Essential Advice for Owner-Builders

Image Gallery Building your own home is a challenging and rewarding experience. Knowing what to expect will help you set realistic goals. ISTOCKPHOTO/JAMES KNIGHTEN

You are about to embark on a great adventure — building your own home! Designing and building your own home gives you the freedom to build what you want, and doing the work yourself can be a rewarding experience that will save you a lot of money in the process. But for many people who dream of building, it’s hard to dismiss one nagging thought: “What if they won’t let me build it?”

“They,” of course, are the folks at the local building department. Complying with building codes can seem intimidating. However, if you think of it as a process, much like the actual building of that dream home, you can get through it one step at a time.

Doing your homework is essential, especially if you plan to build with alternative materials or techniques. Knowing what you need to do and where to find the information you need will help you get your building approved and may even improve your home’s design.

Where to Start

Building codes establish minimum standards for safety and health, and if you decide to build your own home, you’ll need to prove that it meets these standards. There are three main phases of the process:

• Gathering information and doing the initial planning.
• Designing the house and submitting your specific plans for approval and permitting.
• Building, passing the inspections, and getting your certificate of occupancy.

Where you build matters because building, zoning and other regulations vary from place to place, as do the conditions at and around every building site. Building codes in rural areas tend to be less stringent than those in the suburbs or in town, where buildings are closer together and people are more concentrated.

Today, most city, county and state governments have Web sites with information about their permitting processes, zoning laws and other requirements. They often answer common concerns and provide information on how to get additional help.

Becky Baker, chief building official for Jefferson County, Colo., has advice for owner-builders at the beginning of their process.

“Ideally, have a conceptual meeting with the building department early on to talk about what you want to do, especially if it is unusual,” she says. “You can find out what you need to do and what codes are enforced in the area.” Baker says most building departments provide handouts that describe their processes, fees, minimum requirements for plans and inspections, guidelines for standard construction, and checklists for other approvals needed.

Be sure to ask about requirements specific to owner-builders. Some jurisdictions restrict what work can be done by homeowners, so knowing what the rules are where you intend to build is crucial.

“Although we know we’ll have to spend more time with most owner-builders, we don’t mind,” Baker says. “We start with a premise of respect. We assume that owner-builders want to do the right thing and that we have the same end goals — a safe, affordable, durable, comfortable home.”