A building permit submittal package on a desk with rolled construction drawings, forms on a clipboard and a hard hat, a snowy field outside the window.

Barndominium Permits and Approvals in Wisconsin

A barndominium in Wisconsin is a dwelling, so it is built to the statewide Uniform Dwelling Code and needs a Wisconsin uniform building permit before any on-site construction, even excavation, begins (SPS 320.08). Around that permit sit the approvals the code leaves to others: zoning and setbacks, the sanitary permit for a septic system on land without sewer, county shoreland zoning on a lake or river lot, floodplain zoning on low ground, and a licensed driller for the well. We line them up in the order they depend on each other, so the building permit is not held up by a sanitary permit nobody applied for.

A drawing set ready for dwelling code plan review
Sized to the dwelling code snow zone and frost rule
Start your project

Permitting & Approvals: how the work runs

Four stages, in this order. The sequence matters more than it looks: settling who enforces the dwelling code on your parcel, the zoning and the septic answer before anything is fabricated is what keeps a Wisconsin build from stalling into the frost season.

1

Find out who has jurisdiction

Wisconsin's Uniform Dwelling Code is the same everywhere, but who enforces it is not. Cities, villages and towns enforce it themselves or by contract; a county ordinance applies where a municipality has none of its own; and in some small towns that neither enforce nor ask the county, a State-registered inspection agency does it on the State's behalf (SPS 320.06). We find out which applies to your parcel first.

2

Zoning, shoreland and the septic system

Zoning and setbacks stay local; the dwelling code does not touch them (SPS 320.02). On a lake or river lot in a town, county shoreland zoning applies within 1,000 feet of a lake or 300 feet of a river (Wis. Stat. 59.692). On land without sewer, the sanitary permit for the septic system comes before the building permit, which cannot be issued without it (SPS 383.25).

3

The building permit application

The plans go in for review by the municipality, county or agency enforcing the code. The applicant must hold a State Dwelling Contractor certification and employ a certified qualifier, unless you are an owner-occupant pulling your own permit (Wis. Stat. 101.654; SPS 305.31). When the permit is issued, a Wisconsin uniform building permit seal goes on the posted permit (SPS 320.09).

4

Inspections through to move-in

Certified inspectors check the work in sequence: erosion control, the footing excavation, the foundation, the rough framing, electrical, plumbing and HVAC, the insulation, and a final inspection, and the home may not be occupied before the final (SPS 320.10). Each stage is ready before anything is covered.

Overhead view of floor plan and elevation drawings on a wooden workbench with a scale ruler, pencil, tape measure and coffee mug.
One code, many desks

One statewide code, enforced by whoever has your parcel

Every new one- and two-family home in Wisconsin is built to the Uniform Dwelling Code, and local governments must enforce it without changes (SPS 320.02, 320.06). What differs from parcel to parcel is who issues the permit, how the land is zoned, whether shoreland or floodplain zoning reaches it, and who issues the septic sanitary permit. A barndominium is no exception on any of them: a building with living quarters is a dwelling, whatever it looks like from the road (SPS 320.04, 320.05).

Where we deliver permitting & approvals

In Wisconsin the building code does not change at a municipal line, but almost everything around it does. Land is governed by a city, a village or a town, and each can enforce the Uniform Dwelling Code itself or by contract; where one has no ordinance of its own, the county's applies, and in some small municipalities a state-contracted agency does the inspections. Cross one of those lines and what changes is who reviews the drawings and inspects the work, how the land is zoned, and what the permit costs. The roof snow zone changes too, between the northern and southern halves of the state.

Barndominium builders across Wisconsin.

Every city and county we build in has its own answer on who issues the permit, how the land is zoned and how septic is handled. The service area pages set out what each one publishes.

View our full service area →
Before you commit

What actually decides the price

Square footage is the number everyone leads with, and it is rarely the one that moves a barndominium budget. These four do.

  • Permit and review fees

    Fees are set by whoever issues the permit, the municipality, the county or the State-contracted inspection agency, and they vary. They are a small share of the build but worth knowing before the budget is fixed.

  • Soil evaluation and the septic system

    The soil evaluation and the septic system design come before the sanitary permit, and the system type the soil calls for is one of the biggest variables in a rural budget.

  • Shoreland and floodplain review

    A lake or river lot can need county shoreland zoning approval before the building permit, and low ground can need a floodplain check. Both can shape where and how high the house sits.

  • Time

    The order of approvals decides the schedule. A permit application submitted before zoning and the sanitary permit are settled tends to come back, and in Wisconsin a delay can push the foundation past the frost-free season.

A building permit submittal package on a desk with rolled construction drawings, forms on a clipboard and a hard hat, a snowy field outside the window.

Permitting & Approvals in Wisconsin: common questions

8 questions we get asked most often about building in Wisconsin. If yours is not on the list, ask it directly.

Start the survey
Does Wisconsin have a statewide building code for homes?
Yes. The Uniform Dwelling Code, chapters SPS 320 to 325 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code, applies to every new one- and two-family home built since June 1, 1980, and local governments must enforce it without changes (SPS 320.02, 320.06). It is Wisconsin's own code, and it leaves zoning and setbacks to local rules.
Who issues the building permit for a barndominium?
Your city, village or town; the county, where the municipality has no ordinance of its own; or, in some small towns, a State-contracted inspection agency (SPS 320.06). The permit must be issued before excavation starts (SPS 320.08).
Who can apply for the building permit?
A contractor applying for a client must hold a State Dwelling Contractor certification and employ a certified qualifier (Wis. Stat. 101.654; SPS 305.31). Owner-occupants pulling their own permit do not need the certification. The permit on your build is pulled by the certified dwelling contractor on the job.
Do I need a separate septic permit?
On land without sewer, yes. The sanitary permit for the private septic system comes first, and the building permit cannot be issued without it (SPS 383.25). The county issues it, or in Milwaukee County the city, village or town (Wis. Stat. 145.01), after a State-certified soil tester evaluates the site.
Does a barndominium used on a farm avoid the dwelling code?
No. Only a building used exclusively for farm operations and not for human habitation is outside the Uniform Dwelling Code (SPS 320.05). Once a building has living quarters, including a converted barn, it is a dwelling and must comply (SPS 320.04).
What about a lake lot?
In a town, land within 1,000 feet of a lake or 300 feet of a river is under county shoreland zoning, and the state minimum setback is 75 feet from the ordinary high-water mark (Wis. Stat. 59.692; NR 115.05). Low ground may also be in a floodplain, where a new home in the flood fringe needs its lowest floor at least 2 feet above the regional flood elevation (Wis. Stat. 87.30; NR 116).
Do I need a permit for the well?
A new well is drilled by a DNR-licensed well driller to the State well code, NR 812. Some counties also issue well permits, so we ask your county before the well is scheduled.
Can you tell me what my land needs before I buy it?
Yes, and before you buy is the cheapest time to ask. Tell us where the parcel is through the survey and we will set out who issues the building permit, how it is zoned, whether shoreland or floodplain rules reach it, and what the septic system will need.

Sources

Keep reading

The pages that answer the next question this one raises.

Are Barndominiums Legal in Wisconsin?

The Uniform Dwelling Code, who enforces it, and where zoning comes in.

Read it

How Long Does It Take?

How the approvals your parcel needs change the schedule.

Read it

Where We Build

Which authority issues the permit for your parcel, place by place.

Read it

Ready to put permitting & approvals against a real plan? Start there and the rest follows.

Start your build survey

Tell us about the land

Tell us where the parcel is and what you want on it, and we will come back with who has jurisdiction, what the land needs before it can be built on, and a realistic budget range. Starting the survey costs nothing.

Start your project