Concrete Slab Foundations in Fate, Texas

Fate's permit path for a slab foundation

Before anyone applies, the lot must be zoned for its intended use and platted as a lot of record. Fate then issues a separate Foundation Permit, which requires drawings and the engineer's inspection report. For a new home, the foundation plan and details must be stamped by a Texas-registered professional engineer, with a letter stating they were designed for that specific lot.

At the foundation inspection, the approved plan has to be on site, and post-tension cables and rebar must be placed as the engineer designed. Where the slab sits on piers, the engineer's inspection report is due at that inspection. A form board survey is required at the plumbing rough-in stage and is uploaded to the City's MyGov portal. Fate's Building Inspections department works from the 2021 International Residential and Building Codes.

Other concrete, other permits

The City's Concrete Permit covers patios, sidewalks and other concrete additions and repairs, and says plainly that it is not for foundations. Driveway approaches go on a Curb Cut and Drive Approach Permit, and retaining walls at or above four feet on a Retaining Wall Permit. Foundation repair has its own rule: the plans must be sealed by a Texas professional engineer, and the engineer of record inspects the repair and reports to the City before its final inspection.

Commercial slabs and special inspections

Businesses are beginning to build along Fate's I-30 corridor, where the City names Stags Plaza, Spec's Wine, Spirits and Finer Foods, and FRESH by Brookshire's. Downtown Fate has new mixed-use buildings, including Fate Place and The Hub at Fate Station, a coworking office for small and start-up businesses.

For commercial projects, Fate requires the special inspections listed in Chapter 17 of the International Building Code, covering concrete construction, soils and helical pile foundations, with the owner paying for them. For post-tensioned slabs on expansive soils, the International Building Code (the 2015 edition, as quoted by the Post-Tensioning Institute) calls for design to PTI's standard DC 10.5. We'll talk through the inspection schedule and the engineer's requirements at the estimate.

Mail routes, a tornado and the old rail line

The town takes its name from "Fate," a nickname. The Handbook of Texas says Lafayette Brown's wife gave it to him; the City says it belonged to either William Lafayette Brown or GW Lafayette Peyton, and no record settles which. The post office opened on July 13, 1880, and on February 11, 1887, the railroad town of Barnes joined the post-office town of Fate and took its name.

On August 1, 1899, Fate became the first town in Texas with a rural mail route. A tornado destroyed much of the town on July 4, 1933, and much of it was never rebuilt. Fate sits on State Highway 66 and the old Missouri, Kansas and Texas rail line, four miles northeast of Rockwall, and Royse City ISD's Worthy Fate High School, off FM 552, is set to open in August 2027.