How long does it take to build a pole barn?

The phases at a glance

From our office in Dover, DE, every pole barn we build goes through the same six phases, from the first drawing to the final inspection. How long each one takes depends on your county, your site, the weather and how settled the design is.

Design and quote

This one is mostly in your hands. Once the size, use, doors and spot on the lot are settled, our designers can finish the drawings and an organized, easy-to-read quote. You can sketch the building first in our 3D designer.

What stretches it: changing the size, height or use after drawing starts, or adding living space, which moves the project onto the residential code. What shortens it: having a survey or plot plan, knowing where the well and septic system are, and reading your deed and any HOA covenants before the design is drawn. Septic locations matter early: Kent County’s common minimums keep an accessory building 10 feet from the septic tank and drain field.

Permits

Permits are where the variables pile up. Homes usually take 3 to 5 months to permit, depending on the county. Garages, shops and farm buildings usually move faster, and farm buildings get a lighter track: Kent exempts qualifying farm buildings from the building code with a plot plan and an agricultural building use permit, and Sussex gives them a final zoning inspection instead of building-code inspections.

Jamie, a customer with a 60 by 40 building, said on video that he “underestimated all of the rules and regulations it would take to get this project done.” We manage the permits, and a complete application keeps them moving: Kent wants the plot plan, construction plans, post layout and truss, LVL and steel beam certifications uploaded together, and Sussex wants one complete, scaled plan set. Our Delaware permit guide explains each county’s rules.

These are the things that make a permit take longer:

• The county’s review queue.
• A town approval first: eleven Kent County towns, from Bowers to Woodside, need a town permit or letter of approval before Kent County issues the building permit.
• A flood zone: Sussex runs a flood review before the permit is issued and may need an elevation certificate before occupancy.
• Maryland’s Critical Area, which covers land within 1,000 feet of tidal wetlands and the heads of tide and brings lot coverage and buffer review.
• Septic approval for a home: three licensed steps through DNREC in Delaware, or the county health department in Maryland.
• A sediment and erosion control plan once disturbance reaches 5,000 square feet. In Sussex, the Conservation District’s Residential Standard Plan comes before the building permit.
• A survey: Kent County requires a lines-and-grade survey on lots under half an acre, and New Castle County wants a sealed Lines and Grades plan for buildings of 480 square feet and up.

Site prep and concrete

Site work starts once the permit is issued, and the ground has a lot to say about it. The pad is cleared and graded, and utilities are located before anyone digs. In Maryland, the law requires a Miss Utility ticket before any excavation, post holes included, with a start date no sooner than 3 business days and no later than 12 business days after the ticket is opened.

Footings come next. Sussex County inspects them before concrete is placed, so that inspection is a fixed stop in the schedule. Wet ground slows grading, and concrete can’t go on frozen ground, so winter and rainy stretches can push this phase. On many post-frame jobs the floor slab is poured after the frame and roof are up.

Construction

A post-frame building goes up in a set order: posts set in their footings, then trusses, purlins and girts, then the roof and wall steel, doors, windows and trim. Our crews do the building, and project managers keep you posted as it moves.

Bigger and taller buildings, lofts, porches, insulation and interior finish all add work. Changes after the drawings are approved can mean revised plans for the county and new truss drawings. Wind and rain slow roofing and siding.

One customer’s experience: Jamie’s 60 by 40 building was started in January, “in the dead of winter,” and he said the crew was done “start to finish, as it is today, three months.” Every site and county is different, so treat that as one project, not a promise.

Inspections and final payment

Inspections are fixed stops: the next step waits until the inspector signs off. In Sussex County that means footings before concrete is placed, headers before any wall covering goes on, and a framing inspection with Delaware-sealed truss specifications on site. Engineered reports, such as footing reports and stamped truss repairs, must reach the county’s inspection office before the next inspection. In Delaware, a licensed third-party agency inspects electrical work, and the Division of Public Health handles plumbing permits except where a local jurisdiction runs its own program. In Kent County, electrical and plumbing permits come through the State, and the subcontractor normally pulls them.

Before the final, Sussex needs, as they apply, the DNREC septic completion report, a DelDOT entrance permit, a lot grading certificate and, in flood zones, the final elevation certificate. Our final payment comes after the county’s final inspection, and for a home the certificate of occupancy follows. Our process page walks through each step.

What’s different for a barndominium

A barndominium has more steps than a garage of the same size, because it’s a house. Homes usually take 3 to 5 months to permit, depending on the county, and an off-sewer home also needs septic and well approvals. In Delaware, a licensed soil scientist evaluates the site, a licensed designer designs and permits the system and a licensed contractor installs it; in Maryland, the county health department reviews well and septic.

Code details belong in the drawings from the start. Delaware requires all new residential construction to be “zero net energy capable,” and Maryland keeps the residential fire sprinkler requirement for new one- and two-family homes. Plumbing, electrical, insulation and finish work bring more inspections than a garage. Our barndominiums page and our guide to living in a pole barn cover the rest, and when you’re ready, ask for a free quote.