Gila County, Arizona Prescott, Payson & Central Arizona

Barndominium Builders in Payson, Arizona

We build barndominiums in Payson, Arizona, and in the pine country around it under the Mogollon Rim: steel-framed homes with a garage or shop bay, pole barn homes on the bigger lots, and turnkey projects where our crews take the job from pad to final. We also ship barndominium kits to owners who would rather raise the frame themselves. Payson is an incorporated town with its own Building Division, which lists the 2018 International Building Code and the 2017 National Electrical Code among the codes it is using, and it takes applications online through its Cityworks permit center. The town's Planning & Zoning Division runs the Unified Development Code, and its list of permits includes tree permits, so on a wooded lot we check the trees against the town's rules before we clear a pad. Payson's own water utility draws on wells in a fractured granite aquifer, and the town treats that supply as drought-sensitive. Winters bring snow, so the roof and frame are sized for the site. If you are weighing barndominium contractors near Payson, start the survey and tell us which lot you have in mind.

Payson at a glance

Principal county: Gila County
Building permit: City building department
Local facts on this page: 5, each linked to its source

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Before you build in Payson

The local answers that shape a build here, each taken from the office or document that publishes it. Rules change, so we confirm them again against your parcel before drawing.

City-issued permitWho issues the permit

Town of Payson Community Development, Building Division

Inside the town limits, Payson's Building Division handles permits and inspections for new homes, remodels and changes of use, and it asks owners to involve it early in planning. Single-family residential applications are filed online through the town's Cityworks permit center, with the parcel looked up on the Gila County Assessor's site. Land outside the town is permitted by Gila County.

Tribal land: The Tonto Apache Reservation sits beside and within Payson: in 2015 the Bureau of Indian Affairs proclaimed about 292 acres of trust land in the town as reservation land, bringing it to more than 375 acres. The Tonto Apache Tribe has jurisdiction on its own land, and town and county permits do not reach it.

Source: Residential Permit Application | Payson, AZ (paysonaz.gov)

Codes in use: The Town of Payson's Building Division page lists the 2018 International Building Code, 2018 International Existing Building Code, 2018 Mechanical, Fire and Plumbing Codes and the 2017 National Electrical Code as the codes it is currently using, and links a residential checklist for the 2018 IRC.
Zoning and tree permits: Payson's Planning & Zoning Division applies the Unified Development Code (Town Code Chapter 154). Its duties include plan review for new development, minor land divisions, and processing conditional use permits, rezonings, variances, sign permits and tree permits.
Town water supply: The Town of Payson Water Department serves about 16,000 people over a 20.527-square-mile area, with 40 active production wells. It describes the local aquifer as fractured granite with low storage, and so drought-sensitive, and treats the town and areas to its north as well-head protection areas.
Floodplain questions go to the town: Gila County's floodplain page (archived copy, August 2024) says floodplain questions in the Town of Payson go directly to the town, as they do in Globe and Miami, rather than to the county.
Tonto National Forest: The Forest Service runs a Payson Ranger Station for the Tonto National Forest, on Highway 260 in town. The Tonto covers more than 2.9 million acres, and the Forest Service gives its northern boundary as the Mogollon Rim.

Building on land near Payson

Payson lots are often wooded and sloped, and a lot of the ground around town is national forest, so private parcels are the scarce part. Before you buy, check whether the lot is inside the town limits (town permits, town water) or out in the county, where a well and a septic system may be the plan. Look at the trees against the town's tree permit rules, and look at any wash or drainage, since the town manages its own floodplain. Metal building homes suit the setting: a steel roof sheds snow, and a clear-span frame leaves room for a shop without a second building on a tight wooded lot.

Other locations in this part of Arizona

Prescott, Payson & Central Arizona

Barndominiums we build in Payson

Turnkey builds, kit packages and pole barn homes, drawn to the design figures and codes of the office that permits your land. The parcel decides the budget more than the floor area does, so we quote against your land rather than a rate card.

Turnkey Builds

Turnkey barndominiums in Arizona, raw land to keys: plans, permits, site work, a steel shell and the finish-out, built by us on one contract.

Barndominium Kits

Steel barndominium kits for Arizona land: a red-iron shell drawn to your jurisdiction's wind and snow figures, delivered and put up by our crews or yours.

Pole Barn Homes

Pole barn homes in Arizona, built as real houses: post-frame spans on concrete, termite protection for wood, and a wall that handles the desert heat.

See every service

Have land in or near Payson? Tell us about the parcel and what you want to build, and we will check it against the local rules before anything is drawn.

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Building in Payson: questions

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Do I need a building permit for a barndominium in Payson?

Yes. Within the town limits the Building Division issues residential building permits, and applications go through the town's Cityworks portal. For a turnkey build we draw the plans and file them. With a kit you build yourself, the filing is yours and the drawings come from us. Planning & Zoning may also need to sign off, for example on trees. See our permitting service.

What does it cost to build a barndominium in Payson?

Slope, tree clearing, snow loads and whether the lot has town water all move the number. A flat lot on a town main is a smaller site budget than a steep one that needs a well and septic. Send us the lot through the survey for a price based on that ground. The barndominium cost guide has sourced ranges.

Is a steel barndominium practical in the pines around Payson?

Yes. A steel barndominium keeps a clear span for a shop, sheds snow off a metal roof, and gives termites nothing to eat. We size the frame and roof for the snow at your elevation. Our steel construction page explains the frame options, and our shouse page covers the shop-and-house layout.

Do you build outside Payson?

Yes, across Gila County, where the county permits land outside the towns, and up on the plateau toward Show Low. Tell us the parcel and we will confirm which office covers it.

Keep reading

What usually comes next once you know what Payson allows.

Barndominium Cost Guide

Sourced per-square-foot ranges by tier and size, and what moves the number on your land.

Read it

Is a Barndominium Legal in Arizona?

Zoning, septic and who inspects, before you buy the land.

Read it

How Long Does It Take?

From parcel to move-in, and which steps set the clock.

Read it

Sources for this page

The published pages behind the Payson facts above. Rules change, so check the current version with the office before you rely on it.

Barndominiums near Payson

Nearby places we also cover. Across a city limit or a county line the permit office, zoning and septic rules can change, so each has its own page.

Gila County

Arizona county

Show Low

Navajo County, Arizona

Yavapai County

Arizona county

Flagstaff

Coconino County, Arizona

Building in Payson?

Start with the survey. Tell us where the land is and what you want on it, and we will come back with which office permits it, what it will allow, and a plan to fit.

Start the survey