Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Allentown, Bethlehem & the Lehigh Valley

Barndominium Builders in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Lehigh County barndominium land runs from the built-up core around Allentown to open farm country in the northern and western townships, and the permit path changes with it. Around the city, most lots are suburban and already connected to public sewer. Further out, in townships such as Lynn and Weisenberg, parcels tend to be larger and a new home often needs its own well and septic system. Those outer townships are where a barndominium with a big shop bay makes the most sense. Pennsylvania Barndominium Builders works throughout the county, supplying steel and pole barn building packages to owners who will build them out themselves, drawing plans around a particular parcel, and running turnkey builds with the permit and inspection schedule managed for the owner. There is no countywide building permit to apply for: each township, borough or city runs its own code enforcement, and several rural townships also take on-lot sewage applications directly. The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission reviews new subdivisions, and the Lehigh County Conservation District oversees erosion control. Start with the survey, tell us which municipality the land is in, and we will confirm its zoning, sewer or septic route and permit office before design.

Lehigh County at a glance

County: Lehigh County
Building permit: Each municipality, not the county
Local facts on this page: 5, each linked to its source

Tell us about your land

Before you build in Lehigh County

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.

Set by each municipality in the countyWho issues the permit

Each city, borough and township in Lehigh County issues its own building permit through its code office or retained agency

The municipality where the land sits handles the building permit, zoning and inspections; Allentown, for example, enforces the construction code through its own bureau. The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission reviews subdivision and land development plans for every municipality in Lehigh and Northampton counties and applies the county ordinance where a municipality has none. Lehigh County government does not permit houses.

Source: Subdivision and Land Development, Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (lvpc.org)

Who reviews new lots: The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission reviews every subdivision and land development plan for all 62 municipalities in Lehigh and Northampton counties. Where a community has no subdivision ordinance of its own, the Commission reviews plans against the county ordinance; in Lehigh County that currently applies to Slatington.
Erosion approval before building permits: The Lehigh County Conservation District notes that a municipality may not issue a building permit for a project needing a state E&S or NPDES approval until that approval is issued. A written E&S plan is required from 5,000 square feet of disturbance, and NPDES approval with a post-construction stormwater plan from one acre.
Township permits and septic in Lynn: Lynn Township, in the rural north of the county, publishes its own UCC building permit applications, site plan and stormwater forms, and an on-lot sewage permit application on its forms page, so a lot there is permitted and its septic application filed with the Township.
Sewer reaches only parts of the rural north: Lehigh County Authority serves 381 residential and commercial properties in the New Tripoli area of Lynn Township through a stand-alone system, and 149 properties around the Pointe West development in Weisenberg Township. Its larger interceptor network carries wastewater from western Lehigh County to the Kline's Island plant in Allentown.
Allentown permits on its own: Inside Allentown, the City has adopted the Uniform Construction Code and elected to administer and enforce it, through its Bureau of Building Standards and Safety and the Fire Department, so a city lot is permitted by the City rather than any township.

Building on land around Lehigh County

The roomiest ground for a barndominium in Lehigh County is usually in the northern and western townships, where larger parcels are more common than near the cities. Public sewer there is patchy: Lehigh County Authority runs small systems around New Tripoli and Pointe West, but many rural lots rely on an on-lot septic system permitted by the township's Sewage Enforcement Officer after a soil profile pit and percolation tests. Closer to Allentown and the boroughs, lots are smaller and sewered, and zoning setbacks decide the building footprint. Clearing and grading an acre or more brings in the NPDES approval described above. Our pole barn homes and site preparation pages explain how we plan a rural lot.

Where we build in this part of Pennsylvania

Allentown, Bethlehem & the Lehigh Valley

Barndominium Kits and Plans in Lehigh County

A kit you finish with your own crew, a custom plan, or a turnkey build. The parcel decides the budget more than the floor area does, so we price against your land rather than a rate card.

Barndominium Kits

Barndominium kits for sale in Pennsylvania: steel and pole barn packages sized to your municipality's snow and wind values, delivered and put up.

Custom Plans

Custom barndominium plans for Pennsylvania land: floor plans and house plans fitted to your slope, your sewage area and your municipality's code.

Turnkey Builds

Turnkey barndominiums in Pennsylvania: land checks, plans, permits, site work, shell and finishes under one contract, from raw land to move-in.

See every service

Pole Barn Homes near Lehigh County

A pole barn home puts the living space inside a wood-framed building set on posts, the same bones as a farm building, finished as a house. Whether it suits a parcel near Lehigh County depends on the local answers above: who reviews the plans, what the zoning allows, and how the lot handles sewage.

Pole Barn Homes

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

Start your build survey

Building in Lehigh County: questions

Start the survey

How much does it cost to build a barndominium near Lehigh County's rural townships?

Rural parcels trade cheaper land for more site work: a longer driveway, a well, a septic system and sometimes erosion-control plans, where a suburban lot mostly needs utility connections. Floor area and finish level decide the building cost. Our barndominium cost guide sets out sourced per-square-foot ranges, and the survey lets us price your parcel.

Do I need a building permit for a barndominium in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania?

Yes. The permit comes from the city, borough or township where the land is, through its code office or the inspection agency it uses. Lynn Township, for example, issues its own UCC building permit applications, and Allentown runs permits through its Bureau of Building Standards and Safety. Lehigh County government does not issue building permits.

Will my Lehigh County lot need a septic system?

Only if it is outside a public sewer service area, which is common in the northern and western townships. In that case the soil is tested first, and the on-lot sewage permit, issued by the local Sewage Enforcement Officer, must be in hand before the building permit. In Lynn Township the on-lot sewage application is filed with the Township.

Keep reading

What usually comes next once you know what Lehigh County allows.

Cost to Build a Barndominium in Pennsylvania

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

Read it

Can You Build a Barndominium in Pennsylvania?

Zoning, sewage 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 Lehigh County facts above. Rules change, so check the current version with the office before you rely on it.

Other places we build around Lehigh County

Across a municipal or county line the permit office, zoning and sewage agency can change, so each place has its own page.

Allentown

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem

Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Northampton County

Pennsylvania county

Berks County

Pennsylvania county

Building in Lehigh County?

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