To Certify or Not to Certify? Our NOAH Tiny Home Journey
Getting your tiny home certified by licensed inspectors is a big investment. Jason and I went back and forth a few times on whether or not we should go with NOAH Certified. The price was a big factor in making us doubt if we needed it. In spite of the cost, we decided to go with the tiny home inspection registration and chose NOAH Remote Digitized Inspection. We are very glad we did! Here are some of the reasons why we picked NOAH and why we recommend it for DIY tiny home builders.
Jason and I built our tiny home on wheels (movable tiny home) in 2023 and 2024. We built a 28’ x 8.5’ tiny house on a triple axel trailer. The actual build took us 18 months.
What is NOAH?
NOAH stands for National Organization of Alternative Housing. NOAH Certified is accredited by the ANSI National Accreditation Board.
It is a digital certification process that takes you through inspections in various phases of the build. NOAH certifies DIY builders and professional builders as well. You can build your home at your own pace and you can book the inspection on your own time. NOAH Certified is important because it assures that your tiny home is built safely and meets national building codes and safety standards.
Every time you are ready and sign up for an inspection phase, you are assigned an inspector to go through the process of inspecting your build virtually using a video software system. All you need is your phone and you can be online for your inspection the next day or any available day on their calendar. You have access to all of your inspection videos and results. You are also given direction on what the building and safety standards are for movable tiny homes or tiny homes on wheels. They even provide inspection of skoolies and for professional builders or manufacturers that sell tiny homes.
Once the tiny home has passed inspection and is certified, it is easier to find parking, insurance, and avoids legal risks. Some tiny home communities actually require a certification of the tiny house build because of liability issues. Since tiny homes are so uncommon and newer in the building industry, having a certified tiny home ensures safety of the resident and neighbors.
Check out this video explaining more about NOAH Certified.
NOAH for DIY Tiny Homes
No matter how many times you hear DIY tiny home builders talk about how much work it is to build your own home, you don’t really understand the full scope until you try it yourself. I honestly can’t imagine where we would be without NOAH guiding us through the process. We would absolutely recommend NOAH Certified to any first-time DIY tiny home builders. I get that someone with a background in home building or contracting might not feel the need to go through a certification inspection like NOAH’s since it’s optional. But if you’re like Jason and me, and you’ve never built anything you’re planning to live in, you’d definitely want that peace of mind knowing it’s built right. You don’t want to end up one of those horror stories where people try to build without any real construction knowledge, only to face serious damage to their tiny home and lose their life savings in the process.
The Benefits of NOAH Certified
NOAH Certified provides you with a PDF Guide of NOAH Standards to understand how to build your home before you even get started. As of this writing, they use the NOAH Dwelling Standard for Tiny Homes on Wheels that is suitable for full-time living. With NOAH Certification you get quality assurance knowing that your home is built to a high standard as the inspectors go through a thorough inspection of the home. As you build your home, even though it’s hard work and stressful, you know that you’re building a safe home that complies with all of the regulatory requirements thus giving you peace of mind. Although you can’t calculate the sweat equity in building your own home, you know that the resale value of your tiny home is maintained. Having a certified home increases its marketability if you choose to sell it later. Financing your DIY tiny home build is not an easy feat. Building to NOAH Standards could provide you with more access to financing since many lenders are more willing to finance homes with a certification. It is possible to get your tiny home insured without certification, but some insurance companies will only grant you coverage if you can attest that it’s gone through rigorous inspections.
Was it worth the high price tag?
Yes! Planning and designing your dream tiny home is stressful enough. You can’t put a price on peace of mind. Knowing that you will have a professional do a thorough inspection of your build gives you the confidence and assurance that you’ll want to live in the space you’re building. You would use all of the same tools and resources you were going to use anyway to learn how to build your dream home, just consider the extra cost of having your home certified to building standards.
We budgeted for the over $2k of certification cost and it was figured in the value of our home. We spent many months planning, designing and researching the purchases for our home. Some of the best purchases were during November on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. We saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars buying appliances and gadgets for the tiny home during the end of November sales. Saving money in other areas of your build will help you ensure you have the money to purchase your NOAH Certification registration. Here are some examples of high ticket items we got when they were on sale.
Samsung - 4.5 Cu. Ft.
High-Efficiency Stackable Smart Front Load Washer with Steam and Super Speed Wash and 7.5 Cu. Ft. Stackable Smart Electric Dryer with Steam Sanitize+ - White
Why We Recommend NOAH Certification for DIY Builders
We recommend NOAH for at least four reasons.
First, NOAH Certified offers support for DIYers through an approachable process for self-builders.
Second, they give personalized attention to their customers. Throughout the build process you get one-on-one contact with their inspectors to send pictures and ask questions. When we had questions about the plumbing, we felt like we were texting a friend knowing that we would get honest remarks on what the safest way to build would be. NOAH’s scheduling tool can be used for partial inspections and full inspections, and you can also schedule a simple video consultation to get any of your individualized questions answered by a professional you can trust.
A third reason we would recommend NOAH Certified to DIY Builders is the long-term value. Certification adds long-term value to your tiny home, both financially and in terms of livability.
A fourth reason for recommending NOAH is its Streamlined Inspection process. The ease of working with NOAH for inspections, documentation and scheduling is 10/10.
The Experience: What It was Like to Work with NOAH
We were very impressed with the professionalism of NOAH’s inspectors. We received exceptional assistance from some inspectors with their willingness to provide us feedback and constructive criticism. They went above and beyond, providing invaluable insight and support. Their professionalism and commitment were crucial to the success of our build, and we are incredibly grateful for their hard work. One example was when we decided to build out a chase for the electrical wires throughout the top of our home. We wanted to make it look like faux beams and used extra plywood to build out a beamlike structure around the perimeter of the home. We planned on staining it the same color I used in the bathroom vanity. All of that was an afterthought, because one of the inspectors suggested we add extra rockwool insulation behind the electrical wires to keep from it being a fire hazard. We now have a safe electrical chase, and a beautiful faux beam perimeter that we wouldn’t change if we could.
We were very pleased with the willingness of the inspectors to be available to answer our personalized questions. They were quick to answer text messages and ready to be on a video consultation whenever it was scheduled. You can even try and request a favorite inspector when scheduling a consultation or inspection.
No Regrets
We’re so glad we chose NOAH Certified to inspect our self-built tiny house. We encourage any DIY Tiny home builder with or without building experience to seriously consider going with NOAH Certified. NOAH Remote Digitized Inspections is worth every penny. You will be glad to get personalized advice from the inspectors that will treat you professionally. They encourage builders to use NOAH standards as minimums and to build above their standards for maximum safety and longevity.
Final Thoughts
The trustworthiness and customer service of NOAH Remote Digitized Inspections is worth the price. We encourage you to seriously consider NOAH to build a safe and reliable home. Click the link to find out more and reach out to us at SustainableSunsets.com if you have any questions about NOAH and other aspects of our build. If you want to find out what resources were crucial in our build process, grab our FREE Resource Guide. Use the form below to get INSTANT access to the resource that will save you dozens of hours!
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