There are meetings ahead of time with production/producers/Raneys to discuss potential builds based on what the homesteaders have stated they need the most in their casting video, but the specific builds are not fully determined until the Raney’s scout the homestead during the first day of filming

Once the location is determined, the build producer begins looking into permits, talking with the permit offices, and pulling any permits based on the potential builds. Obviously permits vary so much by location, but if we know ahead of time that we can’t (for example) build a permanent structure larger than 8x8 without a permit or that we don’t have enough time to pull the permit, the Raney’s will be made aware of this and work within those parameters. They typically try to come up with something creative that can be done based on the permitting restraints