The Cochise County Arizona Owner Builder Opt Out Permit

In this video we will show you what is CRITICAL that you MUST know before you even buy your land plus a step by step on how we applied for the Cochise County Arizona Owner-Builder Opt Out Permit!

Hi - We are Douglas and Keri! In May of 2022 we quit our jobs and sold our home in Denver, Colorado to move to our off grid homestead property in Cochise County, Arizona. Follow along with us as we build our homestead from the ground up!

Take 2! We realized we had edited out some important stuff in the original version of this video, so if this looks familiar, it's just a re-do of the original.

You might be wondering what the heck an Owner-Builder Opt Out Permit even is…so, here is a clip directly from Cochise County Arizona’s website as of today’s date, August 2022:

“The owner builder amendment is a program for rural home construction in Cochise County. While program participants must comply with all Cochise County Building Safety Code and zoning requirements, the overall permitting costs associated with construction are lower than traditional residential home construction. This is due to either fewer, or no, building plan review and inspections being conducted, depending on the option selected by the participant. This amendment is intended to encourage the use of ingenuity and personal preferences of the owner-builder in allowing and facilitating the use of alternative building materials and methods. Be advised, this program does not exempt owner-builders from statewide codes such as the plumbing and fire codes and regulations regarding smoke detectors, nor does it exempt owner-builders from fire codes adopted by fire districts or the County.” Cited from Cochise County Arizona’s Website, August 3, 2022.

Some people get confused thinking that this particular permit, also called an amendment, exempts you from having to follow the County’s Building Safety Code, but that is not correct. It simply opts you out from having to have all the inspections and wraps the whole building permit process into one simple to submit bundle. The County does expect you to have the resources, knowledge, and tools necessary to follow Building Safety Code. Please note, we are not experts in Building Safety Code or in permitting, so please do your own research. This information is just to help you get started in the right direction.

If you want to build under the Cochise County Owner-Builder Opt Out Permit, the ONE THING THAT YOU HAVE TO GET RIGHT IS, the ZONING! One of the MOST important things you will need to check before you even purchase land, is that the property is in the right zoning to participate in this permit. As of 8/3/2022, the County recognizes the following zoning districts as qualifying if you have a minimum of 4 acres:

RU (RU-4, RU-10, RU-18, or RU-36 only)
SM (SM-174, SM-10, SM-18, or SM-36 only)
SR (SR-174, SR-10, SR-18, or SR-36 only)

To find out how a parcel or address is zoned in Cochise County Arizona, you can go to this link to check it:

https://cochise.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0e9f91241bf247b8901686355ff6e144

If you are working with a Realtor (which you definitely should and we love Clay Greathouse at Tombstone Reality for off grid property!) to purchase property, they can also help you check this critical detail! If you already have purchased property in Cochise County Arizona and it is at least 4 acres in size, but you are not in the correct zoning, check with the County about having it rezoned because, don’t worry, this is a possibility too!

DISCLAIMER: Douglas and Keri are not contractors and the information contained in this video is for entertainment purposes. Please make sure to do your own research!

Once again, thanks for following along with us and we hope to inspire you to live your best life, whatever that might mean for you!

Merchandise: https://two-rebels-off-grid.creator-spring.com/listing/two-rebels-off-grid

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Music by: Tunepocket
Video Editing by: iMovie for Windows
All the artwork for this channel are original creations by Douglas because he is an amazing artist!