Off-grid guides for every state
Every state has a different starting point. Explore the water, land-use, building, and wastewater questions that shape your property decision.
Alabama
A candid site-suitability file covering professional soil evaluation, engineered-system limits, county permits, licensed installation, approval for use and stormwater triggers.
Read the guideAlaska
A construction-record field guide distinguishing authorization by rule from engineered preapproval, with alternative sanitation, wells and remote-site logistics.
Read the guideArizona
A growing body of verified findings on zoning authority, dwelling types, RV occupancy, wells, surface water, shared wells, onsite wastewater, composting toilets, graywater, and solar restrictions—with unanswered local questions left intact.
Read the guideArkansas
A three-part wastewater-permit guide covering the 300-foot sewer test, construction inspection, operating approval, flow/discharge boundaries and private-water testing limits.
Read the guideCalifornia
A five-layer permission stack covering local land use and building approval, locally administered wells, the Water Board’s tiered onsite-wastewater policy, wildfire severity zones, manufactured housing, and hauled-water proof.
Read the guideColorado
A high-country decision manual for residential well permits, two different rainwater pathways, locally administered onsite wastewater, factory-built dwelling classifications, winter access, and site design criteria.
Read the guideConnecticut
A reserve-area preservation guide covering additions and year-round conversions, the 200-foot public-water test, local health approval and current 2026 septic standards.
Read the guideDelaware
A three-gate septic file for licensed site evaluation, design and installation, plus the 1,000-foot well contamination review and public-service-access question.
Read the guideFlorida
A water-everywhere field guide tracking the changing septic permit desk, high-groundwater site design, owner well testing, statewide building code and coastal control lines.
Read the guideGeorgia
A permit-clock guide covering county-health site approval before development, the 12-month construction window, licensed private wells, owner testing and mandatory state minimum codes.
Read the guideHawaiʻi
A four-desk island sequence for engineered wastewater, cesspool conversion, well and pump permits, water-use reporting and county building approval.
Read the guideIdaho
A current-law bulletin replacing outdated well summaries with Idaho’s February 2026 domestic-exemption rules, regulated-area tests, drilling permits, health-district septic approval, owner water-quality duties, and manufactured-home inspections.
Read the guideIllinois
A three-file property brief for land, health and building—covering private-well review, sewage-plan approval, contractor licensing and the 2025 residential structural baseline.
Read the guideIndiana
A soil-first guide connecting county onsite-sewage approval to DNR well records, licensed drillers, owner-led water testing, local residential enforcement and possible inspection gaps.
Read the guideIowa
A county-administered property sequence for private-well permits, IWIS records and grants, septic approval under state minimums, time-of-transfer inspections, local building authority and future expansion capacity.
Read the guideKansas
A domestic-use boundary guide covering the household and two-acre exemption, five groundwater-management districts, county sanitary codes, well testing, and home-rule construction authority.
Read the guideKentucky
A surface-to-groundwater investigation combining local septic evaluation, certified well drilling, the KGS repository, karst/sinkhole screening and statewide residential code.
Read the guideLouisiana
A flood-state property plan joining parish wastewater permitting, lifelong mechanical-system maintenance, registered private wells, source testing, elevation and storm recovery.
Read the guideMaine
An open-trench evidence guide covering licensed septic design, the 24-month permit clock, two inspections, private-well testing and shoreland zoning.
Read the guideMaryland
A ridge-to-tidal-buffer plan connecting delegated county well/septic review, the 1,000-foot Chesapeake Critical Area, building standards and residential sprinklers.
Read the guideMassachusetts
A two-file local health investigation separating Title 5 wastewater approval from town-regulated private wells, with transfer inspection and building triggers.
Read the guideMichigan
A county-health-record investigation covering well permits, Wellogic, local septic review, residential-code enforcement, risk-based water testing and the limits of wetland inventory maps.
Read the guideMinnesota
A lake-lot and winter-design guide distinguishing MDH well notification from DNR appropriation, local septic permitting, shoreland constraints, dwelling approval and cold-climate system feasibility.
Read the guideMississippi
An evidence-chain guide for soil recommendation, certified installation, open-trench inspection and final sewage approval, with private-well testing and project-scale boundaries.
Read the guideMissouri
A karst-conscious field guide connecting well classification and owner testing to the DHSS/local/DNR wastewater split, permit-exemption confirmation, local construction codes and parcel-scale geology.
Read the guideMontana
A misconception-first brief distinguishing the state single-family building-permit exemption from local and trade authority, while documenting the new 2026 exempt-well notice, combined appropriations, subdivision sanitation, and groundwater quality.
Read the guideNebraska
A two-layer water file separating statewide well registration from NRD and local construction permission, then mapping nitrate testing, onsite authorization by rule, mandatory registration and individual-permit triggers.
Read the guideNevada
A desert decision matrix explaining the domestic-well exception, public-supply limitation, Pahrump’s basin-specific condition, locally approved residential sewage, tiny-home zoning, and why RV occupancy remains parcel-specific.
Read the guideNew Hampshire
A waterfront-transfer investigation centered on the 250-foot septic evaluation zone, protected shoreland, private-well testing and code enforcement.
Read the guideNew Jersey
A dense-permit-stack investigation covering local-health septic, the Private Well Testing Act, the health/UCC valve boundary and regulated-land overlays.
Read the guideNew Mexico
A water-and-waste dependency file covering domestic-well applications, roof harvesting, the liquid-waste permit required before placing a dwelling, graywater conditions, state construction codes, and owner-installed manufactured homes.
Read the guideNew York
A statewide-floor/local-overlay guide for Appendix 75-A wastewater, registered well contractors, protected watersheds and the fully effective 2025 Uniform Code.
Read the guideNorth Carolina
A two-water-file plan coordinating the private well and wastewater footprints through county environmental health, with professional permit routes and regional site risks.
Read the guideNorth Dakota
A threshold brief explaining when household-scale water use is registered rather than permitted, plus licensed well construction, owner testing, local public-health septic permits, the 2026 building code and manufactured-home inspections.
Read the guideOhio
A source-neutral water guide covering wells, springs, cisterns, ponds and hauled water, plus local household-sewage permits, shared-system easements and off-lot discharge.
Read the guideOklahoma
A current-code transition brief joining the domestic groundwater exemption and waste prohibition to DEQ sewage approval, private-well duties, local enforcement and the September 2026 statewide code baseline.
Read the guideOregon
An order-of-operations guide beginning with rural land-use approval, then domestic groundwater exemptions, septic site evaluation and affirmative land-use compatibility, occupied RV authorization, and manufactured-dwelling installation.
Read the guidePennsylvania
A municipality-tracing guide linking zoning, the certified Sewage Enforcement Officer and UCC desk while treating unregulated private-home wells as an owner evidence burden.
Read the guideRhode Island
A state-before-town permit sequence connecting DEM wastewater approval, public-sewer availability, private-well limits and local building permission.
Read the guideSouth Carolina
A move-nothing-first guide documenting the wastewater permit required before building or placing a mobile/modular structure, plus residential-well notice and statewide codes.
Read the guideSouth Dakota
A two-threshold domestic-use test tied to adequate-well construction, well logs and sampling, the conventional-residence septic distinction, local building authority, state trade permits and temporary-living uncertainty.
Read the guideTennessee
A staked-site decision guide covering conventional and third-party septic permits, duplicate fields, licensed well work and three residential-code jurisdiction types.
Read the guideTexas
A boundary-first investigation of municipal and county powers, building codes, RV occupancy, groundwater districts, rainwater, onsite sewage, manufactured homes, solar restrictions, and coastal windstorm rules.
Read the guideUtah
A document-sequence guide distinguishing the right to use water from the start card authorizing well construction, with basin policy, rainwater limits, local-health septic review, source-protection zones, and parcel approvals.
Read the guideVermont
A combined permit guide joining building use, potable supply and wastewater through licensed design, recorded certification and seasonal-use review.
Read the guideVirginia
A four-document chain distinguishing site certification, construction permits, operation permits and local occupancy, with private-well and rainwater pathways.
Read the guideWashington
A legal-water-availability investigation covering permit-exempt wells, watershed and senior-right constraints, local adequate-water findings, residential septic jurisdiction, tiny-house construction versus placement, and RV uncertainty.
Read the guideWest Virginia
A buildable-bench exercise joining county well and sewage permits, certified construction, local building-code adoption and costly mountain terrain unknowns.
Read the guideWisconsin
A buildable-rectangle exercise joining the statewide Uniform Dwelling Code to POWTS approval, private-well rules, shoreland zoning, wetland boundaries and the final occupancy path.
Read the guideWyoming
A recorded-permissions dossier documenting the pre-drilling permit for every domestic well, completion and proof filings, split wastewater authority, owner water-quality duties, legal access, local construction and occupancy.
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State guides explain their own sources and scope. Local rules, site conditions, and recorded property documents still matter. Read about our coverage.