What we check
Every constraint, in the order it matters.
VALITER runs the same library of checks on every site, in five stages. Each stage depends on the one before it, so the deal-killers surface first and nothing downstream is built on a guess.
Five stages
One route through the site
Where and whose, then legal footing, then the land, then service, then the shape. A check never runs ahead of the facts it depends on.
Four answers
Every check returns one of four answers
No check is allowed to return a guess. Each answer carries its source and how sure we are.
Clear
The record answers the question and nothing stands in the way. You see the source.
Requirement
Something you will have to do, such as a plat, a permit, a study or a letter. It lands on your path, in order.
Conflict
Two sources disagree, or a rule and a fact cannot both be true. Conflicts rank above unknowns, because acting on the wrong one costs the most.
Unknown
We could not confirm it yet. Unknown is never treated as a pass. It comes with who to ask and how to find out.
Stage 1 · Where and whose
Where and whose
Before any rule can apply, we have to know exactly which land this is, whose rules govern it, and what is already recorded against it.
Parcel identity
The appraisal district record, legal description, acreage, owner of record and parcel shape, matched to the site you sent us.
- Why it can stop a deal
- The wrong parcel, an acreage mismatch or a legal description that reads as a partial lot changes every answer after it.
- Where it comes from
- County appraisal district and county GIS.
- Who decides
- A surveyor confirms the boundary. We flag what the record shows.
Jurisdiction
City limits, extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), unincorporated county, special districts such as MUDs and groundwater districts, and the utility service areas the state maps.
- Why it can stop a deal
- Jurisdiction decides whose code applies and who approves each step. Map layers often lag the law. We treat an ETJ release as real only when a recorded document shows it.
- Where it comes from
- City and county GIS, state utility service area maps, recorded city resolutions.
- Who decides
- The city or county. Disputed boundaries go to your attorney.
Title pre-screen
Recorded plats, easements, deed restrictions and development agreements we can find in public records.
- Why it can stop a deal
- A restriction can bar the use you plan. An easement can sit exactly where the building needs to go. A development agreement can bind the next owner.
- Where it comes from
- County clerk records and recorded plats. A full title commitment comes later.
- Who decides
- Your title company and attorney.
Stage 2 · Legal footing
Legal footing
Next, whether the property is a legal lot you can build on, and which version of each rule it is entitled to.
Legal lot and plat status
Whether the land is a platted lot or unplatted acreage, and whether its current shape was ever approved.
- Why it can stop a deal
- In many Texas cities and ETJs, utilities and permits can be withheld until the lot is legally platted. Fixing it means a plat or replat, and that has its own triggers.
- Where it comes from
- Recorded plats, the appraisal district legal description, subdivision rules.
- Who decides
- The planning commission or the commissioners court, depending on jurisdiction.
Right-of-way and road reservations
Thoroughfare and transportation plans that can require land for future roads when the property is platted or replatted.
- Why it can stop a deal
- A required dedication or road reservation can take frontage and buildable area that the deal was priced on. It usually surfaces at platting, after the money is spent.
- Where it comes from
- Thoroughfare plans, transportation plans and subdivision rules.
- Who decides
- The city or county, at plat approval.
Vesting (grandfathering)
Texas law lets many projects keep the rules in effect when the first permit application was filed. We work out that date, and then which rules are exempt from it.
- Why it can stop a deal
- Vesting decides which version of each rule applies, and whether a pending code rewrite reaches your project. Some categories, such as utility connections, fees and certain flood rules, apply as of today regardless.
- Where it comes from
- Permit and application history, development agreements, state law.
- Who decides
- The city or county applies it. Your attorney confirms any vesting claim.
Stage 3 · The land
The land
Then the physical constraints. Several of these remove land before any percentage is applied, so the order inside this stage matters too.
Watershed and aquifer
The local watershed class and whether the site sits over the Edwards Aquifer recharge, contributing or transition zone.
- Why it can stop a deal
- These can cap impervious cover, add water quality requirements and require a state plan to be approved before construction starts.
- Where it comes from
- City watershed maps and state Edwards Aquifer program maps.
- Who decides
- The city or county, and the state environmental agency for Edwards rules.
Floodplain
Effective FEMA flood maps, preliminary maps that are coming, and any local floodplain drawn from newer rainfall data.
- Why it can stop a deal
- Floodplain can remove buildable area, require the building to sit higher, or limit how much you can spend improving an existing building before it must fully comply.
- Where it comes from
- FEMA flood hazard data and local floodplain maps.
- Who decides
- The local floodplain administrator.
Creek buffers
Water quality buffers and setbacks along creeks and drainage ways.
- Why it can stop a deal
- Buffers come out of the site before impervious cover is calculated, so a creek at the back of the lot can shrink the building more than it seems.
- Where it comes from
- City and county environmental maps and code.
- Who decides
- The city or county environmental reviewer.
Impervious cover
How much of the site can be paved or roofed, compared with what is already there, after buffers, floodplain and slope are taken out.
- Why it can stop a deal
- If the program needs more cover than the rules allow, the building shrinks or the plan changes. Every number we give here is a screening estimate.
- Where it comes from
- Watershed rules, aerial imagery of existing cover, elevation data for slope.
- Who decides
- The city or county. Your civil engineer confirms the numbers.
Environmental
Protected species habitat, karst and other sensitive features, wetlands and known environmental records near the site.
- Why it can stop a deal
- Habitat or a sensitive feature can mean surveys, mitigation or a changed footprint, each with its own clock.
- Where it comes from
- Federal and state environmental data and regional habitat plans.
- Who decides
- Federal and state agencies, through your environmental consultant.
Stage 4 · Service
Service
Can the site be reached, served and protected? These answers usually come from a utility or an agency, not a map.
Access
Frontage, who owns the road (state, county or city), driveway permit rules, driveway spacing and when a traffic study is required.
- Why it can stop a deal
- Too little spacing between driveways, or a state highway frontage with strict access rules, can move the entrance, add a study or cut the program.
- Where it comes from
- State and local access management rules and road ownership records.
- Who decides
- The state transportation department, county or city, depending on the road.
Water, wastewater and septic
The water and sewer provider for the site, distance to lines, available capacity and what a will-serve letter needs. Without sewer, whether an on-site septic system (OSSF) can work.
- Why it can stop a deal
- No capacity, a long line extension, or soils that cannot take a septic system can stop a site or change it.
- Where it comes from
- Utility service area maps, utility staff, county septic rules.
- Who decides
- The utility. The county or its authorized agent for septic.
Fire flow
The water flow the adopted fire code requires for your building size, construction type and sprinklers, compared with what the utility can deliver at pressure.
- Why it can stop a deal
- A short answer can mean a fire pump, on-site water storage or a redesign. Teams often find out after design is far along.
- Where it comes from
- The adopted fire code, a utility flow test.
- Who decides
- The fire marshal sets the requirement. The utility answers what is available.
Power
The electric provider, the distance to three-phase service, and what the provider says about equipment lead times.
- Why it can stop a deal
- Equipment waits can outlast the rest of the schedule. Line extensions can add cost no one priced.
- Where it comes from
- Electric service territory maps and the provider.
- Who decides
- The electric provider.
Stage 5 · The shape
The shape
Last, what can actually be built. These checks run at the end because they depend on every answer above.
Setbacks and building envelope
Setbacks, building lines on the plat, height limits, easements and landscape buffers, combined into the area where a building can actually go.
- Why it can stop a deal
- The envelope is where earlier answers add up. Road reservations, buffers and easements can leave a smaller pad than the deal assumed.
- Where it comes from
- Zoning or county rules, the recorded plat, the title pre-screen.
- Who decides
- The city or county.
Drainage
Whether detention or water quality controls are likely, and roughly where they would need to go.
- Why it can stop a deal
- Ponds take land. We flag the likely need. Sizing and design are engineering work.
- Where it comes from
- Drainage rules and criteria manuals.
- Who decides
- Your civil engineer designs it. The city or county approves it.
Full title review
The title commitment and its listed exceptions, read against the plan.
- Why it can stop a deal
- An exception found at closing can undo an assumption the plan relied on.
- Where it comes from
- Your title commitment.
- Who decides
- Your title company and attorney.
Professional gates
Some answers belong to a licensed professional. We mark each one in the report so nobody mistakes a screening result for a decision.
VALITER is decision support. We find the requirement, show the source, and tell you who has to confirm it. When a question needs a civil engineer, surveyor, title company or attorney, we say so and hand off what we found.
- Drainage design and pond sizing. Your civil engineer.
- Boundary and easement locations. Your surveyor.
- Title exceptions and deed restrictions. Your title company and attorney.
- Vesting claims and disputed jurisdiction. Your attorney.
- Fire protection design. Your fire protection engineer, with the fire marshal.
- Wetlands and habitat findings. Your environmental consultant.
Go deeper
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See what the checks find on your site.
Send us an address and what you want to build. We will show you what applies, what is unknown and your next move.