The sequence
How it works
Six stages, in order. Each one is gated by the one before it, and the gates are where projects lose months.
- 1
Confirm the land can be served
Which utility is certificated to serve this parcel, whether water is reachable, and whether the soil will take a septic system sized to the home.
Do this before closing, not after. - 2
Address and permits
A 911 address, then whatever county permits apply where you are — which is not the same list in any two counties.
A factory may not ship without an address. - 3
Pad, driveway and culvert
Grade set, fill placed and compacted, and access built well enough to carry a home down it.
The delivery has to physically reach the site. - 4
Septic and water
System designed to bedroom count and soil class, installed, inspected and approved. Tap set or well drilled.
Septic approval gates power in some counties. - 5
Meter loop and service
Service entrance built to the serving utility’s specification, inspected, then energized.
- 6
Set, anchor and finish
Home delivered and set, blocked and anchored, then skirting, steps and landings.
What happens when the order breaks
Home delivered before septic is permitted. The home sits, sometimes for months, and you are paying for it the whole time. In counties that tie utility service to a sewage compliance document, you also cannot get power.
Power applied for before an address exists. Utilities set up service against a service address. No address, no account.
Address requested before the driveway is cut. Where addressing involves a site visit at the access point, there is nothing to record. And because the address often follows the driveway location, moving the driveway later can mean re-addressing.
Culvert cut before the septic layout is set. The drainfield is the largest siting constraint on most rural lots, and it dictates where a driveway can run without crossing it. Cut first and you may abandon the approach.
How long it takes
Individual steps sometimes have published clocks — addressing in a couple of business days, culvert permits in about a week, floodplain decisions in five days in one county. Those are decision windows on a complete application, not the total.
The total is governed by the two things nobody publishes: the septic design and inspection cycle, and the serving utility’s construction schedule. Plan in months.
Start at the right end
The cheapest version of this project is the one where nothing gets built twice. Tell us where the land is and what stage you’re at.