five fiscal years. The horizontal axis shows each of the past five fiscal years and the vertical axis shows the dollar amount abated. The bar representing taxes abated by the City of Amarillo is sightly offset to the side of the bar representing the amount abated by all participating tax entities for each fiscal year. This shows that the amount abated by the City of Amarillo is a part of the total amount abated by all entities.

City of Amarillo: Taxes Rebated Per Year by Type 

Overview 

This chart shows the dollar amounts rebated by the City of Amarillo from economic development incentive agreements over the past five fiscal years. Each year is broken down by rebate type, including property tax rebates, hotel occupancy tax rebates, and sales tax rebates. Each fiscal year shows a slight increase in total dollars rebated, with a more drastic increase in the most recent fiscal year. 

Values 

Numerical values presented on the image: 

 

Fiscal Year 2020/2021 

Fiscal Year 2021/2022 

Fiscal Year 2022/2023 

Fiscal Year 2023/2024 

Fiscal Year 2024/2025 

Property Tax Rebates 

$533,080 

$547,426 

$612,334 

$630,421 

$882,363 

Hotel Occupancy Tax Rebates 

$686,747 

$753,112 

$794,828 

$871,423 

$808,348 

Sales Tax Rebates 

$0 

$21,046 

$55,528 

$45,881 

$368,716 

 

Presentation 

The bar chart represents the amount rebated by the City of Amarillo for each type of tax rebate over the past five fiscal years. The horizontal axis shows each of the past five fiscal years and the vertical axis shows the dollar amount rebated. The different rebate types are stacked vertically in each fiscal year, with the height representing the total dollar amount rebated.