William - all this stuff you're discussing is confusing and ambiguous
because we don't know what community you're talking about and what their
zoning and code regulations are. There are many places in America that have
virtually no zoning and absolutely no code requirements. There are others
that have highly restrictive zoning and code requirements. It varies from
state to state, county to county, and town to town. There are NO hard and
fast rules that apply to the US.

I know - An area in which I have lived has pretty much unrestricted zoning
and absolutely no code requirements. There are no requirements that a
licensed contractor do any work. There are no legal requirements that any
code or standard is followed. There are many "owner built" homes - some that
meet the stereotype of $hitty construction, some that are
professional-grade. It is indeed possible to get insurance for these
houses. It is also possible to get bank financing for owner-built both
during construction as well as if you're trying to buy one on the market.
Of course, banks may require inspection by a qualified inspector before
financing, and may require that things they finance meet uniform building
codes, but there are also financing options for "non-conforming" housing.
The insurance business is the same (around here).

So the point is that it is indeed possible to do what you're wanting to do -
in terms of just building a house yoursel. It is also possible to get
financing and insurance if you want to go that route (you said you didn't).
You just need to find a part of the country that has unrestrictive zoning
and/or code requirements. Generally this will be in the rural part of a
western state, but you might find other areas that suit your plans. Heck,
we don't even know if there's anything in your particular community that
would preclude it.

Cam

"William Deans" wrote in message
news:1104198529.f94691979dabdc942eefd65f3d0cf61d@t eranews...
Greetings,

I was told that I could not do the work myself but I didn't say the magic
words "owner/builder permit".
I will call back using this phrase and see what happens.

Thank you for the advice,
William


"Greg" wrote in message
...
Call the permitting office. Most places will allow "owner/builder"
permits
as
long as you don't immediately roll the house over to a new owner.
There are some rules about sub contractors having to be licensed,
insured
etc
but if you are truly doing all the work you are OK. I built my own pool
with no
hassles from the county and my insurance guy didn't care.
There is really more interest in income, FICA taxes and insurance on
casual
labor than the qualifications of these people. You pulled the permit and
you
"own" code compliance.
You can buy some extra liability insurance to cover a guy who gets hurt
on
your
job, just don't cheap out on it.
The FICA deal is between you and the IRS. There are rules about "casual
labor"
and the number of hours you can employ someone before you have to start
withholding taxes.