Sec. 26-521 states the whole enforcement mechanism in one sentence: no building permit or certificate of occupancy issues for the construction or alteration of a building in a listed loading facilities category unless the building includes the construction of, or provides for, the required number of berths.
Two things follow. The obligation attaches to alteration as well as new construction, so growing an existing building across a threshold brings it into scope. And the phrase "or provides for" leaves room for a berth that is arranged rather than already built at permit stage — the same permit-and-occupancy gate the parking article uses at Sec. 26-474.
| Category | No berth required up to | Then |
|---|---|---|
| Office | 300,000 sq ft GFA | 1 to 750,000; 2 to 1,500,000; 3 above |
| Apartment, more than 50 dwelling units | 30 dwelling units per acre | 1 above that (minimum 10 by 40 ft) |
| Hotel or motel | 100,000 sq ft GFA | 1 to 200,000; 2 to 300,000; 3 above |
| Industrial and commercial manufacturing | 50,000 sq ft GFA | 1 to 100,000; 2 to 400,000; 3 above |
| Food and beverage | 25,000 sq ft GFA | 1 to 50,000, then 1 more per additional 50,000 |
| Retail services | 10,000 sq ft GFA | 1 to 60,000, then 1 more per additional 60,000 |
Sec. 26-522. The categories correspond to the use classifications in Sec. 26-492 — industrial and commercial manufacturing covers all of Class 4, food and beverage all of Class 7, and retail services all of Class 8. Office and the two uncapped categories are the ones that differ most in shape.
Four categories top out. An office, a hotel, and an industrial building each reach a maximum of three berths however large they get. Apartments over 50 units require at most one, and only where density exceeds 30 dwelling units per acre.
Food and beverage and retail services do not top out. Both add one further berth for each additional increment of floor area beyond the first threshold — 50,000 square feet for food and beverage, 60,000 for retail. A large shopping centre or a large restaurant building therefore keeps accruing berths where an office tower of the same floor area would have stopped at three.
The entry thresholds differ just as sharply. Retail is in scope at 10,000 square feet and food and beverage at 25,000, while an office needs nothing at all below 300,000 — a thirtyfold difference in where the obligation begins.
A tract that takes vehicular access from a major thoroughfare or collector street and that contains a loading berth must provide sufficient area for maneuverability on the tract for delivery vehicles, large trucks, and other vehicles to access or use the loading berth without blocking any portion of the public right-of-way, as determined by the traffic engineer in his sole professional judgment.
The dimensional rule is short — Sec. 26-523(a) requires ten feet by 55 feet unless the division says otherwise, and the apartment row of Sec. 26-522 is the one place it does, at 10 by 40 feet. The constraints on where the berth goes are what usually shape a site plan.
Manoeuvring stays on your land. Where the tract takes access from a major thoroughfare or collector street, Sec. 26-523(b) requires enough area on the tract for delivery vehicles and large trucks to reach and use the berth without blocking any part of the public right-of-way — decided by the traffic engineer in his sole professional judgment. A truck that has to stop in the road to line up is the failure this subsection is written against.
The berth cannot borrow space from anything else. Under Sec. 26-523(c) it may not sit in a drive aisle, block access to parking spaces, bicycle spaces or other berths, or project into the public right-of-way or a private roadway as Chapter 42 defines that term.
There is relief, on evidence. Sec. 26-523(d) lets the director reduce both the berth dimensions and the manoeuvring area on written request supported by adequate information — but only where the applicant demonstrates that delivery vehicles can genuinely park and manoeuvre in what is proposed, and the result still satisfies subsections (b) and (c). It is an administrative reduction, not a variance, and it does not go to the commission.
Loading berths are not tradeable against parking. Sec. 26-500(a) provides that shared parking may not be used to reduce required bicycle spaces or loading berths, and Sec. 26-499(e) excludes loading facilities from the off-site parking provisions. The one route that reaches them is a special parking area: Sec. 26-512(a) lets a parking management plan propose substituted requirements for loading berths alongside parking and bicycle spaces, each with its own justification.
This is how the code reads; confirm with the city — or ask a builder who's actually pulled this permit in Houston. The authoritative text is the Houston Code of Ordinances; permitting questions go to Houston Permitting Center.