Pole barns and barndominiums on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

The Maryland Building Performance Standards require every jurisdiction to use the same editions of the International Building Code, International Residential Code and International Energy Conservation Code. COMAR 09.12.51, effective May 29, 2023, adopted the 2021 editions, and local governments get 12 months to put state updates in force, so dates vary: Queen Anne’s moved to the 2021 codes on May 1, 2024, Cecil on June 3, 2024 and Anne Arundel on May 25, 2026. The standards include IBC Appendix C for agricultural buildings. The Maryland Department of Labor proposed the 2024 codes in the Maryland Register on June 26, 2026; until that is final and adopted locally, the 2021 codes remain the standard.

Two different state credentials cover this work. Maryland’s definition of home improvement expressly includes building a garage on land next to an existing house, so a detached garage or pole barn for an existing home is home improvement work, and only a contractor licensed by the Maryland Home Improvement Commission (MHIC) may contract with a homeowner for it. A new home, a barndominium included, is excluded from home improvement and falls under the Maryland Home Builder Registration Act instead: a home builder must be registered with the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division, and every advertisement must show the number as “Maryland Home Builder Registration No.” or “MHBR No.” Ask for the number that fits your project.

Maryland’s 1984 Critical Area law covers the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries plus all land within 1,000 feet of tidal wetlands and the heads of tide. Sixty-one local governments run their own Commission-approved programs, sorting that land into Intensely Developed, Limited Development and Resource Conservation Areas. In the last two, lot coverage is generally capped at 15 percent, with more allowed on small lots that existed by December 1, 1985, and coverage counts buildings, driveways, gravel and pavers. The minimum buffer is 100 feet from tidal waters, tidal wetlands and tributary streams, and 200 feet from tidal water for new Resource Conservation Area subdivisions or site plans approved after July 1, 2008.

Land under a Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF) easement can still get farm buildings: commercial farm uses and the structures needed to support them are allowed without question. Other farm-related uses or home occupations that need new construction go to the MALPF Board of Trustees for review of location, scale and impervious surface, and federally co-funded easements have their own impervious limit. New homes are tightly limited: only the original grantor may build a dwelling for themselves or a child on a reserved lot, and that right ends when they transfer their full interest. Tenant houses need Foundation approval, at most one per full 100 acres, up to 2,000 square feet, for tenants working the farm.

Farm buildings get different treatment in each county. Queen Anne’s exempts them from its building code and permit but requires a $55 Zoning Certificate for each one. Talbot also skips the building permit but requires a zoning certificate after a stakeout inspection. Caroline still requires a permit while exempting the building from the code. Kent requires a permit at a reduced fee and waives most inspections. Cecil requires a full building permit, at reduced fees. Anne Arundel exempts qualifying farm buildings when the farm has a current farm plan. And in Anne Arundel, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot, state law keeps the building code off farm buildings built with agritourism as a secondary use.