QD Design is a HUB-certified architecture and MEP engineering firm based in Cypress, Texas — northwest Houston — that produces complete commercial permit sets for the Houston metro: architectural drawings plus sealed mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering under one contract, led by a Texas-licensed Professional Engineer. The Houston area is our home market and our deepest portfolio: industrial renovations, medical clinics, restaurants, cleanrooms, warehouses, churches, and franchise buildouts, permitted through City of Houston DSD and the surrounding suburban jurisdictions.
Houston Project Experience
Inside the city limits, our completed work includes:
- Star Pipe 25,250 SF industrial facility renovation — full MEP on Westhollow Parkway. Schematic design approved 7 days after contract signing; permit secured on a 3–4 week total design schedule.
- 17,000 SF medical clinic campus on Bellaire Boulevard — architecture, civil, structural, and MEP for three buildings under one design contract, with IECC 2021 energy documentation for City of Houston review.
- Multi-tenant food hall in the Bellaire Boulevard Asiatown corridor — architecture + MEP together, resolving multiple Type I hoods, grease routing, and tenant metering through several City of Houston plan-review cycles.
- 4,000 SF pharmaceutical cleanroom on Northchase Drive — HEPA filtration, precision temperature and humidity control, and redundant power, sealed and permitted through City of Houston DSD.
- Dual warehouse buildings (5,400 + 4,700 SF) at 6222 South Rice Avenue — two-building MEP with one-line diagrams and energy compliance in one coordinated package.
- Food production and distribution facility — process HVAC, washdown-rated electrical, and sanitary drainage that kept pace with changing production equipment.
- 1,325 SF breakroom TI inside a mission-critical campus on Milner Road — City of Houston IECC 405.11 receptacle-control comments resolved in a single response cycle.
- Underwood Business Park shell + TI, plus MEP for the Redeemed Christian Church facility and a Vietnamese Baptist church gymnasium addition with a main electrical service upgrade.
Suburbs We Permit In
Houston permits aren’t one jurisdiction — they’re dozens. We’ve earned approvals across the metro:
- Cypress: med-spa and wellness center on Mueschke Road — architecture, civil, and MEP through Harris County review and TDLR registration.
- Katy: F45 + FS8 dual fitness studios at 3170 Peek Road — A/E design with parallel Harris County permits and TDLR filings.
- Sugar Land: Montessori school commercial kitchen — three parallel reviewers (city building department, city health department, Fort Bend County Fire Marshal), 38 documented review cycles, building permit about 30 days after first submittal.
- Pearland: Hand & Stone massage spa (our second location for this franchise) and Pearland Building 9 office/warehouse with TDLR coordination.
- Tomball: La Reserva meat market, 6,000 SF — a 25-comment deficiency notice answered to approval, including Type I hood suppression and walk-in cooler envelope compliance.
- League City: Ivy Kids daycare and a Gulf Freeway convenience store approved in two review cycles.
- Humble: Golden Chick QSR on FM 1960 — Type I hood, three-phase kitchen power, grease interceptor sizing.
- Webster: 4,000 to 10,000 SF building expansion — all six disciplines on a four-to-five-week design schedule.
- Pasadena: 3,000 SF veterinary clinic carried through multiple submit-response cycles, including NEC 250 grounding comments.
Each major suburb also has a dedicated page with local reviewers, permit notes, and project-type services: Cypress · Katy · Sugar Land · Pearland · Tomball · League City · Bellaire · Humble.
City of Houston DSD, iPermits, and County Review
We submit and track projects through Houston’s Development Services Department and its iPermits online system, and we answer plan-review comments in writing until the permit is issued — that’s standard scope, not an extra. Outside the city, we work Harris County and Fort Bend County reviews, suburban building and health departments, and county fire marshals. Statewide, projects over the $50,000 TDLR statutory threshold need Texas Accessibility Standards registration and review; we handle the TDLR filing and coordinate the RAS inspection path as part of the package.
What We Design in Houston
Restaurants and commercial kitchens (NFPA 96 hood systems, grease waste), medical, dental, and veterinary clinics, med-spas, retail and franchise TIs, fitness studios, daycares and schools, churches, warehouses and shell buildings, food production plants, and cleanrooms. Current Houston-area work is reviewed under IBC, IMC, IPC, and IFC 2021, NEC 2020 or 2023 depending on jurisdiction, IECC 2021 with COMcheck documentation, and TAS.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need sealed MEP drawings for a City of Houston commercial permit?
For most commercial projects, yes. City of Houston plan review expects architectural drawings plus mechanical, electrical, and plumbing plans sealed by a Texas-licensed engineer, with energy code documentation such as COMcheck. QD Design produces the full set under one contract, so the architectural and MEP sheets are coordinated before the city ever sees them.
How long does a Houston commercial permit set take to design?
Typical tenant-improvement packages run 3–5 weeks from contract to submittal. On the fast end, our 25,250 SF Star Pipe industrial renovation had schematic design approved 7 days after signing and permit documents delivered on a 3–4 week overall schedule. Review time after submittal depends on the jurisdiction and project complexity.
Do you handle suburbs like Katy, Sugar Land, and Pearland, or just Houston proper?
Both. We have completed permits in Cypress, Katy, Sugar Land, Pearland, Tomball, League City, Humble, Webster, Pasadena, and unincorporated Harris and Fort Bend Counties. Each suburb enforces its own amendments and review habits; several of our projects there were approved with comments we anticipated from prior work in the same office.
Who handles TDLR accessibility review for my Houston project?
We do. Texas requires TDLR registration and Texas Accessibility Standards review for construction projects valued over the $50,000 statutory threshold. QD Design files the registration and coordinates the accessibility review alongside the building permit — it ran in parallel on our Katy fitness studios, Cypress med-spa, and Pearland projects.
What happens if the city sends back plan-review comments?
We answer them — every round, until the permit is issued, as part of standard scope. Our Tomball meat market cleared a 25-comment deficiency notice, and our Sugar Land Montessori kitchen ran 38 review cycles across three agencies and still reached permit in about 30 days from first submittal.
Start Your Houston Project
One firm, one contract, a permit-ready set — designed by a team that already knows your reviewer. Send us your floor plan — fee proposal within one business day.