City of Ammon, Idaho - Building Department

City of Ammon, Idaho

city

2135 South Ammon Road, Ammon, ID 83406

Required

Required

Everything in Ammon runs through BluePrince. The City states that "Ammon uses BluePrince for all building permit applications, inspection scheduling, and permit status tracking", and publishes its own step-by-step guides for setting up a contractor or company account, for applying for a residential or commercial building permit, for applying for a minor, mechanical, electrical or plumbing permit, and for requesting inspections. Sub-accounts can be added so several people in one company can apply, pay invoices and schedule inspections. TARGETS AND HOURS as the Building Department publishes them: residential permits five working days, commercial permits fourteen working days; inspections Monday to Thursday 9am to 3pm and Friday 9am to 12pm, with an inspection request line on 208-612-4020; office hours Monday to Friday 7:30am to 12pm and 1pm to 4:30pm, with permits not accepted after 4pm. CONTACTS: Greg McBride, Building Official, 208-612-4024; Luis Tobias-Jemmett, Permit Technician, 208-612-4021; building inspectors Allen Eldridge on 208-612-4023 and Brent Purcell on 208-612-4027; the Building Department's front line is 208-612-4000 and its email is [email protected], at 2135 South Ammon Road. TWO QUESTIONS THIS RECORD CANNOT ANSWER FOR YOU, AND BOTH ARE WORTH ASKING WHEN YOU APPLY. Ammon has amended the residential code's climatic and geographic design criteria table for itself and its version carries no ice-barrier entry, so the City publishes no position on whether an ice-and-water shield underlayment is required on an Ammon roof. And Ammon publishes no inspection schedule for re-roofing work, so the stages your permit will carry, including whether there is an in-progress or mid-roof stop before the cover goes on, are set when the permit issues and appear against the permit in the portal. PLANNING AND FIRE SIGN-OFF COME FIRST on work that needs them: the fee resolution provides that "Planning Department approval shall be obtained prior to obtaining a building permit" and that "Fire Department approval shall be obtained prior to obtaining a building permit", though it also states that no Fire Department and no Planning Department plan check fee is charged for re-roofing. The City will not issue a partial permit: "a building permit will only be issued for a complete project ... Partial permits, such as those for a foundation only, shall not be issued."

LOCALLY ENACTED, ON A STATE-MANDATED EDITION, AND THE LOCAL ADOPTION FLOATS WITH THE STATE. The operative instrument is Ammon City Code Title 7, Chapter 3, International Residential Code, which the City publishes through its own document portal. Section 7-3-1: "The approved edition of the 2018 International Residential Code as adopted by the State of Idaho or the Idaho Building Code Board, together with any amendments or revisions to the International Building Code made by the Idaho Building Bode Board through the negotiated rulemaking process, is adopted as the official building code of the City of Ammon." That sentence is quoted exactly as the City enacted it, including its reference to the International Building Code and its misspelling of the Board's name; the City's separate building-code chapter, 7-1-1, adopts the 2018 International Building Code in the same words. The chapter is stamped as adopted 12-17-20. Because it adopts the edition "as adopted by the State of Idaho", Ammon moves when the Idaho Building Code Board moves. Ammon City Code Title 7, Chapter 3, International Residential Code, is four sections long -- 7-3-1 Adoption, 7-3-2 Amendments, 7-3-3 Fees and 7-3-4 Penalty -- and its amendment list, read in full, has exactly one item: 7-3-2(a), which amends Table R301.2(1), the climatic and geographic design criteria. Nothing in it touches Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies. The City's Building Department separately publishes the full list of codes it enforces: 2018 IBC, 2018 IRC, 2018 IECC, 2018 IMC, 2018 IFGC, 2017 Idaho Plumbing, 2018 IEBC, 2023 NEC and 2018 IFC. THE STATE FRAMEWORK: Idaho's residential code is set by the Idaho Building Code Board, not by the city. IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03 adopts the "International Residential Code, 2018 Edition ... Parts I, II, III, and IX of the 2018 Edition for one (1)- and two (2)-family dwellings", effective July 1, 2024, together with a list of state amendments; Idaho Code 39-4116(2) requires a local government that issues building permits and performs code enforcement to adopt the Idaho residential code parts I-III and IX by ordinance. Parts IV through VIII -- energy, mechanical, fuel gas, plumbing and electrical -- are not part of the Idaho residential code (Idaho Code 39-4109(1)(b)); roofing sits in Part III and is included. Idaho Code 39-4116(2) also bars a local jurisdiction from adopting provisions of a later IRC edition the Board has not adopted, so a city cannot be ahead of the state. Idaho Code 39-4116(6): "Permits shall be governed by the laws in effect at the time the permit application is received."

Required — Neither the State of Idaho nor the City of Ammon modifies the model rule. IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03 -- the Idaho Building Code Board's complete list of state amendments to the 2018 International Residential Code, seventeen items, read in full -- contains no amendment to Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies. Ammon City Code Title 7, Chapter 3, International Residential Code, is four sections long -- 7-3-1 Adoption, 7-3-2 Amendments, 7-3-3 Fees and 7-3-4 Penalty -- and its amendment list, read in full, has exactly one item: 7-3-2(a), which amends Table R301.2(1), the climatic and geographic design criteria. Nothing in it touches Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies. The whole of Ammon City Code Title 7, Building Regulations, was read as well -- all eleven chapters covering the building, dangerous-buildings, residential, plumbing, mechanical, electrical, fire, energy conservation, fuel gas, flood plain and existing building codes -- and the City's building-code chapter, 7-1-1, adopts the 2018 International Building Code with no local amendments at all. The base 2018 IRC drip-edge requirement for asphalt shingle roofs (Section R905.2.8.5) therefore applies unmodified in Ammon. Confirm the flashing detail and the fastener spacing against the shingle manufacturer's printed instructions as well, which the code makes binding. About drip edge

Not required — No impact-resistance mandate applies in Ammon. IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03 -- the State of Idaho's complete list of amendments to the 2018 International Residential Code, read in full -- contains no amendment to Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies, and no UL 2218, Class 4 or FM 4473 impact-rating reference anywhere in the rule. Ammon City Code Title 7, Building Regulations, was read in full -- all eleven chapters, from the building code through the flood plain requirements to the existing building code -- and it contains no UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473 reference either, and no hail provision. The City's residential chapter amends the model code in exactly one place, the climatic and geographic design criteria table, and that table has no impact-rating column. Neither the state's nor the City's adopted code imposes an impact-resistant roof covering requirement. An insurance discount for impact-rated shingles, where a carrier offers one, is a matter between the homeowner and the insurer and is not a code requirement.

No dollar figure and no size threshold. Ammon draws no line below which a roof may go ahead unpermitted, and it says so from two directions in its own adopted fee resolution (Resolution 2026-008, City Fee Resolution, adopted and effective April 16, 2026). Section 1-B, under the heading "Fees for repairs": "Repairs of all elements for which a building permit is not specifically excluded shall require a permit. Fees for repair work shall be the full building permit fee based on the cost of the repair work and a ten (10) percent plan check fee. No Fire Department plan check fee and no Planning Department plan check fee shall be required for repairs." And the Section 1-A building permit fee table has no zero band -- its first row covers a value from $1 to $500 at a base fee of $40.00, so there is a permit fee for a job worth a dollar. WHAT A RE-ROOF ACTUALLY COSTS TO PERMIT, and it is cheap: the same section, under "Fees for re-roofs", sets a "Residential Re-Roof Fee: 1% of the Contract Price as submitted by the roofing contractor owner, not to exceed $100." Commercial work is charged differently -- "A full building permit fee and a ten (10) percent plan check fee shall be required for all commercial re-roof permits", with no Fire Department or Planning Department plan check fee for the re-roofing itself, except that "when a re-roof of other than a one- or two-family dwelling includes new structural elements that change the roof, including but not limited to the addition of cold roof sleepers, a full permit shall be required and all plan check fees shall be assessed." THE CITY'S OWN EXEMPTION LIST DOES NOT INCLUDE A ROOF. Under the heading "Work exempt from a permit", the City publishes eight items: one-story detached accessory structures whose floor area does not exceed 200 square feet; fences not over 7 feet high; retaining walls not over 4 feet high; painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets, countertops and similar finish work; prefabricated swimming pools less than 24 inches deep; swings and other playground equipment; window awnings that do not require additional support from the home; and decks not exceeding 200 square feet that are not more than 30 inches above grade and not attached to the home. No roof appears on that list, and the State of Idaho adds no roofing exemption either -- IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03(b) and (c) are the only two state amendments to the residential code's list of work exempt from permit, and they change a dimension in item 7 and add "11. Flag poles." START WITHOUT THE PERMIT AND IT COSTS $500: the fee resolution sets a "Penalty for commencement of work without a building permit: $500", in addition to a stop work order and violation fees, and defines commencement of work as "Initiation of any portion of any structural elements of any project requiring a permit."

Take these from Ammon's own table, not from a neighbouring city's. Ammon City Code 7-3-2(a) amends Table R301.2(1) of the 2018 International Residential Code, Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria, and prints the City's own values across nine cells: ground snow load 47; windspeed (MPH) 90; seismic design category, where the printed cell shows an earlier "D1" struck through with "C" beside it; weathering severe; frost line depth 30 inches; termite slight to moderate; decay none; winter design temperature -6 degrees; flood hazards 1955, Oct, 1986. TWO THINGS TO NOTICE BEFORE YOU USE THE WIND NUMBER. First, Ammon prints one figure and does not print its basis: the column is headed simply "WINDSPEED (MPH)" and the cell reads 90, with no statement of whether that is a nominal or an ultimate design wind speed. Those are two ways of expressing the same loading and they are different numbers, so match the figure to what your design method, engineering or product listing actually asks for, and confirm the basis with the Building Department rather than converting between them. Second, the seismic cell is a struck-through edit rather than a clean value; read it as the City published it and confirm it with the Building Department before relying on either category. ONE MORE COLUMN IS SIMPLY NOT THERE, and it is the one roofers ask about: Ammon's amended table prints no ice-barrier entry at all. The City therefore publishes no answer on whether an ice-and-water shield underlayment is required here, and this record does not supply one; ask the Building Department when you pull the permit. The State of Idaho separately deletes the model code's wind-borne debris opening-protection section statewide: IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03(d) reads "Section R301.2.1.2 Protection of Openings. Delete." That is an opening (window and door) provision rather than a roofing one, and under Idaho Code 39-4116(4)(b) a local jurisdiction may not re-adopt a provision the Idaho Building Code Board has expressly rejected.

Neither the State of Idaho nor the City of Ammon modifies the model rule. IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03 -- the Idaho Building Code Board's complete list of state amendments to the 2018 International Residential Code, seventeen items, read in full -- contains no amendment to Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies. Ammon City Code Title 7, Chapter 3, International Residential Code, is four sections long -- 7-3-1 Adoption, 7-3-2 Amendments, 7-3-3 Fees and 7-3-4 Penalty -- and its amendment list, read in full, has exactly one item: 7-3-2(a), which amends Table R301.2(1), the climatic and geographic design criteria. Nothing in it touches Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies. The whole of Ammon City Code Title 7, Building Regulations, was read as well -- all eleven chapters covering the building, dangerous-buildings, residential, plumbing, mechanical, electrical, fire, energy conservation, fuel gas, flood plain and existing building codes -- and the City's building-code chapter, 7-1-1, adopts the 2018 International Building Code with no local amendments at all. The base 2018 IRC provisions therefore apply unmodified in Ammon. Base-code rule, 2018 IRC Section R908.3.1.1 (Roof recover not allowed): a roof recover is not permitted where the existing roof or covering is water-soaked or has deteriorated to the point that it is not an adequate base for additional roofing; where the existing roof covering is slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile; or where the existing roof already has two or more applications of any type of roof covering. One existing layer may be recovered; a second forces a full tear-off. A local Idaho amendment to this rule would be unusually visible: Idaho Code 39-4116(4)(d) allows a city or county to amend this part of the residential code only by ordinance, on a recorded finding that "good cause for building or life safety exists" and that the amendment is "reasonably necessary", after a public hearing noticed in the official newspaper with at least thirty days' written notice to the local chapters of the industry bodies listed in Idaho Code 39-4109(5).

IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03 -- the State of Idaho's complete list of amendments to the 2018 International Residential Code, read in full -- contains no amendment to Chapter 8, Roof-Ceiling Construction, which carries the code's roof sheathing provisions, nor to Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies. Ammon City Code Title 7, Chapter 3, International Residential Code, is four sections long -- 7-3-1 Adoption, 7-3-2 Amendments, 7-3-3 Fees and 7-3-4 Penalty -- and its amendment list, read in full, has exactly one item: 7-3-2(a), which amends Table R301.2(1), the climatic and geographic design criteria. Nothing in it touches Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies. The whole of Ammon City Code Title 7, Building Regulations, was read as well -- all eleven chapters covering the building, dangerous-buildings, residential, plumbing, mechanical, electrical, fire, energy conservation, fuel gas, flood plain and existing building codes -- and the City's building-code chapter, 7-1-1, adopts the 2018 International Building Code with no local amendments at all. The base 2018 IRC roof sheathing and decking requirements therefore apply unmodified in Ammon, along with the shingle manufacturer's printed installation instructions, which the code makes binding. One local number bears on the deck without being a sheathing rule: the ground snow load Ammon prints in its own amended Table R301.2(1) is 47, so a deck and the framing under it here are carrying real load, and the same table records weathering as severe and a winter design temperature of -6 degrees.

6.0% -- the Idaho state rate, with no local add-on. Idaho Code 63-3619 imposes the state sales tax "at the rate of six percent (6%)". Idaho has only two kinds of local sales tax, and neither applies here: a resort-city local-option tax, which Idaho Code 50-1044 confines to resort cities "with a population not in excess of ten thousand (10,000)" and which the Idaho State Tax Commission's own list of participating cities does not include Ammon in; and an auditorium-district tax, which the Tax Commission states "can charge a local sales tax only for short-term lodging (30 days or less)" and so never reaches roofing work. Idaho counties levy no sales tax at all, so Bonneville County adds nothing. HOW A ROOF IS TAXED, which matters more than the rate: the Tax Commission's contractor guidance states that "Idaho sales tax law says contractors are the consumers (end users) of all the goods they use. As a result, they must pay sales tax on all purchases", and it names roofers among the contractors it covers. The roofer pays the 6% on materials at the supply house; the homeowner's invoice carries no sales tax line at all, on materials or on labour, because "a contractor doesn't charge sales tax to the customer" and the tax is absorbed into the bid. The Commission adds that "if sales tax is charged on the bill, the customer can refuse to pay it." A customer's own sales-tax exemption does not carry over to the contractor.