Permit exempt agricultural building?

[BioHazard]

I recently realized that part of my shop qualifies as a permit exempt agricultural building. Funny thing is you have to get a permit for that. The law says that no building permits or inspections are required for any work.

Does that mean I'm still SUPPOSED to follow code, or can I just make **** up as I go? Say I wanna live on the dangerous side and put a 14 gauge wire on a 20 amp breaker. Or dare I say it - run Romex in a wet location!

Not that I'm going to...I'm just curious, if I'm permit exempt, does that mean I'm not bound by any building rules?

 

[sberry]

You are still sposed to follow electric code, you would be liable in accident just the same, permit or not.

 

[porschedude996TT]

I've seen some pretty scary stuff around farms...

 

[bazzateer]

I've seen some pretty scary stuff around farms...

and that's just the farmers!

 

[tdkkart]

There are all sorts of different rules depending on where you live.

Here in Iowa there are alot of counties that have no codes whatsoever, you only need a "permit" in most places to build a new building, which then alerts the county tax assessor that they can charge you more.

And then there are counties like the one I live in that has a Gestapo/Mafia based building codes and trades organization. The only way you are exempt is if you own a "farm", 35 acres or more and derive income from it, otherwise you are subject to the codes folks if you live in the "county". There are however several small incorporated towns that have their own set of rules which are all or nothing, depending the whim of the local ordinances.

We were dealing on a house within one of these small towns, I of course checked on the possibility of building a shop in the 1 acre back yard, and ran into a few ridiculous rules.

1. Overall square footage restricted to 50% of the overall lot size, as long as you stayed 7ft inside the lot lines.

2. Building height could be no higher than the residence on the lot. Stupid rule, if you had the only single story ranch house on the block you were restricted to that height. If your neighbor had a 3 story house he could match that height with his outbuildings.
This severly limited the size of the building of course, unless you were willing to use a flat roof.

3. Building was "expected" to be built to "accepted" standards. No specific standards were specified.

4. No electrical codes, if you could get it hooked up without killing yourself it must be acceptable.

5. No plumbing codes unless you needed a septic system, which then fell under county jurisdiction.

6. No mechanical(HVAC) codes, if the gas company was willing to hook you up it mst be good.

 

[nate379]

Pretty much the same where I live other than the lot lines are 5 feet on the sides and 20 feet on the back and no restriction on ground coverage.

1. Overall square footage restricted to 50% of the overall lot size, as long as you stayed 7ft inside the lot lines.

2. Building height could be no higher than the residence on the lot. Stupid rule, if you had the only single story ranch house on the block you were restricted to that height. If your neighbor had a 3 story house he could match that height with his outbuildings.
This severly limited the size of the building of course, unless you were willing to use a flat roof.

3. Building was "expected" to be built to "accepted" standards. No specific standards were specified.

4. No electrical codes, if you could get it hooked up without killing yourself it must be acceptable.

5. No plumbing codes unless you needed a septic system, which then fell under county jurisdiction.

6. No mechanical(HVAC) codes, if the gas company was willing to hook you up it mst be good.

 

[W-Cummins]

This is one of my pet pev's
My County also has the exemption for 40 or more acres. No Building codes, no building permits, no zoning, no setbacks, the only thing you need is a septic permit. This of course is TOTAL ********!! Why having more land should make you exempt is beyond me, I can only guess the county commissioners are a bunch of pussies and are afraid of the farmers/large land owners!

You are still sposed to follow electric code, you would be liable in accident just the same, permit or not.

This is also a bunch of bull! IF there are not codes required where you live ( or your exempt), you don't have to follow any. He can wire his shop with 18 gauge lamp cord if he wants. As for any liability to whom would that apply, Himself??

William....

 

[sberry]

Actually farming is a commercial operation, liability would come in to play with any employee or person who may come into contact with this equipment.
My insurance people love me, the agent brought the underwriter to have a look when I built a new building. They dont get a chance to often see all piped wire, etc, proper grounding in many ag buildings.

 

[sberry]

One I hear that is kind of bull is that ins co may refuse to pay but its very rare and would likely be tossed as they didn't refuse to take your premium money. But electrocute a neighbor kid and see how exempt you are against lawsuit or even criminal charges. There are exemptions from code enforcement, different than negligence. Farm trucks the same way, some exemptions for operator licensing but must be inspected and follow commercial truck laws.

 

[W-Cummins]

Actually farming is a commercial operation

Well IF this is true then all farms should be treated as such, and follow all the codes, and have NO exceptions at all. This would also mean most places that the farmer would be doing NONE of the wiring. That would require an Electrician with a Masters license to pull the permit and be insured ect.... and at a minimum have a journeyman electrician perform or oversee all the work done!

liability would come in to play with any employee or person who may come into contact with this equipment.

And wiring the building to some code, when none is required will not remove your liability in case some one gets hurt.

One I hear that is kind of bull is that ins co may refuse to pay but its very rare and would likely be tossed as they didn't refuse to take your premium money.

If the insurance company operates in places where there are no building codes, They should be doing their due diligence, and if need be go and look at what they are insuring.

But electrocute a neighbor kid and see how exempt you are against lawsuit or even criminal charges.

Yep electrocution of the neighbor kids, is in most locations, frowned upon whether done to code or not

Farm trucks the same way, some exemptions for operator licensing but must be inspected and follow commercial truck laws.

Yep more bull there too... If your a commercial operation you should follow all the rules for commercial trucking too, for all trucks over the 26k limit, their operators should have a CDL.

BTW I think that all operators comerrcial or not should have a CDL for _any_ vechicles over the 26k weight. The 79 yo pacemaker controlled guy shouldn't be driving a 45klbs 45' bus/rv/motor home down the dam road!

William...

 

[sberry]

They should and you think is different than what the law is.

 

[Ezzie]

You live in Mexico or something?? Around these parts (Ontario) agriculture buildings are treated the same as any other building. You have to pull a wiring permit for any and all wiring whether it is done by the property owner or a licensed electrician. And don't try and plug anything in (or hard wire it) that doesn't have a legal UL or CSA approval tag.

I'm not saying people don't do stuff without a permit - but it is illegal and can lead to your insurance co. not paying a claim if you have an issue due to "non" approved wiring.

 

[ratdoggy]

I second the CDL for the motorhome guy. I don't know why a retired school teacher is qualified to drive a huge motorhome but I can't drive a yard horse with no trailer on a public street.

 

[sberry]

The motor home is not a commercial truck.

 

[Ign]

This is one of my pet pev's
My County also has the exemption for 40 or more acres. No Building codes, no building permits, no zoning, no setbacks, the only thing you need is a septic permit. This of course is TOTAL ********!! Why having more land should make you exempt is beyond me, I can only guess the county commissioners are a bunch of pussies and are afraid of the farmers/large land owners!

I agree, and it's the same here. Anytime the county proposes any new restrictions, they make ag exempt. It's only because they know they can't get it forced thru if they have to fight the ag guys. I think it makes for a double standard, and it's ********. I am NOT in favor of tightening restrictions on farmers, but rather feel it's a valid argument to reduce restrictions for all of us. Enforce the "codes" uniformly, or don't enforce them at all (I prefer the latter).

One had to do w building in randomly designated "sight corridors." If you're just a homeowner, you can't build on certain ridges, etc. But if you're a farmer, apparently it's ok if you put up a 3-story barn in that some location. The logic escapes me.

As to the original question, here in CO the state inspects electrical, the county does everything else. So here you'd have to contact the state regarding rules for wiring ag-permitted buildings, even tho the ag permit is issued by the county.

 

[oleguy]

article 547 in the nec covers ag buildings.you may be eximpt from permits but there is still the code.