Building permits, zoning and septic rules in Washington County, Alabama

Not in unincorporated Washington County, as far as we could confirm. The county's list of official departments includes no building or permitting department¹. Alabama's State Building Code does not fill the gap: the state Division of Construction Management has no jurisdiction over residential property¹¹. Alabama law lets a county commission adopt a building code for unincorporated areas, but we could not confirm that Washington County has done so².

Inside the Town of McIntosh a building permit is required before excavating for, constructing or altering a structure, including accessory structures, so check with the town if your parcel is near its limits⁵. Wherever a permit office does exist, Alabama requires it to refuse a permit unless a project that needs a home-builder license shows that license or an exemption¹².

If you act as your own contractor and personally supervise all the work on a one- or two-family home you will occupy, Alabama's owner-builder exemption applies, though any subcontractor you hire must be licensed once their portion of the job exceeds $10,000⁸. That exemption waives contractor licensing only. Farm buildings are likewise exempt from home-builder licensing, but a residence inside a farm building is not, and the exemption does not waive septic, floodplain or town rules¹³.

Unincorporated Washington County has no building, planning or zoning department: the county's department list runs from the Circuit Court Clerk and County Commission through the Sheriff's Office and Solid Waste Authority without one^1,14. For a general county question, call the Commission Office at (251) 847-2208, 45 Court Street in Chatom¹⁴. For a county road or driveway question, the Road and Bridge Department handles general maintenance of county roadways and drainage¹⁴. Septic is the one construction-related permit the county area gets through a local office, and it comes from the Health Department rather than the Commission⁶. Inside McIntosh, building permits come from the town's administrative official⁵.

No. Washington County has no zoning department and no confirmed zoning ordinance¹. Alabama counties lack broad land-use authority; only a handful (Baldwin, Russell, Shelby, and Jefferson, by local law) have their own planning and zoning authority, and Washington County is not among them². With no zoning power over unincorporated land, there is no county minimum lot size, setback, lot-coverage limit or building-height rule, and no zoning-based restriction on RVs, tiny homes, manufactured homes, accessory dwellings or temporary camping on your own unincorporated land².

All of this is specific to unincorporated Washington County. Towns zone their own land: Chatom has a zoning ordinance and map for land inside its limits³, and McIntosh has its own zoning code with district-specific rules⁴. A 2016 county hazard mitigation plan says Millry would consider zoning only if it decides to adopt an ordinance¹⁵. Even inside a town, septic permits still come from the county Health Department⁶.

Septic systems in Washington County go through the county Health Department's Environmental Office, part of the statewide Alabama Department of Public Health onsite sewage program⁶. Anyone not connected to a public sanitary sewer submits an application for a Permit to Install to the local county health department, and the permit must be issued before construction of the system begins; the installer must be licensed by the Alabama Onsite Wastewater Board⁷.

Only about 8.6% of Washington County's soils are rated not limited for a conventional septic drain field, so expect a real chance of needing an engineered system; Alabama requires a registered engineer to design any system where soil percolation is slower than 60 minutes or a shallow limiting zone is present^16,17.

Plan for inspection too: no part of an installation may be covered or used until the local health department has had a chance to inspect, and the system cannot be used until the department issues an Approval for Use¹⁸. Call the Health Department at 251-206-6089 and ask for the Environmental Office to start⁶.

Yes, as far as county zoning is concerned: because Washington County has no zoning authority over unincorporated land, no county zoning rule restricts RV, tiny-home or manufactured-home occupancy on your own unincorporated parcel². Inside Chatom or McIntosh, check the town's zoning first^3,4.

Alabama's septic rules are the real constraint. The state's RV park rule sets sewage requirements for parks, including one sanitary station for every 50 vehicles, and is not a rule about living in an RV on your own land¹⁹. Only mobile tiny houses count as RVs under that rule; a tiny home on a foundation is not covered²⁰. Park models are not permanent dwellings under state manufactured-housing rules²¹. A manufactured home is recognized statewide as a residence if it is at least 8 feet wide and 40 feet long in traveling mode, or 320 square feet once erected, and carries a HUD Seal¹⁰. Any RV, tiny home or manufactured home with plumbing needs a septic permit from the Health Department⁶.

1. Confirm your parcel is in unincorporated Washington County rather than inside Chatom or McIntosh, which zone their own land; McIntosh also requires its own building permit^3,4,5.
2. Decide whether you will act as your own contractor under Alabama's owner-builder exemption or hire a licensed contractor⁸.
3. Contact the Health Department's Environmental Office at 251-206-6089 to apply for a Permit to Install before any septic work, using a licensed installer^6,7.
4. If soil testing shows slow percolation or a shallow limiting zone, plan for a registered engineer to design the system¹⁷.
5. Have the installer schedule the health department inspection before anything is covered, and wait for the Approval for Use¹⁸.
6. If your driveway will connect to a state highway, submit ALDOT Form BM-111 to the District Administrator before building it; you pay the turnout costs⁹.
7. If you will disturb one acre or more, budget for ADEM's $1,385 construction stormwater permit application fee²².
8. Call the County Commission Office at (251) 847-2208 with any remaining local question¹⁴.

Test the soil before you count on a standard septic system: only about 8.6% of the county's soils are rated not limited for a conventional drain field, so a percolation test matters here¹⁶. The land is gentler than that number suggests, with about 95.2% at 15% slope or less and 88.3% wooded, so finding a buildable site is usually not the hard part¹⁶. With no county zoning, confirm deed restrictions and easements yourself, since the county will not have a zoning file on the parcel¹.

Check flood status. A 2016 county hazard mitigation plan lists Washington County, Chatom and Millry as active National Flood Insurance Program participants, and a participating community must require permits for all development in a mapped Special Flood Hazard Area^15,23. The same plan lists McIntosh as not participating and sanctioned, which can matter for flood insurance and financing there¹⁵. Chatom's zoning ordinance bars building where land is subject to inundation or periodic flooding until plans meet flood hazard requirements³. We could not confirm a current county floodplain administrator, so ask the County Commission Office who issues that permit if any part of the parcel is mapped¹⁴.

Property tax runs low, with an effective rate near 0.2% and a median annual bill around $357¹⁶.