Guide
Guide
How to start a glamping business with domes: permits first, then the order
This guide is for the landowner, farm, campground or resort putting in several geodesic domes for paying guests. Working out how to start a glamping business with domes is mostly a question of sequence. The county, the state and the fire marshal answer first, because their answers decide which dome you can order. The specification is written from those answers, and the site's domes are then made to it in China and shipped by the container.
Before the order
What the county, the state and the fire marshal settle before you order
Start with the property, not the dome. Each answer below changes what goes on the order, so get it in writing before you commit to anything.
Ask the county about paid stays
The planning department says whether paid overnight stays are allowed on the parcel, by right or with a conditional or special use permit, and what it calls the use: a campground, lodging, a short-term rental or agritourism. The name it picks decides which rules follow, so ask for the answer in writing.
Ask the building department what a dome is to them
The International Building Code has a section for membrane structures. In the 2021 edition it covers a fabric cover on a rigid frame left standing for half a year or longer, and one built on a deck for any length of time (section 3102.1). The code also sorts buildings used for sleeping into groups, one of them for guests who are passing through (section 310). Which section and which group fit your domes, if any, is the building official's call.
Ask the fire code official the same question
The International Fire Code has its own chapter for tents and membrane structures, chapter 31, with a permit line and an exception for tents used only for recreational camping. Whether a dome with paying guests sits under that chapter, under the exception or under the building code is for the fire code official to say.
Settle the flame paperwork for the cover
Both codes name NFPA 701, the fire test for fabrics: the fire code for tents and membrane structures (section 3104.2), and the building code's membrane section for the cover and any interior liner (section 3102.3.1). So the flame test report on the cover and the liner is settled before you buy. The flame paperwork in full has its own guide.
Ask the state which licence the site needs
Some states license campgrounds through their environmental or health department once a site reaches a set number of sites, and some define which camping units may stand on a licensed site. Michigan's campground licence, for example, defines a camping cabin as a hard-sided shelter under a set floor area, on skids, with no water connection inside. A larger unit, one fixed to the ground or one with water inside needs local zoning, building and plumbing permits instead. Lodging licences and the health department's water and wastewater rules sit alongside.
Get the county's snow and wind loads
The membrane section asks for the structure to be designed for wind, snow, flood and seismic loads under the code's structural chapter (section 3102.7). The county sets the numbers. The loads the frame was designed for go beside them, in writing from the factory, and the building department says whether it also wants a licensed engineer's design or stamp. The dome page covers the loads, and the engineer question.
Decide which domes will be the accessible ones
If the site counts as a place of lodging under the ADA rules (28 CFR 36.104), new construction follows the 2010 ADA Standards for transient lodging, where a table ties the number of guest units with mobility features to the total (section 224). Whether your site counts, and what each accessible unit needs, is for an accessibility specialist or counsel. For the order, the door and the way in for those domes are decided before the domes are made.
Ask your accountant about lodging taxes
State and local lodging or occupancy taxes, and the county's business licence, are for your accountant and the county to explain.
From answers to a spec
How each answer changes the dome you order
Each answer above changes something on the order, as the rows below show.
| What you were told | What it changes on the order |
|---|---|
| How the county and the fire code official class the domes | Whether they stand on decks, slabs or the ground, how they are fixed down, and which drawings you need from the factory before the base is built |
| Whether water may run inside a unit | The floor plan, the side the door faces and where pipes come through, or a separate bathhouse instead |
| How big a camping unit may be under the state's licence | The diameter you order, or a different licence for the larger domes |
| The county's snow and wind loads | The steel tube, the frame's frequency and the anchors the factory proposes, and the design loads it states in writing for your size and tube |
| What the fire code official asks to see | The flame test report on the exact cover, liner and window material, settled before you commit |
| Which units are the accessible ones | The door type and the way in for those domes, decided with your accessibility specialist before the order |
| How many units the site may have now | One order to one specification for the first phase, with the rest reordered from the same file once the county agrees |
The fields themselves are on the dome page, in the spec sheet the factory works from. This table is why each one is filled in the way it is. Build the deck or pour the slab only to the footprint on the drawing you approve.
By the container
Ordering a site's domes from a factory in China
A dome made in China is made to an order, so the order has to carry everything above.
Send one list with the opening date
How many domes, the sizes, and what the county and the state have said, with the date the site opens. The date is set with the factory before you commit, and the quote works back from it.
Settle the specification before you commit
The size, the tube, the cover and liner, the door and windows, the base and the date are fixed before you commit, along with the flame test report and the frame's design loads. Which papers come with the order, and in what form, is worked out with you, order by order.
Build the bases while the domes are made
Decks or slabs go in to the footprint on the factory's drawing, and utilities to the county's permits. Electrical work is done by a licensed electrician under a local permit.
Pack each dome as its own set
Each dome is crated and labelled as its own set with its parts list, so a door or a strut never ends up in the wrong crate. How many domes fit in a container comes from the factory's packing plan, in writing before you commit.
Check the domes against the specification
Each dome is checked at the factory against the specification before it is packed, and one is put up there where the order calls for it.
Land the container and truck it to the site
The Importer Security Filing goes in before the container is loaded, a licensed customs broker files the entry when it arrives, and the crates need a forklift or a dock at the site. Each step is its own line on the quote, and the shipping page explains what each line of a landed quote covers.
Book the final inspections before guests
The county's and the fire code official's final inspections close the loop the first questions opened. Book them before you take the first booking.
Whether domes made in China hold up comes down to the same specification, as the dome page explains.
Later seasons
Adding domes, new covers and spare parts later
Reorder from the file
A reorder from the specification on file is a quantity and a date, so a second phase matches the first.
Ask the county before the second order
Adding units can change how the site is classed and what it needs. Michigan's campground licence, for one, starts at a set number of sites.
Order spare parts by number
Each dome has its own parts list, so a strut or a cover panel is ordered by its number.
Settle new flame paperwork for a new cover
A new cover or liner in a different material needs its own flame test report, settled before it is ordered.
Working with us
Where we fit, and where we don't
We are a trading company. We have domes made in China to your specification and deliver them landed, and we pick the orders we take on.
Galvanized steel domes to your specification
Geodesic dome tents for a glamping site: galvanized steel struts and hubs under a PVC cover, with the liner, door and windows you specify. We ship welded, hot-dip galvanized steel frames every season, and we have quoted geodesic domes before.
The domes, the date and the paperwork, agreed
We confirm the domes and the date with the factory before you commit. The test paperwork for the cover, the liner and the window material is discussed and agreed with you at the same point, and we ask the factory to put in writing the loads the frame was designed for, at your size and tube.
A check at the factory
An American on our team checks the domes at the factory against the specification before they are packed.
A landed quote, line by line
The quote prices each step of the landing on its own line and names whether we are your seller of record or buying agent. We keep the specification on file for the next phase.
The answers stay with the officials
The county, the state and the fire marshal give the answers in the first section, and we turn them into the order. A single dome to try the idea is a job for a US retailer, and our first reply says so.
Where this applies
Geodesic dome tents, quoted landed
Each product page has what to specify, what sets the price, how the date is set and the quote form for that product.
Geodesic dome tents
Geodesic dome tents for glamping sites and event fleets: a frame of galvanized steel struts and hubs under a white PVC cover, with the door and windows where you want them. We have them made to your specification, several to an order, and shipped by the container. Send the size, the cover and how many, and we come back with the date and the landed quote.
See the dome tentsWhere to go next
- Landed cost calculatorAdd up a dome order line by line.
- How we workSeller of record or buying agent, and the check at the factory.
- Shipping from ChinaWhat each line of a landed quote covers.
- What we handleEach stage of an order, from the specification to delivery.
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Questions
Questions buyers ask
What does a glamping business plan need from the dome side?
The county's and the state's answers in writing, the specification built from them, a landed quote with each line on its own, the opening date the order works back from, and a plan for spare parts. The landed cost calculator adds up the lines of a dome order. The money side of the plan is yours and your accountant's.
Do glamping domes need a building permit?
The county decides, and counties differ. The building code's membrane section reaches a fabric structure left up for half a year or longer, or one on a deck, but whether your domes fall under it is the building official's call. Bring the factory's drawing and the frame's design loads in writing when you ask.
Is a glamping dome a tent under the fire code?
The fire code official decides. The fire code's chapter on tents and membrane structures has an exception for tents used only for recreational camping, and permanent structures also follow the building code. Which of those reaches a dome with paying guests is theirs to say. The flame test report on the cover is worth settling either way.
How many acres do you need for a glamping site?
There is no single figure. Zoning and the state's campground rules set density, site sizes, roads and setbacks, and they differ by county and by state. Michigan's licence, for example, sets a minimum campsite size and road width. Ask the county and the state before the site is drawn, and before the domes are sized.
Does a glamping site need accessible units?
It can. If the site counts as a place of lodging under the ADA rules, the 2010 ADA Standards set how many units need mobility features. Whether it counts is a question for an accessibility specialist or counsel; decide which domes are the accessible ones before the order.
Should I start with one dome or several?
Many operators start with a few and add more once the first season has run. The count matters to the county and the state, since more units can change how the site is classed. Several domes to one specification suit a factory order; one dome to try the idea suits a US retailer.
Request a quote
A landed quote for your site's domes
Send how many domes, the sizes you have in mind, where the site is and when it opens, with whatever the county has told you, and we come back with the date and the landed quote.
- Reply within 1 business day
- Landed cost, itemised
We take on the orders we can do well, and we will say so if yours isn't one of them.
