Ed Vitale: Building: A Self-Help Guide For The Owner Builder

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These difficulties are further compounded by the overlaps and inconsistencies that sometimes develop between the specific provisions of the housing code and the regulations contained in the building code. Therefore, it is important for the owner-builder to determine if a housing code is in effect in the jurisdiction in which he contemplates the purchase of land and determine if its provisions are applicable to the house he intends to construct.

SANITATION (OR HEALTH) CODES. These are the regulations which govern the disposal of human waste and "gray water" (the colloquial name given the water in which clothes, dishes, and humans have been washed). The same concerns for health and the prevention of disease that gave rise to building and housing codes, also produced these sanitation laws. The solutions to the waste and waste water problems—as they have been adopted in most, if not all, of the health codes found in this country—are simple: you must [1] tie into an existing governmentally operated sanitary sewer system (generally not found in the rural countryside), or [2] install a private septic tank/leach field disposal system.

It's this simplicity that causes serious problems for the owner-builder, since the cost of installing a septic system is, many times, more expensive than the low-cost dwelling the self-builder wants to erect. And the alternatives—such as out-houses and composting privies—are unreasonably prohibited (legally) and unrealistically repulsive to most people's sanitary sensibilities.

The owner-builder will probably come into contact with these antiquated health provisions more often than he runs afoul of building codes since more jurisdictions (even rural ones) have adopted laws requiring septic tanks than have enacted building requirements.

These health laws generally state that you must obtain a health permit before you start the construction of a dwelling. This means that you have to show the local or county health department that the land in which you intend to maintain your leach field has the proper absorption qualities and that the septic/leach field system is large enough to handle the load that your house will put on it.

So: Before you buy, investigate the absorption qualities of the land you intend to purchase. This examination of the property—all by itself—may tell you whether or not you can build your dream shelter on it. (An in-depth review of the present status of health codes and alternative solutions to the septic tank will be presented in a future article in this series.)

ELECTRICAL CODES. If you—as a rural self-builder—intended to have electricity in your dwelling, you must be aware of the existence of the National Electrical Code. Believe it or not, it's the only code in existence in the United States that governs the use of electrical equipment (although, when adopted by a local government, the code may be changed somewhat to serve the needs, tastes, and whims of the drafting board).

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