Chaves County, New Mexico Roswell, Carlsbad, Hobbs & the Pecos Valley

Barndominium Builders in Chaves County, New Mexico

Chaves County, New Mexico is mostly ranch and farm country around Roswell, Dexter, Hagerman and Lake Arthur, and the barndominium requests we get from it tend to be large: a working shop for oilfield or ag equipment with a house under the same roof, set on acreage well away from town. We supply the plans and a kit package sized to that use; a New Mexico-licensed contractor erects the building, or the owner does under a homeowner permit and its conditions. In the unincorporated county, the Planning & Zoning Department is the office to start with. It takes building and mechanical/plumbing permit applications online under the county's own Building Code Ordinance, although it has temporarily suspended electrical permit applications and inspections. A parcel close to Roswell may also fall inside the joint Roswell-Chaves County extraterritorial zone, which has its own ordinance and commission. Before we size a frame, we want to know which of those rulebooks covers the land, whether it sits in a mapped flood zone, and how water will reach the house. Send the legal description or parcel number through the survey and we will help you work through it.

Chaves County at a glance

County: Chaves County
Building permit: County (unincorporated land)
Local facts on this page: 5, each linked to its source

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Before you build in Chaves 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.

County-issued permitWho issues the permit

Chaves County Planning & Zoning Department

For the unincorporated county, the Planning & Zoning Department accepts building, mechanical/plumbing, addressing and manufactured home placement applications online under Building Code Ordinance No. 60. Electrical permit applications and inspections are temporarily suspended at the county. Land inside Roswell or the county's other municipalities is permitted by that city or town instead.

Source: Planning & Zoning Department | Chaves County, NM (chavescounty.gov)

County land-use ordinances: The Planning & Zoning Department lists the Chaves County Zoning Ordinance No. 7, a Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance, a Subdivision Ordinance, a Manufactured Mobile Home Placement Permit Ordinance and a Rural Addressing System Ordinance among its governing documents.
Extraterritorial zone around Roswell: The Planning & Zoning Department lists the Roswell-Chaves County ETZ Ordinance No. 80-1 (Revision 21) for land in the extraterritorial zone around Roswell, and the county describes the joint Roswell-Chaves County Extraterritorial Authority as the governing body of that ordinance.
Artesian groundwater: According to the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, the Roswell Artesian Basin spans more than 4,000 square miles of the lower Pecos Valley in Chaves and northern Eddy Counties and is among the most intensively farmed regions in the state outside the Rio Grande Valley.
Gypsum karst: The Bureau of Geology notes that Bottomless Lakes State Park near Roswell lies in a region of gypsum karst with many cenotes and sinkholes, formed where soluble evaporite bedrock has dissolved.
Oil and gas country: The Bureau of Geology's oil and gas FAQ places Chaves County in the Permian Basin producing area of southeastern New Mexico, together with Lea, Eddy and Roosevelt Counties, and credits the Permian Basin with 95% of the state's oil.

Building on land near Chaves County

Rural acreage in and near Chaves County rarely comes with city water or sewer, so plan for both before the frame. A domestic well is permitted by the Office of the State Engineer, and a septic system needs a permit from the New Mexico Environment Department before the house goes up. East of Roswell, gypsum ground and sinkholes around Bottomless Lakes are worth a geotechnical look; along the river, check the county flood maps. In oil country, confirm who holds the mineral rights and whether a pipeline easement crosses the pad site. Metal building homes on a slab handle wide-open ranch sites well once the access road can carry a loaded truck.

Other locations in this part of New Mexico

Roswell, Carlsbad, Hobbs & the Pecos Valley

Plans and kits for Chaves County

Custom plans and kit packages, drawn to the local design figures. Construction is carried out by a New Mexico-licensed contractor. The parcel decides the budget more than the floor area does, so we quote against your land rather than a rate card.

Custom Plans

Custom barndominium plans drawn for your New Mexico parcel: sun, wind and drainage, the look you want, and design values for your site's elevation.

Barndominium Kits

Barndominium kits for New Mexico land: steel or post-frame shell packages drawn to the snow, wind and frost values for your site, delivered to your parcel.

Post-Frame Homes

Post frame and pole barn homes in New Mexico, built as real dwellings: posts set for your soil, termite protection, and a wall that handles heat and cold.

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Have land in or near Chaves 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.

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Building in Chaves County: questions

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How much should I budget for a barndominium in Chaves County?

On rural land the site work often outweighs the square footage: a long driveway, a well, a septic system and a power extension can each add more than a few extra feet of building. We don't quote from a price list. Read the barndominium cost guide for sourced ranges, then describe the parcel in the survey so we can price plans and a kit for it.

Do I need a building permit for a barndominium in Chaves County?

Yes. In the unincorporated county, apply to the Planning & Zoning Department, which takes building and mechanical/plumbing applications online under its building code ordinance. Only a licensed contractor or the owner can hold the permit; a homeowner permit covers the owner's primary residence only, the owner must do the major portion of the work by dollar value, and subcontracted trades must be licensed. Inside the city, see the Roswell page.

Are post-frame houses a good fit in Roswell's ranch country?

They can be. Pole barn homes are reviewed as houses, so the county will look for the same code compliance as any other dwelling, and the zoning district decides how a combined shop and residence can be used. If you are sizing up barndominium contractors near Roswell, ask each how they detail posts in gypsum or clay soils. See post-frame homes for more.

Can I order barndominium kits for a Chaves County ranch site?

Yes. We supply barndominium kits with drawings that a New Mexico-licensed engineer can review and seal where the permitting office asks for it, and the erection is done by a licensed contractor or by the owner under a homeowner permit. Tell us the intended use of the shop bay, since a commercial shop is reviewed differently from a residential one.

Keep reading

What usually comes next once you know what Chaves County 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 New Mexico?

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

Barndominiums near Chaves County

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.

Roswell

Chaves County, New Mexico

Eddy County

New Mexico county

Lincoln County

New Mexico county

Roosevelt County

New Mexico county

Building in Chaves 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