Building permits, zoning and septic rules in Bartholomew County, Indiana

Unincorporated Bartholomew County requires a building permit before construction, alteration or repair costing more than $300¹. New homes, accessory buildings larger than 200 square feet, in-ground pools, and above-ground pools on lots smaller than 2 acres require a surveyor-certified site plan¹. The published fee for a new one- or two-family dwelling is $200 plus $0.10 per square foot of gross floor area, including attached garage/carport and basement; that fee includes all required permits⁸. Confirm the current charge with Technical Code Enforcement because the posted code compilation may lag legislation⁸. An owner-occupant doing the work personally can file an Owner Occupant Sign-Off, but building permits and inspections still apply⁷. Columbus has its own building-permit requirement; Edinburgh, mainly in Johnson County but extending into Bartholomew County, issues its own building permits^9,10. Septic administration remains with the Bartholomew County Health Department for county addresses⁴.

The Department of Technical Code Enforcement of Columbus/Bartholomew County issues building permits, reviews plans, assigns addresses, and answers code, floodplain and permit-record questions¹. Call 812-379-1535 for building-permit questions or inspections, which require 24-hour advance scheduling¹. Bartholomew County has adopted a building code¹. All fees and fines must be paid before a final building inspection is scheduled, and occupancy must wait for that inspection¹. An improvement requiring an Improvement Location Permit also needs successful final site and building inspections and a certificate of occupancy from the Chief Code Enforcement Officer before use². For zoning and subdivision questions, contact the Columbus-Bartholomew County Planning Department at 812-376-2550 or planning@columbus.in.gov¹¹.

County zoning governs unincorporated Bartholomew County within the county plan commission’s jurisdiction, excluding municipal planning jurisdictions². Columbus sets its own zoning, as does Edinburgh, a town mainly in Johnson County that reaches into Bartholomew County^12,13. Septic administration remains with the Bartholomew County Health Department for county addresses⁴. The joint district has separately adopted zoning; Hartsville contracts with the county to administer Hartsville’s zoning and subdivision rules¹¹. Use the official zoning map to identify the district before applying dimensional standards². In Agricultural: Voluntary Protection, nonagricultural structures have 25% maximum lot coverage and primary structures a 40-foot height limit². In Commercial: Professional Office (CO), maximum coverage is 65%, primary/accessory height limits are 40/25 feet, and side and rear setbacks are 10 feet¹⁴. CO front setbacks vary by road or street classification and vehicle-access features¹⁴.

The Bartholomew County Health Department administers onsite sewage and provides the county's permit, extension, and subdivision forms⁴. A dwelling that will not connect to sanitary sewer needs a written septic construction permit signed by the health officer before a new system, replacement, expansion, alteration, or repair³. The application includes property and bedroom information, an onsite soils evaluation, plans, and any other information the health officer requires; the local health department must issue or deny it in writing within 45 days after receiving the application and plans³. Published fees are $200 for a new system permit, $100 for a repair permit, and $50 for a minor repair¹⁵. Only about 0.2% of county soils are rated without severe limitations for a conventional drain field, so make sewage feasibility an early purchase contingency¹⁶.

In unincorporated Bartholomew County, a primary tiny home in a single-family residential district generally needs 950 square feet if manufactured or 1,000 if site-built, with RE district exceptions⁵. Agricultural: Voluntary Protection has a 1,000-square-foot dwelling minimum, subject to its manufactured-home provision². Outside manufactured-home communities, manufactured homes are allowed only where single-family dwellings are allowed; mobile homes are prohibited². Manufactured homes must meet installation, anchoring, travel-equipment removal, utility and applicable district standards². An ADU requires conditional-use approval; residential ADUs have a 400-square-foot minimum and a maximum of 1,000 square feet or 65% of the primary home, whichever is less⁶. Only 1 ADU is allowed per property, without an additional driveway, using public sewer or Health Department-approved septic arrangements². The campground/RV-park provisions cover short-term or seasonal occupancy and do not establish permission for year-round RV dwelling on private land¹⁴. We could not confirm temporary camping on a private lot; ask Planning about the proposed use¹¹.

1. Confirm which zoning authority governs the parcel, then use the official map to identify its district and allowed use².
2. Check the district's lot size, setbacks, lot coverage, height, and utility rules before fixing the site plan^2,17.
3. If the home will not connect to sanitary sewer, complete the soils evaluation and obtain the written septic construction permit before settling the layout³.
4. Submit the planning application through the OpenGov services portal with each property owner's authorization, and obtain any applicable driveway or utility-connection approval^1,17.
5. Apply to Technical Code Enforcement before starting covered work costing more than $300¹.
6. Pay all fees and fines before scheduling the final building inspection, complete required inspections and obtain the certificate of occupancy before using or occupying an improvement that required an Improvement Location Permit^1,2.

In Bartholomew County’s Agricultural: Preferred and Agricultural: General Rural districts, a septic-served lot generally needs at least 1 acre or enough area for 2 viable septic sites, whichever is greater². Only about 0.2% of county soils are rated without severe limitations for conventional drain fields, making sewage feasibility an early purchase concern¹⁶. RM Residential Multi-Family and CO Commercial: Professional Office require public water and sewer, so a well and septic system cannot simply replace those connections^14,18. Indiana’s high-capacity-well guidance generally requires no state permit except in the Great Lakes Basin, but significant-withdrawal registration may apply; that guidance does not settle a domestic-well project’s requirements¹⁹. Ask Planning about floodplain development approval and minor-subdivision plat, physical-features and sewage documentation before buying or dividing land^20,21. Agricultural accessory-structure zoning exemptions do not waive other applicable building, health, septic or floodplain rules².