For those who have built or had someone build a camp on your land, what was the building sequence?
Electric to site, well/water, septic, site prep, and building construction.
I'm closing in the next couple of weeks on a property I purchased and would like to get at least most the basics done before hunting season.
My plans are to have a metal barn built with a small living quarters. I plan to use my RV until the barn can be built.

Surprised no one has responded yet. IMO you want to get your utilities in first. You have probably located your preferred building site, so testing and drilling a well and determining whether there are any issues to pulling electricity to the site are 1A and 1B.

Thanks Big Ag. Im sure quite a few fellas have been thru the process. I have a pretty good idea where I want the building. Electric company has already quoted a price to get electricity to the spot. Well driller is pretty confident I'll hit water close to the site. We're close to a major aquifer. Only question is septic. So far, haven't found any local contractor that does the work.
I'm still waiting on the title search to clear so we can get started.

Electricity

Barn

Septic

Well

Utilities on day one, start the process because sometimes lead times can drag out some. The building can be built before the utilities are established, just have to use a generator if electricity isn't there yet. Layout the plumbing and electrical from the building so that it is easy to connect if you can't get the utilities quickly. If you plan on using the RV, then this is irrelevant and you can build the barn once utilities are in.

Couple of things to think about:
pump house location
make sure the location has a slight slope for the septic or at least is flat (you would be surprised how many people over look this)
layout of barn and living quarters in regards to utilities. Ex: Power lines (if overhead) away from barn doors, plumbing connections away from any heavy equipment traffic, pump house line of sight from living quarters, etc.

When septic is put in, make sure it is not under main area of travel of heavy equipment that you might use... We did a true camp a few years ago and did water and electric same day as pump was already there. Our electric is all underground from pole 300 feet away. Borrow a ditch witch and good electrician. Just lay it out nicely. Makes camp life so much easier. We had to run plumbing 600 feet from well and only had one break in 3 years due to a split we did. Took 30 minutes to fix in the dark.

How far is the place from the power pole and well? Make sure you hsve clean outs into septic.

Dont forget roads

Great points! I have a well and septic at my home but everything was already in place when we bought it.
I appreciate all the information. It confirms a lot of what I was thinking but there are some great suggestions that I need to rethink as well. In most projects of this scale there is always something we would have done differently if you had to do it again. Keep the information coming. Deeply appreciated.

Is the area rocky?
Are there large rocks / boulders sub grade / beneath build site, septic site or anywhere you might need to dig or trench?
Do you have an alternate build site just in case?
You can haul & store fresh water for a long time for less than the cost of a well.
Does the area have poor quality well water?
Add the cost of full spectrum water tests & a well treatment & filtration system.
I have 2 wells no one would use to shower or put through any plumbing system untreated, livestock won't drink it, even washing your hands with it leaves a stench the soap won't cover up or remove. The cost of the systems required to make it potable equal the cost of the fully functioning well.
Biggest mistake I see folks make is; drilling a well thinking I'm not gonna use it for drinking, just showering & septic uses.
why spend 10k ~ 30k on something you can't drink, brush your teeth with, or get in your mouth / eyes while bathing.
If you're going to drill a water well, do it right, full spectrum water testing, well treatment / water filtration / RO / UV / whatever it takes to make it potable.

Just me, after doing a bunch of times, my order would be;
Perimeter fencing & gates, & consider fencing around build site if you have or might consider livestock or pets in the future.
Build new or maintain existing all weather road to build site & a parking area.
Electricity.
Grade entire build site area for proper water run off & erosion control.
Barn build site prep, building orientation on build site, soil compaction, pad site fill, through slab plumbing considerations, pour slab.
Barn, I suggest covered lean to on at least one side.
Select area for & install septic system.
Then anything else that comes up.
Water well last unless you're in a known good water quality area, If so well after elec.

Sorry, this is going to be kind of long, but I hope helpful.

My experience is pretty close to your plan. We bought property and were fortunate that power and water meters had already been brought to front, near main gate. Based on my priority of getting my travel trailer on-site for temp living quarters, we had barn and septic done first. I had the contractor add septic during construction, and also had him spud in drain and access for both power and water. Septic is 1,500 gallons with leach field and should be adequate for a long time, especially since I use the black tank with drop ins and then drain the MOSTLY liquid once broken down, so really no solids going into septic.

I went with 3 roll up doors (12' x 12') and one man door. I have two roll up doors on front wall, and one on sidewall, then man door on opposite side wall. To knock down cold air, I had brushes added to tops. In hindsight, think garage doors may have been a better option, but that is subjective. FYI - barn has 14' side walls and 17' at peak, so plenty of space for lofted storage in future. Also, get it insulated during construction - HUGE BENEFIT! With the doors open, even on hottest days, the breeze through the insulated barn makes it comfortable. Also, the camper AC runs colder out of direct sun, but still having good airflow.

Once the barn was completed we were able to connect to septic for black water, and I used generator for first few months until I found time to bring water and power into barn. Quick lesson - unless you have very easy soil, don't waste time on walk-behind trencher. Rent a good tractor attached trencher and do it right the first time. This was a big problem for me, cuz we couldn't get walk behind deep enough and it was a TON of work. I ended up renting the tractor and got the 125' of trench from power meter, and over 325' of water trench done in less than 2 hours - 3 to 4 feet deep.

We used 3/4" Pex for water with a frost free hydrant outside, and then a T bringing 1/2" Pex in through the spud inside barn. Simple then to just connect a faucet and tie into TT water inlet. FYI - this easy really pretty easy. I bought the Pex crimp tool and all the fittings and did myself. I had never done it before, but like I say, easy job and other than trenching, the entire job took less than a couple of hours. On the hydrant outside, I slid into 4# PVC buried 3' deep and then up another 1' above ground around stem, then filled the PVC and hole surrounding base in Pea gravel. Very solid and if I ever have to service, easy to dig back up.

On the power, I had electrician add 300 amp box onto pole, and from there, we brought conduit down from box to 3' underground, but did not run conduit for the run to the barn. Instead used 4/4/0 Direct Burial cable into a 200 amp service panel inside barn. I had an electrician friend help with the wiring, but was pretty simple for my needs. He wired a 30 amp outlet for camper service, and 8 110 receptacles, plus two flood lights. The floods make PLENTY of light for working in the 1,500' barn, and I have an LED worklight that I can roll around for specific needs. The entire job took him a FULL day, but would have taken me a week if done alone.

The only real shortcoming - for me - is I should have added (and eventually will) 220 breaker and outlet. I plan to buy a welder and the 220 models are far superior to the hobby 110 models.

So lesson I learned-

- Insulate during construction - best decision I almost didn't make
- Rent the bigger trencher if soil is even marginally hard or clay based. The walk-behind was a complete waste of time and money
- I backfilled trenched 1/2 way, and then ran caution tape with metal strip along entire trenches for future locating, and then filled the rest of way
- Get plenty of outlets, and while you are doing the project, go ahead and bring in 220 service - at a minimum, i may take out a washer and dryer and the 220 will be needed
- Overhead fluorescents would be nice, but the floods work very well for me.
- Don't be intimated by simple plumbing of water to barn. It is not rocket science, but you do need to be sure to have right tools and use quality materials.
- I tried to save money and didn't have gravel drive done with initial build. It only took one big rain to realize the necessity, and the next week I had 6" deep, 300' caliche drive made. Again, could have done myself, but paid contractor since he was already doing some work for me and it was less the $2,000.
- Measure your camper and make sure the barn is deep enough for doors to close.
- Do your research on door types and pick what is right for you - I went with roll ups, but maybe would have preferred garage doors in hindsight.

I hope this helps. If you ever want to share ideas, PM me. I am happy to assist.

I've seen untreated well water play havoc on heating system boilers, copper fittings and appliances.
A 1500 gal. storage tank, pump and pressure tank would certainly cost less than a well. The county sells tap water for $15 for the first 1000 gallons and $10/ 1000 after that.