How Texas architecture firms find public projects
A public building project leaves public records, from the bond election to the state registration. Here's what each one tells you. Or start with the projects near your office:
The public chain, step by step
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The owner puts a bond on the ballot
School districts, cities and counties take building bonds to voters. The Texas Bond Review Board publishes each local bond election: the issuer, election date, amount on the ballot, purpose as written and the result. Its dataset covers "election data for local government Issuers, including cities, community college districts, counties, hospital districts, independent school districts, other special districts and water districts".
Read it with care. A blank result means the result isn't posted yet, not that the bond failed. Election-night counts are unofficial; results are official after the local canvass (Texas Election Code chapter 67). The amount is the principal on the ballot, not a construction budget, and the purpose text is the only project list the record holds.
Public record: Local Debt Bond Election Results, Texas Bond Review Board.
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The owner selects a design firm on qualifications
Texas law sets the order: qualifications first, then the fee.
"In procuring architectural, engineering, or land surveying services, a governmental entity shall: (1) first select the most highly qualified provider of those services on the basis of demonstrated competence and qualifications; and (2) then attempt to negotiate with that provider a contract at a fair and reasonable price."
Texas Government Code §2254.004(a)The same chapter bars choosing these services "on the basis of competitive bids". How each owner runs its selection is up to that owner: check each RFQ and follow it. More on qualifications-based selection
Where to look: each owner's own solicitation and board minutes. We don't read these yet.
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The design firm draws it
Design happens between the selection and the state registration. The next record we read appears once the plans are issued and submitted to TDLR.
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The project is registered with TDLR
Under the state's accessibility law the plans and specifications go to TDLR "not later than the 20th day after the date the person issues the plans and specifications", and the owner may not allow a building permit application to be filed, or construction to begin, before they're submitted (Texas Government Code §469.102). TDLR's fact sheet: "Projects with total estimated costs of $50,000 or more must be registered with TDLR."
So by the time a project is on TABS, it usually names a design firm: 88 of 102 public building projects (86%) registered in the last 4 weeks did. The Texas Board of Architectural Examiners' roster and search tell you whether that firm is registered to offer architecture.
Public records: TDLR TABS and the TBAE firm roster. How to read a TABS record.
What each record is good for
Bond elections
Which owners near you are asking for building money, how much and for what, as written on the ballot. An early public signal that a new round of building may be coming.
TABS registrations
Who is designing what, for which owner, and roughly how big (the estimated cost the filer entered). Mostly work already under way, so it tells you about your market and your competitors, not about an open job.
An owner's earlier registrations
The design firms a district has used on its past TABS projects. Useful context before its next selection. We've read this history for some districts so far, and each bond item says whether we have.
RFQs and board minutes
Where an owner announces a selection. We don't read them yet, so we don't send selection dates or say when one is coming.
The last 4 weeks in numbers
From this week's engine run over TDLR and Bond Review Board records, to . A building project is a TABS registration with public funds, by a public owner, with an estimated cost entered on TABS of $250,000 or more, not civil or site work and not finished.
| What | Count |
|---|---|
| Public building projects registered statewide | 102 |
| ... of which named a design firm | 88 (86%) |
| School-district building projects | 37 |
| ... of which named a design firm | 33 |
| Within 75 miles of the typical Texas architecture firm (median) | 25 |
| Middle half of firms | 18 to 32 |
Firms: 1,773 active Texas architecture firms on the TBAE roster, each measured from its office ZIP; 15 of them had none within 75 miles.
Where bondpassed fits
We read the bond elections, TABS registrations and the TBAE roster every week, and send you one list on Monday:
- The public building projects registered with the state within 75 miles of your office, with the design firm on each.
- The school, city and county bonds on the ballot near you, marked "no official result yet" until one is official.
- For the districts whose history we've read, the design firms on their earlier TABS projects.
- A link from every line to the state record.
What we don't do yet:
- RFQ alerts and selection dates.
- Any state but Texas.
- Community-college and hospital-district bonds.
- Private projects.
Questions
How do Texas public owners choose an architect?
On qualifications first, then price. Texas Government Code §2254.004(a) says: "In procuring architectural, engineering, or land surveying services, a governmental entity shall: (1) first select the most highly qualified provider of those services on the basis of demonstrated competence and qualifications; and (2) then attempt to negotiate with that provider a contract at a fair and reasonable price." The chapter also bars selecting these services "on the basis of competitive bids".
Is a project on TABS an open job?
Mostly not. Plans have to be submitted to TDLR within 20 days of being issued, so most projects on TABS already name a design firm: 88 of 102 public building projects (86%) in the last 4 weeks. What a registration tells you is who is designing what near you, and which owners are building.
Does bondpassed tell me when an RFQ is coming?
No. We don't read RFQs or board minutes yet, so we don't send selection dates or say when an owner will pick an architect. We show the public records that come before and after a selection: bond elections and state registrations.
When do you say a bond passed?
Only when the Texas Bond Review Board marks it Carried or the county posts its official canvass. Until then it reads "no official result yet". If a bond lost in the county's unofficial count, we take it off the list.
Can I contact an owner about a project I see?
Follow each owner's solicitation rules. bondpassed shows public records; it doesn't tell you whom to contact or when. Check each RFQ and do what it says.
Next step
Enter your ZIP, city or firm name above to see this week's list for your region, or start the trial and get it every Monday. $399/mo per region. Founding firms: $199/mo for 12 months. 14-day free trial, no card.
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Where the data comes from: each source, how often we read it, and what it does and doesn't prove.
Sources
Outside sources quoted on this page. Our own numbers come from this week's engine run, and each line in your list links to its record.
- Texas Legislature: Government Code chapter 2254, read .
- Texas Legislature: Government Code chapter 469, read .
- Texas Legislature: Election Code chapter 67, read .
- Texas Bond Review Board: Local Debt Bond Election Results, read .
- TDLR: EAB At a Glance (PDF), read .
- TDLR: TABS project search, read .
- Texas Board of Architectural Examiners: Firm roster download, read .