Will building codes apply for a hunting cottage?
 

My good friend, and now buisness partner. (he is also a porsche guy ) closed his buisness recently. He had a bunch of money banked in a barter network. He cashed it in for 23 wooded acres in the rural highlands area. We want to spend some time there this summer, and are thinking of cobbling a small 3 room cottage for hunting /camping etc... . We are both pretty handy type guys, we rehab houses in our spare time,but neither of us are in the buisness so are not familiar with the plethora of building codes that now exist. . I really dont feel like dealing with the planning comission, and the zoning officer yada yada. I went through all of this with my buisness, and it was a small nightmare. Can we just whack up some sort of structure, or do we have to go through the normal channels?.

Why not just find a older travel or 5th wheel trailer, everything is there and self contained. Just build a screen porch off the entrance and you're in business.... No permit hassles..

Depends on the jurisdiction. In a rural Alabama county, you might find that electrical and plumbing are the only concerns. Plumbing because of your leach field and electrical because many of these home grown cottages burn down. It takes the fire dept so long to get there that they're only concerned about the surrounding woods.

In CA, you'd never get a stick up w/o major headaches.

You really need to pick up the local building/zoning regs from the town offices. In many jurisdictions the penalties can be severe for ignoring the process and getting permits. All it takes is one miffed neighbor to turn you in. Get it and read it over, maybe the code is lax enough that you can do it without signed and stamped plans.

What Milt said. You need to check with the governing agency.

A lot of places (particularly in CA) will not allow a permanent trailer as a structure either. I know this is the case in some of the mountain communities to the north & east of San Bernardino.

What the problem with hiring an Architect? Would you do surgery on yourself or go see a doctor? Would you defend yourself against a lawsuit or see a lawyer? People would pay 6% commission to a realtor to sell their homes, but balk at hiring an Architect. I'm sure you can find plenty of Architects to help you. You can go the regular route of full design services or a design build concept.

Talk with an Architect, we are all not like these famous Architects
Wibur Post , owner of Mr. Ed
Mr. Brady of the Brady Bunch
Charles Bronson the Vigilante
Roy Thinnes, The Invader
Paul Newman, Towering Inferno

LOL

ask a local licensed builder from the area; he will know.
It's very likely that there are no local regulatory requirements; however there is likely State requirements for plumbing and electrical as previously mentioned.

If it were me, on a remote 23 acres of hunting land; I'd say screw the building permit requirements but build it properly to code. ;)

Most building permits allow so much work done without a permit; say $2500 value? So just do $2500 at a time, then sleep well at night :)

the laws apply everywhere. but some places have no one to enforce it. so anything goes.

Like out here we do whatever we please. If it is your own property and not going to be sold in the near future it does not matter. We have built several new buildings with full utilities and never hear a word. Now not saying that applies to you but never hurts to check. Or you could do it all yourself and slip the local plumber and electrician a coupla ben franks to check it over and sign-off on it.

If you put your sweat equity into putting together a cabin, I'd get it all legal with local permits etc. This is especially important if you plan on selling or bartering this place again in the future. A dwelling without permits is worthless or may even present negative value.

Why don't you guys just buy an old 24 foot travel trailer and put it on the property? Then enjoy hunting instead of having to build something half a$$?

George

Seems to me that if you think going through the permit process is a nightmare, just wait until you build without permits, and then have the bureaucracy catch up...

So true! I know someone that has been going through this - over and over. Not fun.

So nice to not live in one of those Nanny states.

Nothing to do with a "nanny" state. It's one thing to build a structure for your own personal use. It's another to build for other people. Think about apartments.

I'm sure that even Oklahoma has some laws :rolleyes:.

As for the OP, Laws differ from state to state, county to county. As has been suggested, talk to people knowledgeable in your area.

Well obviously if it was a COMMERCIAL structure. We are talking about a hunting cabin. Yes there are codes and out where we live there is no enforcement. There are no permits in the county and on private property the state does not care. Besides the wiring that we did in our barn with a full living space is nicer than the professionally wired house.

Sidney, the problem arises when the property comes up for sale. I'm sure the quality of your build is top notch, but can the same be said for everyone else? This is America, lawsuits are all too common.

We all live in different areas an have different views. Myself, living in SoCal, I hope - and will check, that a house I buy is up to code. Fires, earthquakes and floods/slides are big problems.

Yes, it is a hunting cabin, but there is a difference between a shack and cabin... What are the plans???

About half the Region I work and live in have a 'no permit' status and the other half claims 'grandfathering' status. :eek:

I sit on a couple boards trying to get rid of 'grandfathering'; especially for sewer, power and water.

Pretty remote here though, small town hicksville.

That's the way we are rob. At least out of city limits. Not much regulation.

It does not matter what WE say, other than that the OP should read up/ask on their local laws.

Building codes exist to guard the health, safety and welfare of the public.