Dry Cabin and the Building Code/ Permits

[hpinson]

I've been wondering about the viability of a dry cabin, which would, by allowing me to do most of the building work, would greatly reduce building costs.

Is such a thing even allowed anymore?

The cabin would be for weekend/ vacation use only.

I have a water source in the form of a reliable, but very low output well. I capture about 30 gallons of good clean water a day. I want to conserve this resource.

I have a recently permitted outhouse, in excellent shape. The outhouse septic permit is for residential weekend use.

I do not want to install a water toilet, a septic tank, and leech field.  The cabin I would envision would have no interior bathroom.  For that I would rely on the permitted outhouse.

The cabin would have a single kitchen sink, but that would be grey water only, and either drain to a bucket, or have a simple drain outside to a rock sump.  Water for the sink would be provided via 5 gallon jugs I fill my hand at the wellhead. In a weekend, the three of us will typically use 5 gallons of water. A small 4 burner propane range or cooktop would be permanent.

There would be no shower or bath inside the cabin.  Since we only use this property 3 seasons, for short periods, an outdoor shower works quite well.

Heat would either be direct vent propane in each room (greatroom and two bedrooms) or mini-split.

Electric is on site, but rather than hook it up, I would like to use a very simple, but code compliant, solar system.

The building site is excellent, on sandstone shelf covered with a little quartz sand soil. No problems with offsets.  The site is very rural. No neighbors are line-of-site to the build site.

I am in a county where code is minimally enforced, but it can be selectively enforced, and I do want to go by the book and be fully compliant with code.

So... is such a thing even possible anymore, in terms of getting code approval and a building permit?

I'm very interested in hearing others experiences with similar.

[Don_P]

Section R306 is the strict code answer to your question. However, you are not really describing a dwelling unit as defined in chapter 2, so there is room for interpretation. I've always had trouble with reading comprehension. It sounds like you'll be showering at home and bringing a self contained camp sink, there is a well that might be used to water some plants on occasion?

[hpinson]

Off to look that up...

Yes, I would describe it as a camp, not really a dwelling, for weekend use. 

The well draws about 30 gallons an hour, with 500 gallons of storage in place. Use that now to water apple trees, provide water for deer, and for fire suppression.

The sink would be self contained.

An outdoor shower is in the works. But yes, that is a summer convenience, and we shower at home.

[hpinson]

Looked up R306 (below) so I guess the answer is that a dry cabin is not allowed anymore, I guess unless the inspector views the structure as something other than a dwelling, i.e. a "camp". I will have to ask my inspector friend what he thinks about that...

SECTION R306 SANITATION 

R306.1 Toilet facilities. 
Every dwelling unit shall be provided with a water closet, lavatory, and a bathtub or shower.

In our case we have a permitted legal outhouse,  serving an existing mobile home, eventually to be demolished.

R306.3 Sewage disposal. 
All plumbing fixtures shall be connected to a sanitary sewer or to an approved private sewage disposal system.

There would be no plumbing fixtures in the camp structure.

R306.2 Kitchen. 
Each dwelling unit shall be provided with a kitchen area and every kitchen area shall be provided with a sink.

Camp would have a kitchen area with a self contained camping sink.

R306.4 Water supply to fixtures. 
All plumbing fixtures shall be connected to an approved water supply. Kitchen sinks, lavatories, bathtubs, showers, bidets, laundry tubs and washing machine outlets shall be provided with hot and cold water.

Water supply is 5 gallon jugs drawn from existing well/ pump.

[Don_P]

An outdoor apple rinsing station is a handy thing around an orchard.

[rick91351]

An outdoor apple rinsing station is a handy thing around an orchard.

My 1200 gallon apple rinsing station......  Wink!!! 

[hpinson]

Got one of those already! 

I like your awesome deer fence.