Gently rolling Blackland Prairie grassland with deep dark cracking clay soil in the foreground and post oak along a fence line.
Kaufman County 2021 IRC as adopted here

Barndominium Builders in Kaufman County, TX

Kaufman County is the clearest place in Texas to see what it actually means for a county to adopt a building code. Most Texas counties have no such power at all. Kaufman's Commissioners Court took the power on 22 March 2022, in an order recorded with the county clerk as instrument 2022-0011386, requiring Subchapter F of Local Government Code chapter 233 to be applied to new residential construction in the unincorporated county. Paragraph 4 does something unusual: rather than naming an edition, it points at the International Residential Code currently in use by the City of Kaufman, which is the 2021 IRC. So a code applies out here. What does not apply is everything most people assume travels with one. There is no county building permit, no county fee, no county zoning and no county building inspector. The builder contracts three inspections privately, files a notice before starting that names the IRC version being used, and files a second notice after the final inspection. Meanwhile the county grew 42.2 percent between 2020 and 2025, faster than anywhere else in the Dallas ring.

Kaufman County at a glance

County
Kaufman County
Population
209,235
Where we build
Kaufman, Dallas, Mesquite, Ellis County

ZIPs 75142, 75160, 75161, 75126, 75114, 75143, 75158, 75147

Site visits
Site walks arranged throughout Kaufman County, the city of Kaufman included
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Building conditions in Kaufman County

What actually changes from one Texas jurisdiction to the next: who issues the permit, whether the residential code is enforced there at all, what the structure has to be engineered to, and what the ground is like. These are the numbers your drawings have to satisfy.

Build conditions for Kaufman County , Texas : design wind speed 115 mph (3-second gust). BUILD CONDITIONS KAUFMAN COUNTY, TXKaufman County2021 IRCDESIGN WIND SPEED115 mph (3-second g…From the North Central Texas Council of Governments' recommended amendments to the 2021 IRC, whichfill in Table R301.2(1) and which the City of Kaufman adopts at Code of Ordinances section…ZONING ·Local Government Code section 233.153(d)(2) does not authorise acommissioners court to adopt or enforce zoning, so there is none in…WHO ISSUES THE PERMITKaufman County Development Services101 N. Houston Street, Kaufman, TX 75142, (469) 376-4127, Monday toFriday 8am to 4:30pm, closed noon to 1pm. This is the office that…
Build conditions for Kaufman County, drawn from the sourced facts on this page. Every figure above is cited in the quick-facts panel below, with its source and vintage.
The county opted into Subchapter F
The Commissioners Court order requiring Subchapter F of chapter 233 to be applied in unincorporated Kaufman County was passed 22 March 2022 and recorded two days later

Order of the Commissioners Court of Kaufman County, County Clerk instrument 2022-0011386, Vol. 7540 Pg. 43

Which code the order points at
Paragraph 4 requires compliance with the International Residential Code currently in use by the City of Kaufman, which is the 2021 IRC

Order instrument 2022-0011386 para. 4; City of Kaufman Code of Ordinances sec. 4.02.061 (Ord. O-07-26, 23 Mar 2026)

No county permit and no county fee
Subchapter F may not be construed to require prior county approval, and a county may not charge a fee to enforce the standards

Texas Local Government Code secs. 233.153(d)(1) and 233.153(f)

Three inspections, contracted by the builder
Foundation before concrete, framing and mechanical before covering, and on completion, from a closed list of six kinds of inspector

Order instrument 2022-0011386 paras. 5-6; Texas Local Government Code secs. 233.154(a)(1) and (a)(3)

Floodplain permit and two feet of freeboard
A Floodplain Development Permit is required in any special flood hazard area, and new residential construction must sit at least two feet above the base flood elevation

Kaufman County Floodplain Management Court Order, art. 3 sec. C and art. 5 sec. B(1)(b)

Fastest growth in the Dallas ring
209,235 residents in 2025 against 147,165 in 2020, up 42.2 percent

U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 county population estimates, co-est2025-alldata.csv

Also worth knowing before you build in Kaufman County

Design criteria
115 mph ultimate design wind speed (76 fastest mile), 5 lb/sq ft ground snow load, seismic category A, 6 inch frost line, termite hazard Very Heavy

Recommended Amendments to the 2021 IRC, North Central Texas Council of Governments Region, approved July 2021, Table R301.2(1)

Engineered foundations
The NCTCOG amendment to R401.2 that the City of Kaufman adopts requires every foundation and footing to be designed and sealed by a Texas-registered engineer

Recommended Amendments to the 2021 IRC, NCTCOG Region, sec. R401.2

Septic permits
Kaufman County requires septic systems to be permitted before being put into operation, and the installer must be TCEQ-licensed

Kaufman County Development Services, On-Site Sewage Facilities

A county of 209,000 takes its code from a city of 10,717
The City of Kaufman had 10,717 residents in 2025; Forney, the largest city in the county, had 41,658

U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty population estimates, sub-est2025.csv

Climate zone does not depend on the edition here
Kaufman County is climate zone 3A on both the pre-2021 and the 2021 IRC county maps

IRC climate zone county tables, 2018 and 2024 editions

Energy rules reach rural land
A builder outside any municipality must certify energy compliance and keep the certification for three years; the statewide Energy Rating Index threshold for climate zone 3 has been 57 since 1 September 2025

Texas Health and Safety Code secs. 388.004 and 388.003(j)

Blackland Prairie clay
Houston Black, the Texas state soil and a shrink-swell Vertisol, has been correlated in Kaufman County since 1947

USDA-NRCS Official Series Description, HOUSTON BLACK series, Series Established note

Two cities reach into the county
Dallas and Mesquite both have territory inside Kaufman County, and inside those limits the city's own code applies instead

U.S. Census Bureau 2020 place-by-county file st48_tx_place_by_county2020.txt

An excavator grading a compacted building pad on a cleared lot, with survey stakes and a drainage swale visible.
Below the slab

The expensive surprises are in the ground, not the building

What moves a Texas budget is usually below grade, and it is soil rather than rock: shrink-swell clay. The Blackland Prairie and the Gulf Coast clays move enough between a wet season and a dry one to drive the foundation design across the state's largest markets, which is why several DFW cities require an engineer's seal on the foundation of every new house. Those are the same conditions that decide whether a septic field passes its soil and site evaluation, so the grading plan, the foundation and the drainfield get resolved together rather than one at a time. We price the dirt before we price the building.

What we build in Kaufman County

All nine of our services — kits, custom plans, post-frame and steel construction, site preparation, permitting and engineering, through to turnkey builds — are available across Kaufman County. What a project costs depends far more on the parcel than on square footage, so we work from your land rather than from a rate card.

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What a build looks like

Three stages every Kaufman County project passes through, from a raw parcel to a finished home. Site work first, because that is where the budget is decided.

Aerial view of an undeveloped rural lot with cleared grass, a live oak and cedar elm treeline, and a pale gravel access track.
Stage one

The parcel

Zoning, setbacks, flood zone and utility access get checked before anything is drawn.

An excavator grading a compacted building pad on a cleared lot, with survey stakes and a drainage swale visible.
Stage two

Pad and permit

Clearing, grading and a compacted pad, while the submittal works through Kaufman County.

A finished barndominium at dusk with warm interior lighting glowing through its large windows.
Stage three

Frame to finish

Shell erected and dried in, then systems, insulation and interior finish through to CO.

Those are the rules for Kaufman County. Tell us what you want to build and we will draw it to them.

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Where we build around Kaufman County

Kaufman County and the rural land around it. The buildable acreage for a project this size usually sits outside the city limits, which is frequently what changes who issues your permit.

Our Kaufman County service area, covering Kaufman County and the surrounding rural acreage. This map marks the territory we serve, not a branch location.

Keep reading

The questions that usually come next once you know what Kaufman County allows.

Barndominium Cost Guide

Sourced per-square-foot ranges by tier and by size, with a calculator built on the same figures.

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Is It Legal in Texas?

Classification, zoning, the HOA gate, and why "nonresidential farm building" does not cover a home.

Read it

How Long Does It Take?

Census build-duration data, and what actually sets the permit clock where you are building.

Read it

Nearby areas we build in

Others we cover in this part of Texas. The permitting authority, the adopted design criteria and the zoning can all differ from one to the next.

Dallas

Dallas County
Mesquite

Dallas County
Ellis County

Ellis County

Building in Kaufman County: common questions

10 questions we get asked most often about building in Kaufman County. If yours is not on the list, ask it directly.

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Does a building code apply on unincorporated land in Kaufman County?
Yes, and that puts Kaufman in a small minority of Texas counties. A Texas county has no general building-code authority in its unincorporated area unless its commissioners court has adopted an order under Subchapter F of Local Government Code chapter 233. Kaufman's court did, on 22 March 2022, and recorded the order as County Clerk instrument 2022-0011386. Paragraph 4 requires new residential construction to comply with the International Residential Code currently in use by the City of Kaufman.
So which edition of the IRC is that?
The 2021 International Residential Code. The City of Kaufman adopts it at section 4.02.061 of its Code of Ordinances, most recently by Ordinance O-07-26 on 23 March 2026, and its Building Safety Division publishes the same answer on its adopted-codes list. This is an unusual mechanism worth understanding: because the county order points at the city rather than naming an edition, the standard on unincorporated land moves when the City of Kaufman re-adopts, without the Commissioners Court meeting at all.
Do I need a building permit from Kaufman County?
No. Section 233.153(d)(1) says Subchapter F may not be construed to require prior approval by the county before new residential construction begins, and section 233.153(f) forbids the county from charging a fee to enforce the standards. There is no county building permit, no plan review and no county building inspector. What the county does issue is the septic permit and, in a flood hazard area, a floodplain development permit.
Who inspects the work, then?
The builder contracts the inspections. There must be at least three on a vacant lot: the foundation before concrete is placed, the framing and mechanical work before it is covered, and the completed residence. The county's order repeats the statutory list of who may do them, being a licensed engineer, a registered architect, a professional inspector licensed by the Texas Real Estate Commission, a plumbing inspector licensed by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, a building inspector employed by a political subdivision, or an individual certified as a residential combination inspector by the International Code Council. The same inspector may do all three.
What paperwork does the county actually want?
Two notices, and they are the whole of the county-side process. Before starting, the builder gives Kaufman County Development Services notice on a county form of the location, the approximate start date, and the version of the International Residential Code that will be used. Then, no later than the tenth day after the final inspection, the builder files notice of the inspection with Development Services and with the owner if that is someone else, saying whether the inspection showed compliance. Failing to give the pre-commencement notice is a Class C misdemeanor under section 233.157, and section 233.157(c) exempts an individual who builds the house themselves or acts as their own contractor and intends it as their primary residence.
Is there zoning out here?
No. Section 233.153(d)(2) says Subchapter F does not authorise a commissioners court to adopt or enforce zoning, and no Texas county has general zoning power anyway. What does control land use on unincorporated Kaufman County land is recorded deed restrictions, which Texas courts enforce. Read the title commitment before you buy, not after.
What still binds even without a county building permit?
More than people expect. The septic system needs an on-site sewage facility permit from the county before it goes into operation, and the installer must be TCEQ-licensed. Land in a special flood hazard area needs a floodplain development permit, and the county's floodplain order requires the lowest floor to sit at least two feet above the base flood elevation, certified by an engineer, architect or surveyor. Occupations Code section 1301.052 requires a licensed plumber on new construction even on rural land. Health and Safety Code section 388.004 requires energy certification outside any municipality. And deed restrictions bind regardless of any of it.
What about the septic sizing on a barndominium?
Texas has no percolation test. Soil is classified by texture class instead, and clay sits in the slowest class, which means a large drainfield. Houston Black, the shrink-swell Blackland Prairie clay that USDA has correlated in Kaufman County since 1947, is exactly that kind of soil. Sizing keys off living area rather than total structure area at state level, so a shop bay does not automatically count against you. An authorized agent may apply stricter rules than the state minimum, so confirm your numbers with Kaufman County Development Services on (469) 376-4127 before you size anything.
Does the foundation need an engineer?
Plan on it. The Texas Engineering Practice Act removes the private-dwelling exemption for a residential slab on expansive soil, and Blackland Prairie clay is the definition of expansive soil. The IRC reaches the same place independently: R403.1.8 hands expansive-soil foundations to the commercial code, which means an engineered design. On top of that, the NCTCOG regional amendment that the City of Kaufman adopts requires every foundation and footing to be designed and sealed by a Texas-registered engineer regardless of soil. Two of those three routes bind here no matter which way the county's code pointer is read.
What if my land is inside a city or a city's ETJ?
Then the answer changes. Dallas, Mesquite, Forney, Terrell, Kaufman, Crandall, Seagoville, Kemp, Talty, Combine and a dozen smaller places all have territory in the county, and inside city limits the city's own adopted code, permit and inspector apply instead. Forney and Terrell both run the 2021 IRC too. In a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction the position is genuinely contested: Texas courts have held that a city has no ETJ building-code authority, most recently in Collin County v. City of McKinney in 2018, though a city can still require you to plat. Settle which side of which line your parcel is on first.

Building in Kaufman County?

Start with the plan. Tell us what you want to build and we will draw it, then confirm what Kaufman County will actually let you put on the parcel and what wind load it has to meet. That conversation costs nothing.

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