Casitas, Guest Houses and ADUs in El Paso, TX
In the City of El Paso, Texas, residential zoning allows a casita when the lot and the design meet Municipal Code 20.10.035. The code's name for a casita with its own kitchen and bath is accessory dwelling unit, attached or detached, and it needs a City building permit. Sage Intelligence designs and builds casitas to that code.
Most El Pasoans say casita. The City's code says accessory dwelling unit, and section 20.10.035 decides what fits your lot. Sage designs and builds casitas, guest houses and in-law suites on paper first: the lot read against the zoning, where water, sewer and power can reach the unit checked with the licensed trades, and the unit drawn to match the house before the building permit for Sage's scope is pulled. Licensed electricians, plumbers and mechanical contractors bring power, water, sewer, and heating and cooling under their own licenses and permits, on a schedule Sage coordinates, and Sage stays your one point of contact. A detached casita is new construction, and when the house on the lot was built before 1978, the Feasibility Audit keeps Sage's scope off the house's painted surfaces. Attached units and garage conversions open walls of the existing house, so Sage takes those on for homes built in 1978 or later.
Scope, documented.
Everything below is defined and locked in writing at Scope Lock, before demo begins. Anything added later needs your written approval first.
Work that disturbs paint in a home built before 1978 must be done by an EPA-certified firm, and Sage is not one. Tell us the year your home was built when you send photos.
- Detached casitas and guest houses built as new construction
- Attached ADUs and in-law suites, for homes built in 1978 or later
- Garage-to-casita conversions, for homes built in 1978 or later
- Lot, zoning district and ADU standards read before design
- Footings, framing, roof and stucco matched to the main house
- Kitchen and bath cabinetry, counters, tile and finishes
- Design renders for your review and your HOA submittal
- City permit for Sage's own scope, with inspections scheduled around each trade
Can I build a casita in my backyard in El Paso, Texas?
Yes, if the lot is in one of the City's residential zoning districts and the casita meets Municipal Code 20.10.035. The City's planning FAQ says a residentially zoned lot may hold only one single-family dwelling, and that an accessory dwelling unit is allowed as long as it complies with section 20.10.035. Title 20's Table of Permissible Uses lists the accessory dwelling unit as a permitted accessory use in the City's residential districts: R-1 through R-5, RMH and the A apartment districts. It is not allowed in the commercial or manufacturing districts, and most special-purpose districts, the planned and mixed-use districts among them, require detailed site plan approval first (Appendix A, use 13.35).
Your lot's district is on the City's zoning map, searchable by address. After the district, what decides a particular backyard is physical: the lot's size and shape, where the house already sits, whether an alley runs behind it, and where water, sewer and power can reach the unit. Those are measured at the paid Feasibility Audit, not judged from an aerial photo.
This page covers the City of El Paso's code. Addresses outside the City limits answer to a different permitting authority, and the El Paso permits guide explains which one.
Are a casita, a guest house and a mother-in-law suite the same thing in El Paso?
Not to the City's zoning code, which sorts them by whether the building is a separate home. An accessory dwelling unit is an accessory building intended to be used as a dwelling unit (Municipal Code 20.02.029), and a dwelling unit is separate living quarters with its own permanently installed cooking and sanitary facilities (20.02.332). Guest or employee quarters are living quarters in a detached accessory building for guests or employees of the household, with no separate utility meters, and not used as a separate dwelling (20.02.428).
The Table of Permissible Uses allows both in the residential districts, under different rules: guest quarters under the general accessory building section, 20.10.030, and an accessory dwelling unit under 20.10.035. Casita, granny flat and mother-in-law suite are the names people use. The City's permit sheet says in-law suite, next to accessory dwelling unit, and lists both, attached or detached, as permit work.
That makes the kitchen, the bath and the utility meters zoning decisions as much as design ones. Whether the building is for a parent, a grown child or visiting family, the use you describe at the consultation is what the plan is checked against, and the Feasibility Audit checks your plan against both definitions and confirms with the City which one it falls under before anything is drawn.
What are El Paso's rules for accessory dwelling units?
El Paso's ADU rules are in Municipal Code 20.10.035, one list for detached units and one for attached, covering occupancy, units per lot, minimum lot area, floor area, bedrooms, setbacks and alley access, height, the entrance, windows and how closely the unit matches the house. A detached unit also answers to the general accessory building section, 20.10.030, which adds placement, combined floor area and timing rules for every detached accessory building on the lot. The paid Feasibility Audit reads the current text of both against your lot before a casita is designed.
The published text has held steady since 2019. Municode's copy of the El Paso code, codified through Ordinance 019889 of June 23, 2026, shows section 20.10.035 created by Ordinance 17532 in 2011 and last amended by Ordinance 18973 on September 3, 2019. In August 2025 the City proposed loosening the ADU rules alongside parking changes, and on August 19, 2025 City Council voted 5-3 to delete those items after members said public outreach had not reached some parts of the city. No date was set to bring them back.
So anything you read about new casita rules from that period describes a proposal that was set aside. Because the rules were reopened that recently, the specific standards for your lot are confirmed with the City at the Feasibility Audit and written into its findings.
What permits does a casita need in El Paso?
A City building permit, plus each licensed trade's own permit. The City's permit sheet lists accessory dwelling units and in-law suites, attached or detached, as work that needs a building permit. Sage pulls the building permit for its own scope under its City registration, LCCR26-00183, and each licensed trade pulls its own permit for the electrical, plumbing and mechanical work.
The complimentary consultation tells you which City rules your casita touches. The paid Feasibility Audit confirms the permit path for your address, including the zoning standards in 20.10.035, before design begins.
Two approvals can sit beside the permit. On a lot in a historic district, or with a designated landmark on it, a new casita goes through the City's historic review before construction, and the whole-home remodel page explains what that review looks at. In an HOA, the deed restrictions are a separate approval you submit. The El Paso permits guide collects the City's rules for every other project type.
When does a converted garage become a casita in El Paso?
When it is given its own kitchen and bath as separate living quarters. Converted into a bedroom, den or office that stays part of the household, it is a garage conversion. El Paso's zoning code defines a private garage as a detached accessory building, or a portion of the main building, where the occupants keep their vehicles (Municipal Code 20.02.412). Given its own kitchen and bath as separate living quarters, it meets the code's definition of a dwelling unit (20.02.332). How the City classifies that unit, including whether it is reviewed as an accessory dwelling unit under 20.10.035, is confirmed with City Planning at the Feasibility Audit before anything is designed.
Either way it is permit work, and the City's sheet lists garage conversions on their own line. The existing slab, the door opening and where the cars go once the garage is a room are covered on the garage conversions page, and the Feasibility Audit answers them for your lot.
A conversion opens painted walls, so Sage takes on garage-to-casita conversions, like attached units, for homes built in 1978 or later. Homes built before 1978 are presumed to contain lead-based paint, and any paid work that disturbs more than 6 square feet of paint per room inside, or 20 square feet outside, must be done by an EPA-certified firm. Tell us the year your home was built when you send photos, so the scope is set correctly from the first call. The painting page explains the federal rule.
Who brings water, sewer and power to a casita in El Paso?
Each licensed trade brings its own utility, under its own license and City permit. Water and sewer lines are plumbing work in Texas, installed by a licensed plumber. The power feed, any panel work, every outlet and every line-voltage fixture is installed by a licensed electrician, and the casita's heating and cooling is the licensed mechanical trade's work. Each licensed trade lays out its own route; Sage sets the casita's footprint around those routes, puts each trade's work into the build schedule, and remains your one point of contact.
The utilities can decide where a casita sits. A sewer line has to fall the whole way from the casita's drains to the house line or the main, so on a deep lot the elevations are read before a footprint is drawn. If the casita is fed from the house, the house's electrical service has to carry a second kitchen, a bath and another heating and cooling system, which the licensed electrician evaluates before the design is fixed.
Water service is El Paso Water's decision. Its Rules and Regulations No. 1, dated July 8, 2026, cap the water service on a single-family lot of 10,000 square feet or less at 3/4 inch and call for a separate water meter and sewer service line for each property or developable unit. Whether your casita is served from the house's existing service or needs its own is answered for the address by El Paso Water with the licensed plumber, and the answer goes into the Feasibility Audit's written findings. The zoning code's definition of guest quarters, above, assumes no separate meters.
A casita is also new conditioned space under the energy code the City adopted, which the room additions page explains, and its slab sits on the same desert soils the concrete page describes.
Did Texas pass a law requiring cities to allow ADUs?
No. Four 2025 bills addressed how Texas cities and counties regulate ADUs, and none became law. Three would have limited local rules: Senate Bill 673 and House Bills 878 and 1779. House Bill 2480 would largely have confirmed local authority. The three House bills were referred to the House Land and Resource Management committee and went no further. Senate Bill 673 passed the Texas Senate on April 10, 2025, and the same House committee reported a substitute on May 8, 2025, but its last action was placement on the House General State Calendar on May 26, 2025; the full House never voted on it before the regular session ended.
The committee's bill analysis described ADUs as units sometimes called casitas, cottages and granny flats. Its version would have limited how Texas cities and counties could regulate them, from owner-occupancy and parking requirements to minimum lot sizes, side and rear setbacks and unit size.
Inside the City of El Paso, then, the City's own code, Municipal Code 20.10.035, is still the standard a casita is built to. A future Legislature can take the question up again, and this answer is re-checked each session.
What gets settled before a casita is drawn.
The lot, read against the code
The paid Feasibility Audit, with the fee given by phone, confirms the lot's zoning district, measures the lot and the house on it, and reads the current text of Municipal Code 20.10.035 and 20.10.030 against them. Its written findings confirm the permit path for your address and where a casita can sit before anything is designed.
Utilities traced before the footprint
Sewer fall, where water enters the lot and what the electrical service can carry are checked with the licensed plumber and electrician, and El Paso Water's answer on the service goes into the findings. The footprint follows the routes the licensed trades lay out, so the drains are known to reach the main before a slab is formed.
Start with photos of the yard
Send photos of the yard, the side of the house that faces it, and any garage or shed you hope to reuse through the consultation form, and tell us the year the house was built. Sage calls within one business day, and within 48 hours you get a preliminary project assessment, which is not a price and not a final answer, plus a render if the project is a fit. The Feasibility Audit, Scope Lock and the permitted build follow from there. Prefer the phone? Call 915-505-1323, in English or Spanish.
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Casitas & ADUs in El Paso, answered.
Should a casita be attached to the house or detached?
It comes down to privacy, utilities and how much of the existing house gets opened, and El Paso's code treats the two as different projects: section 20.10.035 carries one set of standards for a detached unit and another for an attached one, so the choice is checked against your lot before design. A detached casita is new construction on its own foundation, with more separation from the house and longer runs for water, sewer and power. An attached unit shares a wall and a roofline, which shortens those runs but means opening an existing wall and tying into the roof. Because that opens painted surfaces, Sage takes on attached units for homes built in 1978 or later, and the painting page explains the federal lead paint rule behind that line.
How long does it take to build a casita in El Paso?
It is scope-dependent and set at the Feasibility Audit. A detached casita is a small house built from the ground up, so it carries every stage a house does: footing and slab, framing, roof, the licensed trades' rough-ins, insulation and finishes, with the City's inspections at the stages its code requires, each passed before that work is covered, and a final inspection. Ahead of all that sit the zoning path under 20.10.035, El Paso Water's answer on the service, and City plan review of the building permit. A garage conversion or an attached unit starts with part of the structure standing, so its sequence is shorter at the front and busier where new work meets old. Once the scope is locked, Sage schedules to that sequence, sends photo updates as the work moves, and you keep one point of contact through the final inspection.
Can I turn a backyard shed or storage building into a casita?
Not as it stands, though its spot in the yard may still work. The City's permit sheet exempts one small accessory storage building from a permit, and that exemption is for storage; the same sheet requires a permit to change a building's occupancy and lists accessory dwelling units as permit work, so living in it makes it a new project. A shed built under the exemption was never inspected, and it often sits on skids or a thin slab with no footing, no insulation and no path for water, sewer or power. The Feasibility Audit notes what the building and its slab visibly show, and whether keeping any of it would need a Texas-licensed professional engineer's evaluation or the casita starts on a new foundation. The El Paso permits guide covers the storage building exemption itself.
Can my HOA limit a casita on my lot in El Paso?
Yes, if your deed restrictions do, and that approval is separate from the City's. A subdivision's restrictions can govern accessory buildings, second dwellings, height, materials and placement, and they can be stricter than the zoning code. The owner files with the association, and Sage supplies the drawings and a design render for the packet. Because the association runs on its own calendar, its review is placed in the schedule ahead of construction, and neither approval is Sage's to promise.
Who designs a casita, and when does it need an engineer?
Sage does the design: where the casita sits on the lot, its floor plan and how it looks beside the house, drawn for the permit and shown to you in design renders before anything is built. Where the structure or the City's plan review calls for a sealed design, which the Feasibility Audit names while the scope is still on paper, a Texas-licensed professional engineer provides it, so it is never added mid-build. The licensed electrician, plumber and mechanical contractor lay out their own systems within that plan.
Start with photos of the yard and the year your home was built
Send photos through the consultation form: the part of the yard where the casita would sit, the side of the house that faces it, the alley or back fence line if there is one, and any garage or shed you hope to reuse. Tell us the year your home was built and who the casita is for. Sage calls within one business day, and within 48 hours you get a preliminary project assessment, which is not a price and not a final answer, plus a render if the project is a fit; it can tell you which City rules your casita touches. The paid on-site Feasibility Audit follows, fee given by phone: it confirms the zoning district, measures the lot, checks the utility routes with the licensed trades and, in its written findings, confirms the permit path for a City of El Paso address. Scope Lock puts the scope and the investment in writing before the permitted build begins. Call 915-505-1323, in English or Spanish.
Explore more of the residential track.
Worth reading first.
Sources
- City of El Paso Planning and Inspections, FAQs ("Can I build another house on my property?": one single-family dwelling per residentially zoned lot; an accessory dwelling unit allowed if it complies with El Paso City Code Section 20.10.035; zoning district searchable by address on the City's zoning map). Checked .
- City of El Paso Planning and Inspections, "When Do I Need a Permit?" (accessory dwelling units and in-law suites, attached or detached; garage conversions; permit required to change the occupancy; storage building exemption; historic district review). Undated sheet, PDF metadata 2019-05-15. Checked .
- El Paso Municipal Code 20.10.035, Accessory dwelling unit (ADU) (Ord. 17532, 2011-04-19; Ord. 18973, 2019-09-03), Municode Supplement 95 Update 4, codified through Ord. 019889, 2026-06-23. Checked .
- El Paso Municipal Code 20.10.030, Accessory buildings and structures (A)(1) - (6): height, placement, combined floor area of detached accessory buildings, timing. Checked .
- El Paso Municipal Code 20.02.029, Accessory dwelling unit (definition). Checked .
- El Paso Municipal Code 20.02.332, Dwelling unit (definition). Checked .
- El Paso Municipal Code 20.02.428, Guest and/or employee quarters (definition). Checked .
- El Paso Municipal Code 20.02.412, Garage, private (definition). Checked .
- El Paso Municipal Code Title 20, Appendix A, Table of Permissible Uses (use 13.12 guest, employee quarters; use 13.35 accessory dwelling unit: A in R-1 through R-5, RMH and A-1 through A-M; X in commercial and manufacturing; D in most special-purpose districts). Checked .
- City of El Paso Planning Web Maps (zoning, search by address). Checked .
- El Paso Matters, "El Paso City Council deletes casita, parking zoning items" (5-3 vote, 2025-08-19; no timeline set). Checked .
- Texas Legislature Online, 89(R) SB 673 bill history (passed Senate 2025-04-10; reported favorably as substituted by the House committee 2025-05-08; last action placed on House General State Calendar 2025-05-26). Checked .
- Texas Legislature Online, 89(R) HB 878 bill history (last action: referred to Land and Resource Management, 2025-03-06). Checked .
- Texas Legislature Online, 89(R) HB 1779 bill history (last action: referred to Land and Resource Management, 2025-03-14). Checked .
- Texas Legislature Online, 89(R) HB 2480 bill history (last action: referred to Land and Resource Management, 2025-03-17). Checked .
- Texas Legislature Online, 89(R) HB 878, introduced text ("may not adopt or enforce" limits on local lot size, setback and ADU rules). Checked .
- Texas Legislature Online, 89(R) HB 1779, introduced text ("may not adopt or enforce" limits on local ADU rules). Checked .
- Texas Legislature Online, 89(R) HB 2480, introduced text (proposed Local Government Code 249.002(a): what a local ADU ordinance "may" allow; 249.002(d): no age or employment restrictions; 249.005(a): does not affect local authority under other law). Checked .
- Texas House Land and Resource Management Committee, bill analysis of C.S.S.B. 673 (89R). Checked .
- El Paso Water, Rules and Regulations No. 1, Water and/or Sewer Service Within the Corporate Limits, July 8, 2026, Section VII.A (service size; separate meter and sewer service lateral per property or developable unit). Checked .
- U.S. EPA, Renovation, Repair and Painting Program: Contractors (pre-1978 housing; 6 and 20 square foot thresholds; firm certification). Checked .