I just attended a meeting with the Mat-Su Homeowners association and the Valley Board of Realtors. The main speaker was Al Nagel with the Alaska Department of Labor. He is an investigator in charge of construction in Alaska.
The main topic at the meeting was what an owner-builder can do in Alaska. Al Nagel gave us the lowdown in laymens terms. Basically, as far as the state is concerned, if a person wants to build a home and occupy it himself he can do everything from the concrete work, wiring, plumbing and framing. An owner-builder can pretty much build the home from top to bottom and do all the work himself with no inspections required. Of course, local governments can add further restrictions but in the Mat-Su Borough there are no further restrictions other than a basic building permit from the borough which is pretty much a formality.
An owner-builder can even sell this home at a later date if he wants to. He can build and sell one every two years and stay within the guidelines.
However, if the owner-builder is planning to sell the home as a new home as soon as it is finished he must hire qualified sub-contractors to do the wiring and plumbing. Any other people working on the home should also be licensed sub-contractors. As long as the builder follows the guidlines and gets the work done to code he can build and sell one of these homes every two years.
There is a small difference in the law depending on if the owner-builder is planning to sell the home or planning to live in it. If he is planning to sell the home, he needs to have licensed people do the plumbing and wiring and have that work inspected by a qualified person. If he is going to live in it for his personal home this is not required.
These are the basics, but if you are planning to do this for yourself…better check thiings out ahead of time because Al Nagels division also enforces the law with fines.
If you have specific questions about this, call his office: Al Nagel, 907.269.4925,
