State permit kits · $34 each
Your State's Permitting Rules, as a Working Kit
Permitting is a state problem. Every state writes its own owner-builder exemption, its own application packet, and its own inspection order — so there is one kit per state, built against that state's statutes and agencies, with the citations printed on the page where a permit clerk can check your work.
Fifty states, one kit each
Find your state
Kits are built in phases of four, and which states come next is decided by what readers ask for. Every state also has a free owner-builder permitting guide.
Buy your state's kit
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Alaska
The exemption paragraph almost everyone cites is the remodel one, a state plumbing inspector arrives where no building department exists, and the code that actually binds your house comes through the mortgage — with the building official employed by the lender.$34See the kit →PK-AZIssuedArizona
No statewide code but a county permit no board of supervisors may waive, one no-code county and two opt-outs that record a notice on your title, a signed statement on every application that names your licensed subs, and a one-year sale rule you switch off by recording the deed and moving in.$34See the kit →PK-ARIssuedArkansas
One code for the whole state, a building permit most counties never created, three trade exemptions that are three different tests, and a ten-acre septic exemption that is missing from the rule book.$34See the kit →PK-CAIssuedCalifornia
Sprinklers in every new home, the 2023 NEC, the declaration that is stricter than § 7044, and 52 hours that makes a helper your employee.$34See the kit →PK-COIssuedColorado
Two permit systems over one house: a local building permit that may not exist, state electrical and plumbing permits that always do, and the inspection condition that quietly voids the homeowner electrical exemption.$34See the kit →PK-FLIssuedFlorida
Two owner-builder exemptions with two different sale tests, the courthouse filing that gates your first inspection, the approval number every window needs, and the septic permit that must exist before your building permit does.$34See the kit →PK-GAIssuedGeorgia
The one-sale-per-24-months exemption trap, mandatory codes even in no-permit counties, and the two required performance tests.$34See the kit →PK-IDIssuedIdaho
No building permit where your county never adopted a code, three state trade permits that apply everywhere and are enforced at the meter, a homeowner electrical permit that cannot get construction power turned on, and a 2024 code update the Legislature’s committee rejected.$34See the kit →PK-KYIssuedKentucky
The building permit your county may not require, the three state permits that apply anyway, and the two utilities that cannot connect you until someone signs.$34See the kit →PK-LAIssuedLouisiana
The exemption statute everyone cites was repealed in 2022, the whole code chapter moved to a different Title on 1 August 2026, the filing date locks your code edition, and you may dig your own drainfield but not drill your own well.$34See the kit →PK-MIIssuedMichigan
The four permits that may come from four different governments, the 3,500 sq ft rule measured in habitable space only, and the court order that froze Michigan on the 2015 code.$34See the kit →PK-MSIssuedMississippi
The 120-day window in 2014 that decided whether any code binds your parcel, the coastal wind mandate that also had an opt-out, the zero-dollar trade-license rule, and the septic approval that locks your water meter.$34See the kit →PK-MTIssuedMontana
The building code that does not apply to your house, the electrical permit that applies anyway and is enforced at the power meter, the contractor statute that was repealed on January 1 2026, and the sanitation law that bars you from even erecting the building.$34See the kit →PK-NEIssuedNebraska
The 2018 code that binds your house even where no county will ever inspect it, the electrical exemption that excuses the license but not the inspection — a felony to skip since July 18, 2026 — the septic system you may not install and the well you may, and the energy code you enforce on yourself.$34See the kit →PK-NYIssuedNew York
One code on every parcel and three governments that might issue the permit, a workers’ compensation form that gates it, an electrical inspector your town must pre-approve, energy values stricter than the model code — and an all-electric rule whose court-set clock is already running.$34See the kit →PK-NCIssuedNorth Carolina
The owner exemption affidavit, the $40K lien-agent threshold, septic gating the permit, and the personally-present inspection rule.$34See the kit →PK-OHIssuedOhio
The code section that excuses you from permits where no department is certified, 23 counties with no residential certification anywhere, a 2023 NEC change hidden behind a strikethrough, and state trade licenses that stop at your property line.$34See the kit →PK-PAIssuedPennsylvania
The code applies to every house in the Commonwealth and five inspections are required on all of them — but in 119 municipalities nobody is assigned to do them until you hire an agency yourself, and you give up the right to appeal when you do.$34See the kit →PK-SCIssuedSouth Carolina
A notice you file after the house is finished — skip it and the statute revokes the exemption you built under. Plus the $500 threshold that decides who you may hire, an energy code the code council has no power to move, and a beachfront setback measured in erosion rates.$34See the kit →PK-TNIssuedTennessee
Three enforcement regimes over one state, an opt-out that expires 180 days after the next election, the electrical permit that survives it in all 37 no-code counties, and the definition that turns every trade you hire into a prime contractor.$34See the kit →PK-TXIssuedTexas
No state license or permit — and the traps that replace them: trade licensing, TCEQ septic, the energy code that applies anyway, coastal windstorm.$34See the kit →PK-VAIssuedVirginia
The § 54.1-1101 exemption, the lien agent that protects you, VDH septic shot clocks, and the VDOT driveway permit almost nobody expects.$34See the kit →PK-WAIssuedWashington
The electrical permit that comes from the State instead of your county, the 950-gallon well cap that replaced the 5,000-gallon one, and the three energy tests with no visual alternative.$34See the kit →PK-WIIssuedWisconsin
The 2023 electrical code that took effect on 1 September 2026, two Uniform Dwelling Code zone maps numbered backwards from each other, the septic permit that must come before the building permit, and the well you may drill yourself but the septic you may not install.$34See the kit →Every kit is the same six documents
Letter size
A kit is not a rewritten guide — it is the paperwork. The same six documents every time, rebuilt against one state's statutes and agencies, so a kit for one state reads exactly like a kit for any other.
Cover & How to Use
What is in the kit, what order to work through it, and which documents you file versus which you keep on the truck.
Owner-Builder Exemption Walkthrough
What you must own, what you must occupy, and how long you cannot sell — with the affidavit you sign before the permit issues. In states with no contractor license to be exempt from, this document covers the trade licensing and code rules that bind you instead.
Permit Application Checklist
Everything the permit office wants in the packet, in the order they ask for it: site plan, plans and specs, septic or sewer proof, and the state-specific filings. Work through it and the application is complete.
Inspection Sequence
Every inspection the state calls for, in the order it is called, with what the inspector looks at and what has to be finished before you can schedule it. Footing through final, trades included.
Where-to-File Directory
Which office handles which piece — building, electrical, septic, driveway, and the filings that never go through the building department at all.
Forms & Documents Index
Every form the kit references, with its official name and the office that issues it, so you can pull a current copy yourself.
About 30 pages per kit · Print-ready PDF, letter size · Citations printed beside the rules
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