Land Planning

Big Horn County

Do you have a construction project planned for a location in rural Big Horn County? (See a list of permits that may apply to your development.) 

Please note the following:

Rural Big Horn County does not have building codes at this time. Contractors must, however, follow all applicable electrical and fire protection codes. If you wish to sell your property in the future, we recommend that you use a national building code standard for any improvement projects.

  1. Before starting your project, you must complete a Development Permit Application and submit it (with the applicable fee) to the Land Planning Department. The Land Planning staff will review your application and do the following before granting you a Development Permit:
    1. Identify if any portion of the project falls within a 100-year floodplain. If it does, a Floodplain Development Permit Application will be required and the project will go through a thorough review to ensure that engineering is in accordance with the Flood Damage Prevention Regulation. Visit our Flood Damage Prevention page for more information.
    2. Identify if construction will occur within an airport protection zone. Additional permitting may be required.
    3. Identify if installation of a septic system will be part of the project. If so, you will be directed to complete a workbook to obtain a septic permit. Please see our Septic Systems page for more information.
  2. Rural Big Horn County does not have building codes at this time. Contractors must, however, follow all applicable electrical and fire protection codes. If you wish to sell your property in the future, we recommend that you use a national building code standard for any improvement projects.
  3. We strongly recommend that you review any surveys that have been done on the property or have a survey done of the property before commencing with construction. All too often people start projects only to find out halfway through that they are infringing upon their neighbor’s land.
  4. If you are planning to divide your land for development purposes, please refer to our Subdivisions page.
  5. If your project is within a municipal boundary, please contact the appropriate municipality before you start the work. They may have building codes, zoning or other requirements that differ from the unincorporated areas of the county.

Feel free to contact us before starting any construction project!