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

We could not confirm a general residential building permit for unincorporated Dubois County. The one county permit its code spells out is for structures or improvements placed in a public street, highway or road right-of-way, which requires a permit from the Supervisor of the County Highway Department¹. That code section does not create a general building permit for a house on private land¹. Indiana's 2020 Residential Code still sets how one- and two-family homes are built statewide⁷, and the state says counties and towns may add their own permit and plan-review requirements¹³. Inspection of one- and two-family dwellings is assigned to local government, and the sources we reviewed did not establish who does that for unincorporated Dubois County⁸. Before you build, ask the Dubois County Auditor's office or the Health Department whether any permit applies to your parcel.

Dubois County's department directory lists no building department and no plan commission². The one county office with a documented permitting role for a land buyer is the Dubois County Health Department's Environmental Health division, which handles septic inspection and permitting^4,5. Driveways or other work inside a county road right-of-way go through the County Highway Department¹. A driveway that connects to a state highway needs permission through INDOT's Electronic Permit System¹⁴. Incorporated towns can run their own building and zoning offices, so a parcel inside a town's limits answers to that town first, while septic still comes from the county Health Department.

Dubois County has no plan commission and no zoning department, so no countywide zoning ordinance applies to unincorporated land; only municipalities administer zoning inside their own jurisdictions². The Town of Ferdinand, for one, maintains a comprehensive plan, a zoning ordinance and a board of zoning appeals³. Outside towns, the county does regulate subdivisions. In county-regulated subdivisions the ordinance sets building setbacks of 35 feet from the right-of-way line at the front, 10 feet on each side and 20 feet at the rear⁹. Lots served by public sewer need at least 10,000 square feet⁹. We found no published rule on tiny homes, accessory dwellings, minimum home size, building height or lot coverage, so ask the Health Department before you assume any of these is unrestricted.

The Dubois County Health Department's Environmental Health division handles inspection and permitting of onsite sewage systems countywide^4,5. A written construction permit signed by the health officer is required before residence construction begins, before a manufactured, modular or mobile home is placed, and before a system is repaired, altered or expanded⁶. When work is ready, you notify the health officer for inspection, and without a published local procedure that notice must come at least forty-eight hours before subsurface parts are covered⁶. If a sanitary sewer is available within a reasonable distance, onsite disposal is prohibited and you must connect to the sewer¹⁵. Soils matter here: only 2.9% of the county's soils are free of severe limits for a conventional drain field, so plan for a site evaluation and possibly a more complex system¹².

We could not confirm a Dubois County rule on living in an RV or tiny home on private land. Indiana's campground rule covers sites that are leased or rented for ten or more tents or RVs and excludes tracts divided into individually deeded lots, so it does not settle the question for a single parcel you own¹⁶. A temporary campground may run no more than ten consecutive days per event and thirty days in a calendar year, under local health officers¹⁶. Manufactured homes are recognized as dwellings subject to state health and sanitation standards, and a manufactured home placed on a lot needs a septic construction permit first^6,17. For a tiny home or RV, call the Health Department, since any dwelling that will not be on sewer runs through its septic process⁵.

1. Confirm whether your parcel is inside an incorporated town such as Ferdinand, which can set its own zoning³.
2. Get a soils evaluation and apply to the Dubois County Health Department for the septic construction permit before you finalize house plans, since only 2.9% of county soils are free of severe septic limits^5,6,12.
3. If you are splitting a tract outside a city or town, have it surveyed and platted, with county commissioner approval, before selling lots¹¹.
4. Apply to the County Highway Department for any work in a county road right-of-way¹, or to INDOT for a state highway driveway¹⁴.
5. If the parcel touches a floodway, get DNR approval before any structure, fill or excavation¹⁸.
6. Build to the 2020 Indiana Residential Code⁷.
7. Give the Health Department at least forty-eight hours' notice before backfilling the septic system⁶.

Start with jurisdiction: a parcel inside a town like Ferdinand follows that town's zoning, and one outside follows the county's subdivision standards if it sits in a platted subdivision^3,9. Check soils early, because only 2.9% of the county is free of severe septic limits and a site evaluation comes before the Health Department issues a permit^6,12. Terrain is moderate and well wooded: 60.8% of the county sits at 15% slope or less and 41.4% is forested¹². If the tract was recently split from a larger parcel, confirm it was platted and approved by the county commissioners¹¹. Ask about floodway status near waterways, since DNR approval governs construction there¹⁸. Property tax runs about 0.7% effectively, with a median bill near $1,382 a year on a typical home value around $266,632¹².