Straight answers
Can you put a tiny house in your backyard in Arkansas?
Usually yes, inside a city or town. Act 313 of 2025, now A.C.A. 14-56-205, says a municipality shall not adopt a policy, regulation or ordinance that restricts, prohibits or otherwise regulates the use of at least one accessory dwelling unit by right on a lot that contains a single-family dwelling. The unit may be attached, detached or internal, and an attached or detached unit may be no more than 75 percent of the house's gross floor area or 1,000 square feet, whichever is less. A city cannot require extra parking, owner occupancy, a matching exterior, separate water and sewer, or development impact fees above $250, and a local rule in effect on or after 1 January 2026 that conflicts with the section is invalid to that extent. The section speaks only of municipalities, so it does not settle unincorporated county land. The unit is still built to the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, whose residential volume has been the 2021 International Residential Code statewide since 1 January 2023, and the state did not adopt that code's tiny house appendix.
Figures verified against the sources below · October 17, 2026
01 — The longer answer
What Act 313 guarantees, and what still decides your lot
One accessory dwelling unit, by right, on a single-family lot
A.C.A. 14-56-205(b)(1) says that, except as the section provides, a municipality shall not adopt a policy, regulation or ordinance that restricts, prohibits, or otherwise regulates the use of at least one accessory dwelling unit by right on a lot or parcel that contains a single-family dwelling. By right is defined in (a)(2): approval without a public hearing, without a variance, conditional use permit, special permit or special exception, and without other discretionary zoning action beyond a determination that the site plan conforms with the applicable requirements. Subsection (b)(2) says the unit may be attached, detached, or internal to the house, so a backyard unit is covered, not only a suite inside it.
The size limit: 75 percent or 1,000 square feet, whichever is less
Under (b)(3), an attached or detached unit shall not be more than 75 percent of the gross floor area of the single-family dwelling or 1,000 square feet, whichever is less. Gross floor area is defined in (a)(3) as the interior habitable area of the house or the unit. Because it is whichever is less, the house sets the ceiling until it reaches about 1,333 square feet: a 1,000 square foot house allows 750 and a 1,200 square foot house allows 900, and above that the 1,000 square foot figure governs. Subsection (h)(2) lets a city adopt rules that are more permissive than the section, so a larger unit is possible where the city allows it, but it is outside the guarantee.
What a city cannot require
Subsection (c) lists ten things a municipality shall not do. It cannot require additional parking or fees in lieu of parking; require the unit to match the house's exterior design, roof pitch or finishing materials; require that the house or the unit be occupied by the owner; require a family, marital or employment relationship between the occupants; assess development impact fees above $250; require street or sidewalk improvements, except to repair what construction disturbs; set height, setback, lot size, lot coverage or frontage rules for the unit that are stricter than those for the house; impose more onerous development standards beyond those in the section; require a restrictive covenant concerning the unit; or require separate water and sewer from the main house.
What a city can still require
The section keeps several powers with the city. Under (e), it may charge an application fee of up to $250 for each unit, plus its usual building fees. Under (g), it may require a will-serve letter from both the municipal water system and the municipal sewer system, or approval from the Department of Health where municipal water or sewer service is not available. Under (d), it may regulate short-term rentals, which (a)(5) defines as stays of 30 days or less. And (h)(1) says the section does not supersede applicable regulatory requirements, which (a)(4) defines to include the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, local ordinances and amendments, zoning ordinances and conditions, and design standards. In practice the building permit, the plan review and the utility sign-off are where a specific lot is decided.
When it took effect
House Bill 1503 became Act 313 on 18 March 2025. The act added the section to the Arkansas Code; subsection (f) says a policy, regulation or ordinance in effect on or after 1 January 2026 that applies to an accessory dwelling unit and does not comply with the section is invalid to the extent of its conflict. So a city ordinance written before the act still stands in its other parts, and the conflicting part has had no force since 1 January 2026.
Cities and towns, not unincorporated county land
Every duty in 14-56-205 is placed on a municipality, and the section does not mention counties. On a lot outside city limits the act therefore does not decide whether a second dwelling is allowed; the county's own rules and the lot's water and septic do. That is the honest answer to the common search for which Arkansas counties allow tiny houses: there is no statewide county list, and the state statute that guarantees a backyard unit stops at the city line.
The residential code: the 2021 IRC, statewide since 1 January 2023
Arkansas builds homes to the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code. The State Fire Marshal's rule says the 2021 International Fire Code, the 2021 International Building Code and the 2021 International Residential Code, as amended and adopted by the State Fire Marshal, constitute the 2021 edition, and the rule's effective date is 1 January 2023. The 2021 edition supersedes the 2012 edition. The residential volume, Volume III, applies to detached one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses not more than three stories above grade plane, with a separate means of egress, and their accessory structures. Local adoption can lag: in July 2023 the City of Little Rock's board was asked to adopt the 2021 Volume III by ordinance, and the city's own communication said it was then still enforcing the 2012 edition.
The state did not adopt the tiny house appendix
Section R102.5 of the Arkansas residential volume says appendix provisions do not apply unless specifically referenced in the adopting ordinance, and that Appendices AA through AW are not adopted by the State of Arkansas and apply only where adopted by local ordinance. The rule-change text the State Fire Marshal filed for the 2021 edition lists each one, including Appendix AQ, Tiny Houses, deleted in its entirety. So the relaxed loft, ladder and ceiling provisions that the appendix gives a home of 400 square feet or less are not available statewide; a city has to adopt the appendix itself. Without it, a small house is held to the same requirements as any other dwelling under the code.
Water and septic on a lot without city service
The Arkansas Fire Prevention Code replaces the International Private Sewage Disposal Code with the Arkansas Department of Health's rules for onsite wastewater systems. Act 313 bars a city from requiring separate water and sewer from the main house, but lets it require Department of Health approval where municipal water or sewer service is not available. On a lot with its own septic system, that approval, and whether the existing system can carry a second unit, is usually the first thing to settle.
On wheels: the act does not say
Act 313 does not mention trailers, recreational vehicles or units on wheels. Its definition of an accessory dwelling unit, in (a)(1), is a self-contained and independently accessed living unit on the same parcel as a larger single-family dwelling, with its own cooking, sleeping and sanitation facilities, that complies with or is otherwise exempt from any applicable regulatory requirements, and those requirements include the Fire Prevention Code. Whether a city will accept a unit on wheels as that unit is a question for the city. A home on a permanent foundation, permitted as a dwelling, is the route the section plainly covers.
The honest summary is that Arkansas gives a backyard home a by-right path inside every city and town, sets a size limit by the smaller of 75 percent of the house or 1,000 square feet, and strips out parking, owner-occupancy and matching-design conditions. What it leaves for a specific address is the building permit under the 2021 residential code, the water and sewer sign-off, and, outside city limits, whatever the county decides. Factory-built approval is a separate question in every state, so ask any manufacturer, ours included, how a unit would be approved for your address before ordering.
03 — Sources
Each figure above links to the authority it came from.
Act 313 of 2025 (HB 1503), adding A.C.A. 14-56-205: definitions of accessory dwelling unit, by right, gross floor area and regulatory requirements (which include the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code); a municipality shall not restrict, prohibit or otherwise regulate the use of at least one ADU by right on a lot containing a single-family dwelling; attached, detached or internal; attached or detached no more than 75 percent of the house's gross floor area or 1,000 sq ft, whichever is less; the ten prohibitions in (c); short-term rentals; $250 application fee plus usual building fees; conflicting rules in effect on or after 1 January 2026 invalid; will-serve letters or Department of Health approval; more permissive rules allowed.
arkleg.state.ar.usHB1503 bill page: notification that HB1503 is now Act 313; act date 18 March 2025.
arkleg.state.ar.us015.01.22 Ark. Code R. 005, 2021 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code: the 2021 IFC, IBC and IRC as amended and adopted by the State Fire Marshal constitute the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, 2021 edition; these rules shall be effective January 1, 2023.
law.cornell.eduState Fire Marshal's foreword to the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code rules (October 2024): the 2021 edition supersedes the 2012 edition; the International Residential Code means Volume III; the International Private Sewage Disposal Code is replaced by the Department of Health's rules for onsite wastewater systems; cities and counties are encouraged to adopt the code as a local ordinance.
media.ark.orgArkansas Fire Prevention Code, Volume III (2021), R101.2 scope (detached one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses not more than three stories above grade plane, and their accessory structures) and R102.5 (Appendices AA through AW are not adopted by the State of Arkansas and apply only where adopted by local ordinance).
up.codes2021 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code rule changes, as filed with the Arkansas Legislative Council: Volume III R102.5 and the appendix list, including Appendix AQ, Tiny Houses, delete in its entirety.
arkleg.state.ar.usCity of Little Rock, Board of Directors communication, 11 July 2023: an ordinance to adopt the 2021 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, Volume III; the city was then enforcing the 2012 edition; the state adopted the code in 2022 with an effective date of 1 January 2023.
littlerock.gov
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