Permit or Inspection free Counties

Hi I am relatively new to this forum. I started doing research about a month ago for off grid living and I stumbled across this site. I LOVE IT! Back on topic, I am looking to go off grid in a couple of years and build an earthbag home once I have the money saved up and done the adequate research.

The problem I am running into is that all the videos I watch on people building their houses never say how they get around having inspections or permits. I know there are some counties where you don't need a permit or can opt out of having inspections and submitting plans if you have rural land.

I have only found 1 county ConciseAZ where if you have 4+ acres and it is zoned as rural you can get a building permit and opt out of submitting plans and having inspections. https://www.cochise.az.gov/development-services/owner-builder-amendment

My question I suppose is does anyone know of any other counties in the southern Arizona or New Mexico area that have these type of laws.

I believe Greenlee County in AZ falls under this category.

https://www.co.greenlee.az.us/pz/pdfs/Building%20Codes%20and%20Loading%20Standards.pdf

Kim Goodwin wrote:I believe Greenlee County in AZ falls under this category.

https://www.co.greenlee.az.us/pz/pdfs/Building%20Codes%20and%20Loading%20Standards.pdf

Thank you this will help expand my search radius when I start looking for land to buy.

For anyone else who finds this thread, check out Esmeralda County, Nevada. As of 2020, no building codes. Quite remote, but not that remote. ~45 minutes to a big-box grocery store and a hospital, etc.

I know I'm late to the game, but I just found this site and am browsing around...

Eureka County, NV has no building permits/codes/inspections
Socorro County, NM has no building permits/codes/inspections, but the state does... but it's not really enforced as long as you don't go telling them about it.
Apache County, AZ has codes/permits, but they are very very reasonable. They allow alternative buildings, and their code is listed on their website, and very easy to understand. You can owner-build.
Montana (the entire state) has no building permits/codes/inspections if you are in unincorporated areas. I have heard this debated on other sites, but I recently confirmed by contacting the state directly.
Gaille County, OH has no building permits/codes/inspections if you are in an unincorporated area. I just learned this today on Reddit from someone who lives there.
Border County, ID has no building permits/codes/inspections. Their official county website literally says something to the affect of, "if your roof collapses under the snow load, you'll build a better one next time."
Idaho in general has a lot of counties with no permits/codes/inspections required.

I'm always wanting to learn about more places, so if anyone else knows of any others, please let us know!

Texas does not require building permits outside the city limits.