Cob: oregon cobbers?

[Kelly, Sean]

Does anyone have any, um, ideas or suggestions on the easiest way to find
your local building codes?  How does this work?  Are building codes governed
by local municipalities or whatever, counties, or states (here in the US
that is specifically) or some combination of the above where you may have to
do LOTS of research?  Is there some bureau that supplies these?  Are the
generally available on-line?  Do they vary a lot (within the same state or
county)?  Lots of questions from someone who apparently knows little about
the whole thing.

Thanks!

Sean

-----Original Message-----
From: Shannon C. Dealy [mailto:dealy at deatech.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2000 10:59 AM
To: jon easton
Cc: coblist at deatech.com
Subject: Re: Cob: oregon cobbers?


On Mon, 8 May 2000, jon easton wrote:

> hi, My wife, son and I are moving to oregon. we are looking to buy land
and put
> up a yurt until we can build our own cob house. Does any one know of
relatively
> cheap land [or have land to sell] that doesn't have building, zoning regs
against
> yurts and cob homes. We are going to try to live self sufficently, raise
gardens,

Generally speaking, there are no codes against building with cob, it is
simply not a pre-approved material, so you will probably need an
architectural engineer's stamp on your drawings to get approval for your
building (easier said than done).  As far as yurts go, last time I checked
with Benton county (immediately to the North of Lane county where Eugene
is located), I was told that a yurt was not classified as a permanent
structure and as such did not need a building permit (kind of like a
trailer house I guess), though depending on where your land is located
(particularly within a city), zoning issues might apply.  Of course this
just covers the yurt structure, plumbing and wiring would almost certainly
have to have permits.  I did a quick write up of how many people have
dealt with alternative building techniques and the building code, it is
available at:

   http://www.deatech.com/natural/articles/code_alternatives.html

> root cellar, etc. Does anyone want to go in with us on a land purchase or
perhaps
> does anyone have land in the eugene area that they would consider selling
[or
> renting to us]? We would also love to hear from oregon cobbers who would
be
> interested in helping us think out or build our cob home. Thanks!

Of course in the Eugene area, you are only 1/2 hour away from Cob Cottage
Company, and there are quite a few cobbers in and around Eugene, so you
should have no problem hooking up with fellow cobber's to discuss your
plans, learn about their experiences, etc. (I'm about an hour away from
Eugene).

Shannon C. Dealy      |               DeaTech Research Inc.
dealy at deatech.com     |          - Custom Software Development -
                      |    Embedded Systems, Real-time, Device Drivers
Phone: (800) 467-5820 | Networking, Scientific & Engineering Applications
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