Greenlee County, Arizona Safford & the Gila Valley

Barndominium Builders in Greenlee County, Arizona

We build barndominiums in Greenlee County, Arizona, from the irrigated valley ground around Duncan up into the canyon country near Clifton and Morenci, and we ship barndominium kits to owners who would rather erect the frame themselves. Greenlee has a short permit trail, and it helps to know its shape before you plan. The county Planning Office in Clifton issues the zoning use permit, the floodplain permit and the building permit for a site-built home, while the Health Department issues septic permits. The loading-standards letter the county posts says Greenlee has adopted no building code and does not review plans or inspect construction, and it advises owners to use a conservative code and hire their own inspections. We follow that advice on every job: we draw to a current model code and set the roof load for the elevation of your lot. That matters here. The same letter recalls a 1967 storm that dropped roughly 34 inches of snow at Stargo and collapsed several roofs. A steel barndominium frame and pole barn homes both work on Greenlee acreage, as long as the roof is designed for the snow your site can see. If you are weighing barndominium contractors near Greenlee County, ask how each one covers the inspections the county does not do. Fill in the survey with your parcel and we will take it from there.

Greenlee County at a glance

County: Greenlee County
Building permit: County (unincorporated land)
Local facts on this page: 6, each linked to its source

Tell us about your land

Before you build in Greenlee County

The local answers that shape a build here, each taken from the office or document that publishes it. Rules change, so we confirm them again against your parcel before drawing.

County-issued permitWho issues the permit

Greenlee County Planning & Zoning Office, Clifton

On private land in unincorporated Greenlee County, the Planning Office issues zoning use permits, building permits for site-built homes and floodplain permits; the Floodplain District is a separate body housed in the same office. Manufactured home and septic permits come from the Health Department. The county's posted building-code letter says the building permit is issued at no charge once the zoning use and floodplain permits are issued.

Source: Planning and Zoning – Greenlee County, Arizona (greenlee.az.gov)

Permit office: Greenlee County's Planning and Zoning page says the Planning Office issues Zoning Use Permits, Building Permits for site-built homes and Floodplain Permits, and that manufactured home and septic system permits are issued by the Health Department. It describes the department as the regulatory authority for land use and development on private property in the unincorporated county.
No adopted building code: The county's Building Codes and Loading Standards document, a county engineering letter dated 19 October 2012, still linked from the planning page, states that the county has adopted no building codes, so it does not set building loads, review plans, inspect construction or issue a certificate of occupancy. It advises owners to contract for inspections and use a conservative building code.
Snow history: The same Greenlee County Engineering letter records a November 1967 storm that left about 34 inches of snow at Stargo (elevation 5,400 feet), just north of Morenci, and about 24 inches in Clifton (3,400 feet), and says several roofs collapsed. It notes that elevations in the county run from 3,200 to 8,000 feet.
Rural zoning: Greenlee County's Zoning Ordinance Summary (edited March 2007) lists rural districts RU-36, RU-4 and RU-2 with minimum lot areas of 36, 4 and 2 acres and a 35-foot maximum building height. A draft update to the zoning regulations is posted on the county planning page for public review.
Wells and septic: Greenlee County's Environmental Health page says private water and sewage systems, also referred to as wells and septics, are used by many residents of the county, and that its section on them covers the care and permitting of those systems.
Free zoning and floodplain check: The Greenlee County planning page says the county will provide, at no cost, a determination of a property's zoning and floodplain status, and that the Planning Department also issues new addresses in the county.

Building on land near Greenlee County

Before you buy land in Greenlee County, ask the Planning Office for its free zoning and floodplain determination on the parcel. The zone sets the minimum lot size, from 2 acres in RU-2 to 36 acres in RU-36 under the county summary, and the floodplain status decides whether the home needs a floodplain permit and a floor raised to the regulatory flood elevation. Most rural homes here run on a private well and a septic system, so allow time for the health department's septic permit and for drilling if the parcel has no well. Because the county does not inspect construction, keep a record of the third-party inspections on your build. Metal building homes on the steep lots around Clifton also need a pad and a driveway that suit the grade, and we look at both before we quote.

Other locations in this part of Arizona

Safford & the Gila Valley

Graham County
Greenlee County

Barndominiums we build in Greenlee County

Turnkey builds, kit packages and pole barn homes, drawn to the design figures and codes of the office that permits your land. The parcel decides the budget more than the floor area does, so we quote against your land rather than a rate card.

Turnkey Builds

Turnkey barndominiums in Arizona, raw land to keys: plans, permits, site work, a steel shell and the finish-out, built by us on one contract.

Barndominium Kits

Steel barndominium kits for Arizona land: a red-iron shell drawn to your jurisdiction's wind and snow figures, delivered and put up by our crews or yours.

Pole Barn Homes

Pole barn homes in Arizona, built as real houses: post-frame spans on concrete, termite protection for wood, and a wall that handles the desert heat.

See every service

Have land in or near Greenlee County? Tell us about the parcel and what you want to build, and we will check it against the local rules before anything is drawn.

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Building in Greenlee County: questions

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How much does it cost to build a barndominium in Greenlee County?

Much of it depends on the ground under the house. A well, a septic system, the grading a hillside pad needs near Clifton and a roof built for mountain snow can each move the total more than the floor plan does. Send us the parcel through the survey and we quote from there. For sourced per-square-foot ranges, see our barndominium cost guide.

Do I need a building permit for a barndominium in Greenlee County?

Yes. A home on unincorporated land needs a zoning use permit and a floodplain permit from the Planning Office, which then issues the building permit, and the septic permit comes from the Health Department. The county's posted letter says it does not review plans or inspect, so on our turnkey builds we line up third-party inspections at each stage. With a kit, we supply drawings for your application. See our permitting service.

How much snow should a roof near Clifton be built for?

That depends on the elevation of your lot, and Greenlee County does not set a design snow load. Its engineering letter recalls about 24 inches in Clifton and about 34 inches at Stargo in the 1967 storm, with roofs lost. We set the roof load for your site with the frame supplier's engineer before a kit is ordered. For how a bolted frame is specified, read about our steel construction.

Do you work in the counties next to Greenlee?

Yes. We build west in Graham County around Safford and north in Apache County. Each county runs its own permit and septic steps, so we confirm the right office for your parcel before anything is drawn.

Keep reading

What usually comes next once you know what Greenlee County allows.

Barndominium Cost Guide

Sourced per-square-foot ranges by tier and size, and what moves the number on your land.

Read it

Is a Barndominium Legal in Arizona?

Zoning, septic and who inspects, before you buy the land.

Read it

How Long Does It Take?

From parcel to move-in, and which steps set the clock.

Read it

Sources for this page

The published pages behind the Greenlee County facts above. Rules change, so check the current version with the office before you rely on it.

Barndominiums near Greenlee County

Nearby places we also cover. Across a city limit or a county line the permit office, zoning and septic rules can change, so each has its own page.

Graham County

Arizona county

Apache County

Arizona county

Cochise County

Arizona county

Building in Greenlee County?

Start with the survey. Tell us where the land is and what you want on it, and we will come back with which office permits it, what it will allow, and a plan to fit.

Start the survey