Warren County, Iowa
Construction & Remodeling
Warren County holds about 57,331 people on the southern edge of the Des Moines metro, up 9.4 percent since 2020. Owners occupy 82.3 percent of the homes, and the median value is $269,600. Busy Builders has served Central Iowa since 2020, and this is where the metro gives way to acreages.
Call: 844-435-9800 Website: https://busybuildersiowa.com/
Warren 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 Indianola, Norwalk, Carlisle, Martensdale, New Virginia and Liberty Center call first.
Cities We Service in Warren County
Six Warren County communities on the southern edge of the metro, where a two acre minimum lot size shapes most of what gets built.
Indianola
County seat, 2018 codes
Norwalk
2021 codes, online portal
Carlisle
Mostly Warren, sliver in Polk
Martensdale
City Hall open limited hours
New Virginia
Permits via the city clerk
Liberty Center
Unincorporated, county permits
Cumming
Middlebrook, a 20 year buildout
Hartford
Tax abatement on improvements
Full-Service Construction and Remodeling Across Warren County
New homes on unincorporated Warren County land start with a permit from Planning and Zoning at 515-690-9160. That permit checks lot size, setbacks, use and floodplain siting. It does not check the house. No county inspector reviews footings, framing or final, so your builder is the quality control. We build to the IRC anyway. Footings go below 42 inches, the depth nearby cities publish. Iowa now requires a passive radon method in new one- and two-family homes. Home building starts at $150 per square foot, and final costs vary by scope, materials and complexity.
Most Warren County remodels sit on an acreage, which changes the logistics before it changes the design. Deliveries come down a long private drive. Septic and well locations limit where an addition can land. The county reviews the footprint, not the work, so the standard is whatever your contractor sets. We open a small area early and price the work from what is actually there. Phased work spreads cost across seasons, and we keep one bathroom usable the whole time. On an acreage that matters, because the nearest alternative is not next door.
A kitchen remodel in rural Warren County is rarely just cabinets. Move a wall or a gas line and the permit question follows. Inside Indianola, Norwalk, Carlisle, Martensdale or New Virginia, the city reviews it. Outside those five, the county issues a land use permit and no one inspects the work. We hold the job to code either way. On well and septic properties 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, materials and complexity.
An older Warren County basement usually has a water history before it has a design problem. The gumbo paleosol under the loess sends groundwater sideways, so hillside walls get wet even when the yard drains fine. We solve that first. Nothing goes on a wall until footing drains, backfill and grading are right. 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 what has to change and what you simply want to change.
A bathroom is the most detailed room in the house per square foot. Warren County adopted no building code, so on unincorporated land 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. On a septic property, a second bathroom is a capacity question before it is a plumbing question, so we check the system first. We also mark clearances on the floor first, because a vanity that clears on paper can still block the door.
An addition changes your footprint, which is the one thing a Warren County permit actually reviews. Lot size, setbacks, use and floodplain siting all get checked at 515-690-9160. Plan on 50 foot front and rear setbacks and 15 foot sides. New footings go below 42 inches. If the project adds a driveway onto a county road, the county engineer issues that permit at 515-690-9290. We build additional stories, sunrooms, garages, ADUs and tornado shelters. Additions start at $300 per square foot, and final costs vary by scope, materials and complexity.
Finishing a Warren County basement starts with the water, not the framing. Lateral 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, because Iowa averages 8.5 pCi/L indoors against 1.3 nationally. On a floodplain lot, the lowest floor sits a foot above the 100-year level.
A deck on unincorporated Warren County land needs a permit from Planning and Zoning. That permit checks where the deck sits, not how it is built. Inside the five cities, the building official reviews the structure too. Footings go below 42 inches either way. Nearby cities publish that number, and the county publishes none. Skip it and a deck on shallow piers can heave after a hard winter. On a sloping lot we size footings for the span, flash the ledger properly, and build guard height and stair rise to code.
TWO ACRES MINIMUM, BY ORDINANCE
Drive south out of the metro and the lots get big. That is not taste, it is zoning.
Warren County sets a two-acre minimum lot size for non-farm homes in both the Agricultural and Rural Residential districts. Front and rear setbacks run 50 feet. Side setbacks run 15 feet. One rule, and it produces the entire acreage pattern on the metro’s southern edge.
So building on unincorporated ground means buying at least two acres. That brings a long driveway, a private septic system and a well into the budget from day one. It also means your neighbor cannot squeeze a house in beside you.
The county rewrote this ordinance effective January 1, 2026, so check the current text before you buy a parcel on an old plat.
- The zoning ordinance sets a two-acre minimum lot size for non-farm homes in Agricultural and Rural Residential districts
- Front and rear setbacks run 50 feet in those districts, and side setbacks run 15 feet
- Warren County rewrote its zoning ordinance effective January 1, 2026, so older plat assumptions may not hold
THE COUNTY ADOPTED NO BUILDING CODE
We say this plainly, because few homeowners know it. Warren County has not adopted a building code. Iowa does not require one. The state code applies only where a governing body votes to accept it.
The rewritten zoning ordinance took effect January 1, 2026. It adopts no IRC and no IBC. It sets no inspection requirement, names no inspector, and issues no certificate of occupancy.
So what the county calls a Building Permit is really a zoning and land use authorization. It checks lot size, setbacks, use and floodplain siting. It does not check footings, framing, rough-in or final.
Code compliance rests on the builder you hire. We build to the IRC here anyway, because that is the house that appraises, insures and resells without an argument.
- Iowa Code 103A.12 makes the state building code opt in, and Warren County has never opted in
- The county ordinance names no inspector, sets no inspections, and issues no certificate of occupancy
- With no code there is no published frost depth, snow load or wind speed for unincorporated land
WE WILL NOT PRINT A PERMIT FEE
Warren County put out a fee schedule in February 2026. It lists $200 for a single family home and $50 for an accessory structure. We found no resolution adopting it, and the superseded 2022 chapter printed a different number.
So we will not publish a figure. Anyone quoting you a county permit fee off a web page is guessing, and a guess in a budget is worse than a blank.
Call Warren County Planning and Zoning at 515-690-9160 and ask what is in force today. The office sits at 301 N. Buxton Street, Suite 210, in Indianola.
Ask about the clock while you have them. A permit goes void if you have not started within six months, and the work must finish within 18 consecutive months.
- Warren County Planning and Zoning answers at 515-690-9160, from 301 N. Buxton Street, Suite 210
- The February 2026 fee schedule is labelled proposed, and no adopting resolution has been found
- A permit goes void without a start in six months, and work must finish within 18 months
SEPTIC AND DRIVEWAYS ANSWER ELSEWHERE
The permit desk is not the only desk. Septic goes to Warren County Environmental Health at 515-690-9190. A new system permit runs $300 and a repair runs $150.
Your soil or perc test has to come from a licensed professional engineer or a soil scientist, and it stays valid for one year. Let it lapse and you pay for it twice.
Installers must hold the CIOWTS credential, and the home has to connect to the building sewer before final approval. On a two acre lot, the septic field competes with the driveway and the house for good ground. We lay all three out together.
Driveways and road access go to the Warren County Engineer at 515-690-9290. A new entrance onto a county road needs that permit.
- Warren County Environmental Health handles septic at 515-690-9190, $300 for a new system and $150 for a repair
- Soil and perc tests must come from a licensed professional engineer or soil scientist, valid one year
- Septic installers must hold the CIOWTS credential, and driveway entrances go to the engineer at 515-690-9290
WHY HILLSIDE BASEMENTS GET WET HERE
Warren County sits in the Southern Iowa Drift Plain, the state’s oldest landscape. Wind-blown Peoria Loess runs 5 to 30 feet thick over older glacial drift, and streams have cut the county into a steeply rolling pattern.
Under the loess sits a gumbo paleosol, a buried ancient soil that water will not pass through. Groundwater reaches that layer and moves sideways instead of down.
That lateral seepage is why a hillside basement can be wet on the uphill wall while the yard looks dry. It also drives slope stability. A walkout or daylight foundation on a steep lot needs footing drains, free draining backfill, and grading that carries water around the house.
Where drainage is a question, we pull parcel level soil data before we design the foundation.
- Peoria Loess runs 5 to 30 feet thick over older glacial drift across Warren County
- A residential lowest floor must sit at least one foot above the 100-year flood level
- Iowa averages 8.5 pCi/L of radon indoors against 1.3 nationally, and every county is Zone 1
FIVE CITIES INSPECT, THE COUNTY DOES NOT
Five Warren County cities run permits themselves, and inside those five you get a real building inspector. Indianola enforces the 2018 International Building Code. Norwalk adopted the 2021 IBC and the 2021 International Fire Code effective September 26, 2024. The city works from 705 North Avenue and wants 24 hours notice before an inspection. Call 515-981-9530. Carlisle issues its own permits.
Martensdale keeps very limited hours, Thursdays 5:30 to 8:00 pm plus the first and fourth Saturday mornings. Call 641-764-2622. New Virginia handles permits through the city clerk at 515-577-8987.
Liberty Center is the wrinkle. It is an unincorporated place in Liberty Township with no city hall, so county permitting applies there. Six school districts serve the county: Carlisle, Indianola, Interstate 35, Martensdale-St. Marys, Norwalk and Southeast Warren.
- Indianola enforces the 2018 International Building Code, and Carlisle issues its own city permits
- Norwalk adopted the 2021 IBC and Fire Code on September 26, 2024, and answers at 515-981-9530
- Liberty Center is unincorporated, so Warren County Planning and Zoning issues the permits there
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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 Warren County.
- Additional Story
- Tornado Shelter
- Living Room
- Bedroom
- Sunroom
- Bathroom
- Garage
- ADU
Kitchen Remodeling
Based on Average Pricing in Warren County.
- Countertops
- Appliances
- Cabinetry
- Windows
- Islands
- Lights
Home Building
Based on Average Pricing in Warren County.
- Dream Build
- Multi-Family
- Tiny Home
- Spec Build
- Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs About Building in Warren County
Can I build a house on a one-acre lot in unincorporated Warren County?
Not in the Agricultural or Rural Residential districts. The Warren County zoning ordinance sets a two-acre minimum lot size for non-farm homes in both. Plan on 50 foot front and rear setbacks and 15 foot side setbacks as well. That single rule produces the acreage pattern along the metro’s southern edge. It is also why a lot line adjustment is often the first real cost of a rural build. The ordinance was rewritten effective January 1, 2026, so verify the current text before you buy. Call Planning and Zoning at 515-690-9160.
Does Warren County inspect my new home?
No. The county has adopted no building code and employs no inspector. Nobody checks footings, framing, rough-in or final, and no certificate of occupancy gets issued. What the county calls a Building Permit is a zoning and land use authorization. It answers one question, which is where a building may go. It says nothing about whether the building is safe. Inside Indianola, Norwalk, Carlisle, Martensdale and New Virginia, the city inspects. Outside those five, the standard is whatever your builder chooses, which is worth asking about before you sign anything.
What does a Warren County building permit cost?
We will not print a number, and here is why. The county published a fee schedule in February 2026 listing $200 for a single family home and $50 for an accessory structure. That schedule is labelled proposed, and we found no resolution adopting it. The superseded 2022 chapter printed a different figure. So the honest answer is a phone call. Ask Warren County Planning and Zoning at 515-690-9160 what is in force today. Septic is separate and does have published numbers, $300 for a new system and $150 for a repair.
Why does my hillside basement leak when the yard looks dry?
Because of what sits under the soil. Warren County lies in the Southern Iowa Drift Plain, where Peoria Loess runs 5 to 30 feet thick over older glacial drift. Beneath the loess is a gumbo paleosol, a buried ancient soil that water will not pass through. Groundwater hits that layer and moves sideways instead of down. That lateral seepage arrives at the uphill wall of a walkout or daylight basement while the surface stays dry. The fix is drainage, not sealer. Footing drains, free draining backfill and grading that carries water around the house.
Who permits a project in Liberty Center?
Warren County does. Liberty Center is not a city. It is an unincorporated place in Liberty Township with no city hall, so projects there fall under county jurisdiction. Permits go through Warren County Planning and Zoning at 515-690-9160, and septic goes through Environmental Health at 515-690-9190. The two-acre minimum lot size applies, along with the 50 foot front and rear setbacks. Southeast Warren Community School District covers the area. Nobody from the county inspects the structure, so pick your builder the way you would if no inspector existed anywhere.
Is Busy Builders licensed in Iowa?
Iowa registers general contractors rather than licensing them. We hold registration with the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing. Iowa Code Chapter 91C requires it of anyone earning $2,000 or more a year from construction. Electricians, plumbers and HVAC technicians do hold separate state licenses, and we work with licensed trades on every job. In a county with no building code and no inspector, that paperwork is one of the few things you can actually verify. Busy Builders has served more than 1,285 Central Iowa homeowners since 2020, many of them here in Warren County.
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