For a Texas health facility project reviewed by Health and Human Services’ architectural program, a local building permit is only one piece of the closeout. The HHSC Architectural Review Unit final-inspection instructions call for project-specific local fire and building approval documents in the package. If you need to establish which approvals the state received, request the HHSC project file or final-inspection package and identify the signed local documents separately. A scheduled HHSC inspection, local approval and facility license are different records.
Identify the facility and the project
The ARU instructions concern regulated facility types listed in that document, including hospitals and certain other licensed health facilities. They are not a rule for every health-related building in Texas. Start with the facility name and street address, regulated facility type, project description and approximate inspection period. Add the HHSC application or architectural project number if known. For a hospital campus, describe the exact building, addition or remodeled area; the existing facility license may cover more space than the project being closed.
Ask whether the record you need is the local fire approval, the local building approval, the HHSC architectural final-inspection result, or a resulting licensing decision. This choice determines the custodian. A local city or county may hold its own approval, while HHSC holds the submitted package and state review. Our final inspection status guide explains why one passed discipline does not prove every final step was complete.
Match the two local approvals to the state package
Sections 8.1 and 8.2 of the ARU-22 instructions provide a useful document check:
- Fire authority: Look for the signed and dated approval from the local fire authority indicating no deficient items. The instructions call for project identifiers and the fire marshal’s badge number. A fire inspection appointment or unsigned checklist is not that approval.
- Building authority: Look for the signed local building inspector approval and project identifiers. The instructions address a certificate of occupancy for an initial licensed facility and allow a temporary or conditional certificate for an existing licensed facility. Where no local building-inspection department exists, the instructions describe a signed and sealed architect letter route. Do not apply that alternative merely because a copy is missing from a search.
- State result: Ask which version of those documents HHSC received and whether the state’s final-inspection record identifies outstanding items. The two local approvals do not, by themselves, demonstrate that HHSC completed its review or issued a license.
These items come from the ARU-22 revision dated January 1, 2021. For an older project, use its actual application date and the version HHSC applied. Section 8 directs reopening of a previously licensed facility to Section 9; its checklist should not be applied unchanged to that case. Section 8 includes other materials, so this two-document check is not a substitute for the complete HHSC package.
Use the ARU application number and the project phase
HHSC’s Architectural Review Unit page adds three details that make a records request precise:
- Application numbers by era: current projects are filed through HHSC’s TULIP online system. The page says projects whose application number is a five-digit number starting with 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17 continue in the older process without registering in TULIP. A five-digit number in that range points to a pre-TULIP file; give it exactly as written.
- One final inspection per phase: ARU conducts a final architectural inspection on each phase of a project and may also do intermediate inspections. A phased hospital addition can have several final inspection records, so name the phase or area you need.
- Occupancy depends on the final form: the page says the Final Architectural Inspection Form is required before patients can occupy the facility. If a wing was in use, that form for its phase is the document to ask for; a local certificate of occupancy alone doesn’t stand in for it.
ARU lists separate mailboxes for applications, inspection requests and plans of correction. General questions go to AskARU@hhs.texas.gov. A plan of correction after an inspection is its own document, so a file may show a deficiency list, then a correction plan, then the final form.
Ask the custodian for a specific file
HHSC’s Form 4700 instructions cover requests to see or copy HHSC records, and say a written request may be accepted in place of the form. Use it to request the ARU final-inspection or architectural project file, naming the facility, ARU application number, phase, date range and documents wanted. The instructions say there’s no charge to inspect a record in standard form, while copies are charged. Ask for the final inspection form and the local fire and building approvals submitted with it, rather than the facility’s entire licensing history. If you only need the original municipal fire or building approval, ask that local issuing office using the same project identifiers; HHSC’s copy and the local agency’s file may use different numbers.
If an HHSC response contains only an inspection schedule or a deficiency letter, ask whether a later response, clearance or final determination exists. An empty search leaves the approval question unresolved. Check the facility’s current and former names and the relevant project period, then ask the custodian whether another project file holds the missing document. A certificate or license for one phase does not automatically cover later additions. Our permit-versus-CO guide explains the related occupancy distinction.
For another Texas state record that pairs a temporary approval with a later inspection, see our Texas boiler records guide.
HHSC Architectural Review Unit page and Form 4700 instructions checked October 20, 2026; ARU-22 instructions checked September 29, 2026.