Clarke County, Iowa
Construction & Remodeling
Clarke County covers 730 square miles east of the metro and holds 38,153 people. It organized in 1846, and Clarke County has been the seat since. Outside Iowa, Clarke County is best known for Iowa Speedway.
The housing is old. The median home here went up in 1965, 26.8 percent of the stock predates 1940, and only 4.8 percent dates from 2010 or later. This is a remodeling and additions county.
Call: 844-435-9800 Website: https://busybuildersiowa.com/
Clarke County, Iowa General Contractor
About Us
We started Busy Builders to bring honesty back to remodeling and home building. Our team came out of the trades with decades of hands-on work behind them. We have served more than 1,285 Central Iowa homeowners since 2020.
Our Mission
Give every homeowner the most transparent and honest experience we can on any construction project. That means real numbers, real timelines, and a plain answer when the answer is not what you hoped.
Our Vision
We want to be the registered general contractor that homeowners in Clarke County, Clarke County and rural Clarke County call first.
Cities We Service in Clarke County
Osceola, the county seat. Clarke County has only three incorporated cities in 431 square miles, and we serve the one where nearly everyone lives.
Osceola
Permits filed and paid online
Full-Service Construction and Remodeling Across Clarke County
A new home outside city limits needs a county zoning certificate, and it costs $150. Apply through the Engineer’s Office at the Clarke County Courthouse, on 641-342-2716. That permit reviews district standards, lot size and setbacks. It does not review the house, because the county has adopted no building code and names no inspector. We build to the IRC anyway and set footings below the 42 inch frost line. Home building starts at $150 per square foot, and final costs vary by scope, materials and complexity.
The median Clarke County home went up in 1975, and about 20.4 percent of the stock predates 1940. Older houses here carry older wiring, older plumbing and plaster walls. Inside Osceola, a remodel gets reviewed against the 2021 IRC and inspected in house by Mike Henry at 641-342-2377. Outside city limits nobody reviews the work at all. We open a small area early and price the rest from what we find. Phased work spreads cost across seasons and keeps the house livable while we go.
Move a wall, a vent or a gas line and the permit question follows. Inside Osceola the whole residential application and the payment run online, and the city inspects in house. Outside city limits the county checks setbacks and district rules, and no county inspector reviews the work. We hold the job to code either way. On a well and septic property we check water pressure and drain capacity before we design the layout. Kitchen remodeling starts at $250 per square foot, and final costs vary by scope.
An older Clarke County basement usually has a water history before it has a design problem. The gumbo paleosol under the loess sends groundwater sideways, so a hillside wall gets wet while the yard drains fine. We solve that first, with footing drains, free draining backfill and grading. Then we check the rest. Ceiling height under 7 feet. A bedroom with no compliant egress. A stair with the wrong rise. We tell you plainly what has to change and what you simply want to change.
A bathroom packs more trades into less space than any other room. Clarke County adopted no building code, so on rural ground nobody inspects the rough-in. Iowa still licenses the plumbers and electricians who do the work, and we hold the job to code either way. Inside Osceola the city inspects residential work in house, and a plumbing permit costs $85. We mark clearances on the floor before ordering anything, because a vanity that clears on paper can still block a door.
A room addition on rural ground carries a $20 county permit fee, which reviews setbacks and lot standards. Nobody from the county inspects the footings or framing that follow, because Clarke County has adopted no building code. Square footage gets measured from the perimeter base of the whole structure at ground level. Inside Osceola the city reviews plans against the 2021 IRC. New footings go below the 42 inch frost line. We build additional stories, sunrooms, garages, ADUs and tornado shelters. Additions start at $300 per square foot.
Finishing a Clarke County basement starts with the water, not the framing. Seepage off the gumbo paleosol can soak an uphill wall while the yard stays dry, so drainage gets solved first. Then three numbers matter. A bedroom needs an egress opening with 5.7 square feet of net clear area. Habitable ceiling height runs 7 feet minimum. And we test for radon before we finish. Every Iowa county sits in EPA Zone 1, and Iowa averages 8.5 pCi/L indoors against 1.3 nationally.
A deck on rural Clarke County ground needs a county permit, and it costs $20. That permit checks where the deck sits, not how it is built, because the county has adopted no building code and employs no inspector. Inside Osceola the building official reviews the structure too, under the 2021 IRC. Footings go below the 42 inch frost line either way. Skip that and a deck on shallow piers can heave after a hard winter. We flash the ledger and build guard height and stair rise to code.
THREE CITIES IN 431 SQUARE MILES
Clarke County has exactly three incorporated cities: Osceola, Murray and Woodburn. That is the whole list, verified against the Census Bureau’s 2020 place file. About 9,574 people live here.
It matters for planning. In most of our service area a rural address is a short drive from a city building department. Here the county is mostly open ground, and the nearest permit counter can be a real trip. Osceola holds more than half the county’s population by itself.
It also means we are not going to pad this page with towns. Eight of our county pages list eight or more cities. This one lists one, because one is what we can serve properly from West Des Moines. Call about any address here and you get a straight answer.
- Osceola, Murray and Woodburn are the only three incorporated cities in the county
- Clarke County covers 431 square miles, among the smallest counties in Iowa
- About 9,574 people live in the county, most of them in or near Osceola
THE COUNTY PRINTS EVERY FEE IT CHARGES
Most Iowa counties tell you to call. Clarke County publishes the schedule, and the numbers are modest enough that they rarely change a budget.
A zoning certificate for a principal building or home costs $150. An accessory building under 600 square feet costs $25, and over 600 square feet it costs $50. Decks, porches and room additions cost $20 each.
Hearings cost more than permits here. A conditional use runs $150 and a variance $100. Square footage gets measured from the perimeter base of the entire structure at ground level, so a wraparound porch counts toward it. Fees go to the County Treasurer and land in the Rural Basic Fund. Zoning answers at 641-342-2716.
- A zoning certificate for a principal home costs $150 in unincorporated Clarke County
- Decks, porches and room additions each carry a $20 county permit fee
- Accessory buildings cost $25 under 600 square feet and $50 above that size
NO COUNTY CODE AND NO COUNTY INSPECTOR
Iowa never requires a county to adopt a building code, and Clarke County has not. Its published ordinance list runs to more than forty entries and contains no building code ordinance.
The zoning ordinance still requires a permit for any new building or expansion. That permit checks district standards, lot size and setbacks. It does not check whether your footings sit below frost, whether your headers are sized, or whether your egress window opens.
We treat that as our job rather than the county’s. On rural Clarke County ground we build to the IRC and set footings 42 inches down. We cut basement bedroom egress at the full 5.7 square feet of net clear opening. Zoning now sits with the Engineer’s Office at the courthouse.
- The county's published ordinance list contains no building code ordinance at all
- No county building inspector is named on any Clarke County department page
- Agricultural buildings are exempt from the county zoning permit under Iowa Code
OSCEOLA TAKES THE WHOLE PERMIT ONLINE
Inside city limits the picture changes completely, and it changes in your favor.
The city enforces the 2021 IBC and 2021 IRC. The 2021 International Mechanical Code, 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code and 2020 National Electrical Code apply as well. That is current code, current enough to match what a metro crew already builds to every day.
Residential permits and payments both run online, which is rare for a city of 5,415 people. Mike Henry handles residential code enforcement and inspections in house at 641-342-2377, extension 1004. Commercial work goes out to Veenstra & Kimm, now part of Kleinfelder.
One thing to watch. The city can calculate your fee from the ICC per square foot cost table if a declared valuation looks low.
- Osceola runs the 2021 IRC and IBC with the 2020 National Electrical Code
- The city accepts residential applications and payments through its own online portal
- Nothing under $500 of valuation carries a fee, and demolition permits are free
GUMBO SENDS HILLSIDE WATER SIDEWAYS
Clarke County sits in the Southern Iowa Drift Plain, the state’s oldest landscape. Wind blown loess caps the ridges, and older glacial drift shows on the side slopes. The streams have cut a rolling, branching pattern into all of it.
Under the loess sits a gumbo paleosol, a buried ancient soil that water will not pass through. Water reaches that layer and travels sideways instead of down. That is why a hillside basement can run wet on the uphill wall while the yard looks dry.
We manage it with footing drains, free draining backfill and grading that carries water away from the house. On a steep lot we pull parcel soil data before designing the foundation.
- Frost depth is 42 inches, the Central Iowa standard, and footings go below it
- The EPA places all 99 Iowa counties in radon Zone 1, its highest category
- Iowa averages 8.5 pCi/L indoors against 1.3 nationally, so we test first
WE SERVE OSCEOLA AND WILL SAY OTHERWISE
Osceola sits about 48 road miles south of Des Moines. That is right at the edge of the range where we can keep a crew on your site instead of on Interstate 35.
We take work in Osceola and in the rural addresses around it. We will look at anything else in the county, and sometimes the answer will be no. A project in Murray or Woodburn may be far enough out that a builder closer to home will serve you better than we can.
That is a strange thing for a contractor to write. We would still rather write it than take a job we cannot run well and leave you managing our windshield time.
- Osceola is about 48 road miles from Des Moines, near the outer edge of our range
- Murray and Woodburn are the county's other two cities, and both sit further out
- Rural Clarke County addresses permit through the county, not through a city hall
Our Building Partners.
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Since 2020, more than 1,285 Central Iowa homeowners have trusted us with their projects, and it shows.
Quality Construction at the Right Price.
Additions
Based on Average Pricing in Clarke County.
- Additional Story
- Tornado Shelter
- Living Room
- Bedroom
- Sunroom
- Bathroom
- Garage
- ADU
Kitchen Remodeling
Based on Average Pricing in Clarke County.
- Countertops
- Appliances
- Cabinetry
- Windows
- Islands
- Lights
Home Building
Based on Average Pricing in Clarke County.
- Dream Build
- Multi-Family
- Tiny Home
- Spec Build
- Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs About Building in Clarke County
Does Clarke County inspect my new home?
No. The county requires a permit for new building work or an expansion, but it has adopted no building code and names no building inspector. The review covers district standards, lot size and setbacks. Its published ordinance list runs to more than forty entries and contains no building code ordinance. Inside Osceola you get a real building official running the 2021 IRC. Outside city limits, code compliance rests entirely on the builder you hire. That is why we build to the IRC anyway and set footings below the 42 inch frost line.
What does a Clarke County permit cost?
The county publishes the whole schedule, which is unusual in Iowa. A principal building or home costs $150. An accessory building under 600 square feet costs $25, and over 600 square feet it costs $50. Decks, porches and room additions cost $20 each. A conditional use hearing runs $150 and a variance $100. Square footage gets figured from the perimeter base of the whole structure at ground level. Fees go to the Clarke County Treasurer and land in the Rural Basic Fund. Confirm your own number at 641-342-2716.
Which code applies inside Osceola?
Osceola enforces the 2021 International Building Code and the 2021 International Residential Code. The 2021 International Mechanical Code, 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code and 2020 National Electrical Code apply too. That is current, and it matches what our crews build to in the metro. Residential inspections run in house with Mike Henry at 641-342-2377, extension 1004. Commercial inspections and commercial trade permits go to Veenstra & Kimm, now part of Kleinfelder. Residential applications and payments both run through the city portal, which is rare for a town this size.
Which ordinance actually governs my project?
Ask the county before you file. Clarke County lists Ordinance 42 as its current zoning ordinance, and it lists Ordinances 10, 31, 33, 34 and 39 as repealed. The fillable permit application dated April 2026 still points applicants to Ordinance 34 and its Section 19. Call the Engineer’s Office at 641-342-2716, at the courthouse on South Main Street, and confirm which section governs your submittal before you fill anything out. The county lists Ordinance 34 as repealed, so the form and the ordinance list disagree. One phone call saves a resubmittal.
Will you take a job in Murray or Woodburn?
Maybe, and we will tell you straight. Those two towns sit further from West Des Moines than Osceola does, and Osceola is already about 48 road miles out. Past a certain drive we stop being the best choice for you. Call with the address and the scope. If we can run the job properly we will say yes. If a builder closer to you would serve you better, we will say that instead. Both towns handle their own permits inside city limits, and the county covers the rural ground around them.
Is Busy Builders licensed in Iowa?
Iowa registers general contractors rather than licensing them. We are registered with the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing. That registration is required of anyone earning $2,000 or more a year from construction. Electricians, plumbers and HVAC technicians do hold separate state licenses, and we use licensed trades on every job we run. Anyone who calls a general contractor licensed in Iowa is using the wrong word. Where the county inspects nothing, that registration is one of the few things you can actually check. We have served more than 1,285 Central Iowa homeowners since 2020.
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