Dallas Contractor Registration: DallasNow, Business Records, and Permits

Choose contractor registration in DallasNow

The city’s current guide places general contractors in the Contractor Registration module under General Registrations. Electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and fire contractors have their own registration categories. Start with the category that matches the work and the business.

Creating a DallasNow login is not the same as having an approved contractor registration. Keep the account login, contractor-registration record, and individual project-permit numbers distinct. When attaching the contractor to a project, confirm that the correct registration record is active.

Official sources: Dallas: Planning and Development guide and DallasNow instructions.

Prepare the business information and authorization

The city’s guide explains that a contractor operating from a home address within Dallas may use a notarized Home Occupation Declaration instead of a Certificate of Occupancy for the contractor registration. It also distinguishes the applicant, contacts, delegates, and contractor record within DallasNow.

Prepare the business name and address consistently across the registration and supporting documents. Identify the person submitting the application and anyone who will need access to manage projects. A useful pre-submission check is to compare the company identity on the registration, the name on the proposed contract, and the contractor selected in the permit application.

For a project involving regulated trades, record the appropriate specialty contractor separately. Adding someone as a project contact should not be treated as proof that the company holds the correct trade registration.

Official sources: Dallas: Planning and Development guide and DallasNow instructions.

Why this guide does not quote an old registration fee

Dallas’s online development guide warns that some displayed registration categories contain prior fee amounts and directs applicants to the live DallasNow fee due before payment. The separate fee page publishes the city’s fee guide effective July 1, 2025. Neither an old application PDF nor a proposed-fee study should be treated as proof of today’s registration charge.

Save the itemized registration charge displayed for your application. Budget project plan-review and permit charges separately. Dallas’s fee page also explains that, from October 2025, selected commercial permit fees are collected at the end of pre-screening; it says that change does not yet apply to residential records. This affects payment timing, not whether the contractor registration itself has been approved.

Official sources: Dallas: Planning and Development guide and DallasNow instructions; Dallas: current fee publication and collection process.

Do not confuse the housing-program application with registration

Dallas also publishes a “General Contractor Application” through its Housing and Homelessness Division. That page directs applicants to the Neighborly Contractor Portal and housing-program documentation. It serves a different purpose from the Planning and Development contractor registration in DallasNow.

If you are applying to perform work through a city housing program, keep that application as its own file. For an ordinary private construction project, start with the permitting department’s registration and project-permit route. The shared phrase “general contractor application” is not evidence that the two approvals are interchangeable.

Official sources: Dallas: separate housing-program contractor application; Dallas: commercial permitting and registration renewal.

Maintain the registration and the project record separately

Dallas’s commercial permitting page directs contractors to renew registration through DallasNow or the Permit Service Center. Use the expiration and status attached to your registration record when planning renewal. Separately track the project’s review, issuance, inspection, and closeout status.

For each new job, keep a short record containing the contractor registration selected, project address, building-permit number, specialty contractors, and the party responsible for city correspondence. A renewed company registration does not tell you whether a particular project permit has been issued.

Official sources: Dallas: commercial permitting and registration renewal.

Primary Sources

• Dallas: Planning and Development guide and DallasNow instructions
• Dallas: current fee publication and collection process
• Dallas: separate housing-program contractor application
• Dallas: commercial permitting and registration renewal

The requirements above come from the cited agencies and official rules. Examples, budgeting distinctions, and document-organization suggestions are editorial guidance, not additional agency requirements.