The Roofing Book

Permitting Authorities / City of Idaho Falls, Idaho - Building Division

City of Idaho Falls, Idaho - Building Division

Adopted code

The Building Division of the City of Idaho Falls Community Development Services Department issues and inspects building permits inside the city limits, and a re-roof needs one: the City publishes its own list of work exempt from a building permit, eleven items long, and no roof is on it. Two things set Idaho Falls apart from most cities its size. It licenses roofing as a trade in its own right -- City Code Title 4, Chapter 7 requires a Class D building sub-contractor licence for roofing, which sits on top of the Idaho state contractor registration every contractor in the state must hold, and the City will not issue a building permit to an unlicensed contractor. And it has filled in its own climatic and geographic design criteria rather than leaving them blank: an ice barrier is required here, the ground snow load is 47 psf, and the City publishes both wind bases side by side -- 115 mph ultimate and 90 mph nominal, Exposure C -- so nobody has to guess which number a design method wants.

Jurisdiction
City of Idaho Falls, Idaho
Jurisdiction type
city
Address
308 Constitution Way, Idaho Falls, ID 83402
Contact
  • url: https://www.idahofallsidaho.gov/2082/Building
  • phone: 208-612-8270
Permit portal
Permit portal
Roofing permit required
Required
Contractor registration required
Required
Registration details
  • state_level: STATEWIDE, AND INDEPENDENT OF WHATEVER THIS JURISDICTION REQUIRES. Idaho Code 54-5204(1), in the Idaho Contractor Registration Act (Title 54, Chapter 52): "On and after January 1, 2006, it shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of, or hold himself out as, a contractor within this state without being registered as required in this chapter." A roofer is inside the definitions rather than at their edge: "Construction" means "the performance of building, altering, repairing, adding to, subtracting from, improving, reconstructing, moving, excavating, wrecking or demolishing any building ... or improvement to real property, or to do any part thereof" (54-5203(2)), and "Contractor" means any person who "undertakes, offers to undertake, purports to have the capacity to undertake, or submits a bid to, or does himself or by or through others, perform construction" (54-5203(3)(a)). Roofing is not separately licensed at state level in Idaho, so this registration is the whole of the state credential. THRESHOLD: 54-5205(2)(f) exempts work on "one (1) undertaking or project considered casual, minor, or inconsequential, whether by one (1) or more contracts, the aggregate contract price of which, for labor and materials and all other items, is less than two thousand dollars ($2,000)" -- a per-project figure covering labour and materials together, not annual revenue, and the same paragraph voids the exemption where the work is part of a larger project or where one job is split into sub-$2,000 contracts. A residential reroof is rarely under $2,000. An owner working on his own residential property is exempt (54-5205(2)(l)), as is an owner who hires a registered contractor (54-5205(2)(k)); an employee on wages is exempt but an unregistered subcontractor is not (54-5205(2)(a)). CONSEQUENCES OF NOT REGISTERING, and a homeowner should check: an unregistered contractor "shall be deemed to have conclusively waived any right to place a lien upon real property" (54-5208); may not "bring or maintain any action in any court of this state for the collection of compensation" without proving registration throughout the work (54-5217(2)); and is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $1,000, up to six months in county jail, or both (54-5217(1)). AT THE PERMIT COUNTER: 54-5209(1) requires every county, municipality or district that issues building permits to request the contractor's Idaho registration number and print it on the face of the permit, or else print "no contractor registration provided"; 54-5209(2) requires the permit to be posted at the site so that statement is visible. WHAT IT TAKES: an application under oath, proof of worker's compensation coverage or a statement why it is not required, and a general liability policy including products and completed operations coverage of not less than $300,000 single limit (54-5210(1)). It is a registration, not a competency licence -- there is no examination. Administered by the Idaho Contractors Board within the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (54-5206(1)); registrations can be checked by name at the Division's public search.
  • city_level: IDAHO FALLS ADDS A SEPARATE, ROOFING-SPECIFIC CITY LICENCE, AND IT IS NOT A BUSINESS LICENCE. City Code 4-7-3(A): "No person shall build, construct, alter, repair or modify any building in the City without obtaining an appropriate building contractor's license as set forth below." The City runs four classes, and roofing is named in the one it falls into. City Code 4-7-2 defines "CLASS D CONSTRUCTION" as "Relating to specific trades, including, but not limited to, such concrete, masonry, framing, drywall or roofing", and 4-7-7(D) says a Class D licence "shall entitle the holder thereof to perform the specific trade for which they are licensed for, whether it be concrete, masonry, framing, drywall or roofing, or other specific trade." The City's own Building Division page states the answer in one line: "Roofing - requires city license Class D and state licensing." THE LICENCE GATES THE PERMIT. City Code 4-7-2 provides that "only a contractor licensed under the provisions of this Chapter may obtain a building permit", and 4-7-4 requires the contractor to show proof of the appropriate licence to the Building Department before a permit is issued. HOW TO QUALIFY: the City states three routes -- passing the relevant International Code Council trade examination, a bachelor's degree in architecture, engineering or construction management, or reciprocity for an applicant holding an active building contractor's licence in Utah, Arizona, Oregon, California or Florida -- and applications are made through the City's Cityworks portal with fees paid online or to the City Clerk. FEES AND RENEWAL as the City publishes them, and treat these as the volatile part: a Class D licence is $250 new and $150 to renew (Classes A, B and C are $325 and $225; a reciprocal licence is $60 either way; late renewal or reinstatement adds $75; an inactive licence is $100). Every licence expires one year from its issuance date, and City Code 4-7-9(B) provides that no building permit shall be issued to a contractor holding an inactive licence. CONTINUING EDUCATION is required to renew: the City states four hours a year for Class D holders, against eight for Classes A, B and C. THE CITY ALSO CHECKS THE STATE REGISTRATION: City Code 4-7-6 requires that "Every Contractor will be registered with the Idaho Bureau of Occupational Licenses", with "Evidence of registration ... provided to the City or its designated agent upon initial application and each subsequent renewal" -- that state registration is now administered by the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses. THE CITY'S OWN FORM CONFIRMS WHICH TRADES IT LICENSES. On the Homeowner as General Contractor and Subcontractor List, which a homeowner acting as his own general contractor must file, the City states that it "requires either a city license or a state license / registration number" for every subcontractor, and then lists the trades: general contractor, plumbing, electrical, roofing, concrete, mechanical and framing -- with "City License Not Required" printed against plumbing, electrical and mechanical, which Idaho licenses at state level, and nothing printed against roofing, concrete or framing, which the City licenses itself. HOMEOWNERS: City Code 4-7-3(B)(3) exempts "A homeowner who personally occupies or will occupy and undertakes the construction, alteration, repair, or maintenance of such homeowner's single-family residence or an accessory structure thereto", but the same paragraph provides that anyone the homeowner hires as paid labour "shall be deemed a sub-contractor and shall be required to be licensed as such". So a homeowner may re-roof his own house; the roofer he pays may not do it unlicensed.
Permit process note
Idaho Falls moved its permitting onto Cityworks on April 1, 2024, replacing eTrakit; everyone needs a new account, and permits, fees, inspection scheduling and inspection results all run through the public portal. The City lists licensed contractors, homeowners, engineers and surveyors as the people who may pull a permit. START THE WORK FIRST AND IT COSTS DOUBLE: the Building Division states that "if work is started on any building, electrical, mechanical, or plumbing projects without first obtaining the required permit(s), a double fee will be assessed for that project." ONE IDAHO FALLS AMENDMENT IS WORTH REAL MONEY ON A RE-ROOF, and it is easy to misread. City Code 7-6-2(M) and 7-6-2(N) rewrite the exceptions to IRC Sections R314.2.2 and R315.2.2 -- the sections that force smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms to be brought up to current standard when a dwelling is altered or repaired -- so that "Work involving the exterior surfaces of dwellings, such as, but not limited to, replacement of roofing or siding, or the addition or replacement of windows or doors, or the addition of a porch or deck or electrical permits, are exempt from the requirements of this section." Read the heading before the item: that exempts a re-roof from the alarm retrofit, not from the building permit. The City's own permit-exemption handout is a different document and does not list roofing at all. CONTACTS: the Building Division publishes Garret Christoffersen, Chief Building Inspector, at 208-313-4727, and Chad Burton, Building Inspector, at 208-973-2274; the City's main line is 208-612-8100 and the City Clerk, who takes contractor licence fees, is at 208-612-8415. The Building Division publishes its own direct line as 208-612-8270 on the Homeowner as General Contractor form, and sits in Community Development Services at 308 Constitution Way.
Adopted code
LOCALLY ENACTED, ON A STATE-MANDATED EDITION. The operative instrument is Idaho Falls City Code Title 7, Chapter 6, International Residential Code, which the City publishes on its own City Code page. Section 7-6-1(A): "The International Residential Code for One and Two Family Dwellings, 2018 Edition, published by the International Code Council, Inc., including Appendix M, is hereby adopted as an official code of the City, except the portions deleted, modified or amended by the provisions of this Chapter." Section 7-6-2 then lists the City's local amendments as items (A) through (V) -- twenty-two of them, reaching R101.2 scope, R104.10.1, the R105.2 permit exemptions, R109.1.3 floodplain inspections, R301.2.1.2, Table R301.2(1), Table R302.1(1), R302.13, R303.4, R313.1 and R313.2 sprinklers, the R314.2.2 and R315.2.2 alarm exceptions, R322 flood provisions, the R403 footing tables, R403.1.1, R405.1 and R602.10 wall bracing. None of the twenty-two amends Chapter 8 or Chapter 9, so the roofing chapter stands as published. Alongside it the City has adopted, in the other chapters of Title 7, the 2018 International Building Code (Chapter 1), the 2018 International Property Maintenance Code, a school building code, the 2018 International Fuel Gas Code, the Uniform Plumbing Code, the 2018 International Mechanical Code, the National Electrical Code, a local sign code, the 2018 International Fire Code, the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code and the 2018 International Existing Building Code; the Building Division's own page links the 2018 editions of the residential, energy conservation, fire, property maintenance, swimming pool and spa, existing building and building codes. 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."
Drip edge
Required — Neither the State of Idaho nor the City of Idaho Falls 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. Idaho Falls City Code Title 7, Chapter 6, the City's own adopting chapter, adopts the 2018 IRC at 7-6-1 and then lists its local amendments at 7-6-2 as items (A) through (V); all twenty-two were read, and none touches Chapter 9 either. The base 2018 IRC drip-edge requirement for asphalt shingle roofs (Section R905.2.8.5) therefore applies unmodified in Idaho Falls. 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
Ice & water shield
Required — Sourced from Idaho Falls's own adopted design criteria, not inferred from climate. Idaho Falls City Code 7-6-2(G) amends Table R301.2(1) of the 2018 International Residential Code and prints the City's own values; its "Ice Barrier Reqmnt." column reads "Yes". The rest of that same table is worth having in front of you on an Idaho Falls roof: ground snow load 47, windspeed 90 mph, weathering severe, frost line depth 30 inches, termite slight to moderate, decay none, winter design temperature -6, flood hazards 1955 and October 1986. The City's separately published Building Department Geographic Design Criteria agrees on the numbers it repeats and adds the snow figures it works from: "Ground Snow Load: Pg = 0.10 (4710) = 47.1 PSF" for an elevation of 4,710 feet, a calculated flat roof snow load of 29 psf, and the statement that "Historically, the city has mandated a minimum 30 PSF roof snow load." Idaho's state rule does not answer the ice barrier question either way: IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03 amends nothing in Chapter 9 of the 2018 International Residential Code, and Table R301.2(1) is the one part of Part III that Idaho Code 39-4116(4)(c) leaves a city free to fill in and amend for local conditions. The extent the barrier must reach up the roof slope is governed by the unamended base 2018 IRC text. About ice & water barrier
Mid-roof inspection
Not required — No roof-stage inspection appears in what the City of Idaho Falls publishes. The City's own required-inspection schedule, "New Single-Family Construction - Required Inspections", read in full, lists footing, foundation wall, wall sheathing, electrical rough-in, mechanical rough-in, plumbing rough-in, framing, insulation, drywall, electrical service (energize), shower pan, electrical final, mechanical final, plumbing final, building final, water division final and public works final, plus six conditional inspections (plumbing groundwork, electrical temporary service, firestop for twinhomes and townhomes, and basement electrical, plumbing and mechanical rough-in, framing, insulation and drywall). There is no roof deck, underlayment, in-progress or mid-roof stage on it, and the City's adopting chapter, Idaho Falls City Code Title 7, Chapter 6, amends the 2018 IRC inspection section only once, at 7-6-2(E), which rewrites R109.1.3 Floodplain inspections and adds no roof stage. Idaho Falls publishes no separate re-roof inspection schedule, so confirm the inspection sequence for your job with the Building Division when the permit issues. Inspections are requested through the City's Cityworks permitting portal.
Impact-resistant roofing
Not required — No impact-resistance mandate applies in Idaho Falls. 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. Idaho Falls City Code Title 7, Building Regulations, was read in full -- all twelve chapters, covering the building, property maintenance, school building, fuel gas, plumbing, residential, mechanical, electrical, sign, fire, energy conservation and existing building codes as the City adopts and amends them -- and it contains no UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473 reference either, and no hail provision. 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.
Repair permit threshold
No dollar figure and no size threshold -- Idaho Falls draws no line below which a roof may go ahead unpermitted. The City states the trigger in the code's own words on its Apply for a Permit page: "R105.1 Required. Any owner or owner's authorized agent who intends to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish or change the occupancy of a building or structure ... shall first make application to the building official and obtain the required permit." A repair is inside that sentence. The City then publishes its own handout of work exempt from a building permit, which reproduces its amended IRC Section R105.2 "Building" list in full: eleven items, covering one-story detached accessory structures up to 200 square feet, fences (which the City notes need a permit anyway under its zoning ordinance), retaining walls up to 4 feet, water tanks, sidewalks and driveways, finish work such as painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets and counter tops, prefabricated swimming pools, swings and playground equipment, window awnings, decks up to 200 square feet, and flag poles. No item on that list is a roof, and the City's adopting chapter, Idaho Falls City Code Title 7, Chapter 6, touches Section R105.2 only twice -- 7-6-2(C) changes the swimming-pool dimension and 7-6-2(D) adds "11. Flag poles." A second City requirement runs alongside the permit and catches out-of-town roofers: City Code 4-7-2 provides that "only a contractor licensed under the provisions of this Chapter may obtain a building permit", and 4-7-4 requires the contractor to show proof of the appropriate City licence to the Building Department before the permit is issued.
Wind design criteria
Take these from the City's own figures, and note that Idaho Falls publishes BOTH wind bases, which removes the commonest source of error. The City of Idaho Falls Building Department Geographic Design Criteria states "Ultimate wind speed (Vult) = 115 MPH" and "Nominal wind speed (Vasd) = 90 MPH", with "Exposure C". Those are not two different winds; they are one loading expressed on two bases, and the number you use has to match what your design method, engineering or product listing expects. Idaho Falls City Code 7-6-2(G), which amends Table R301.2(1) of the 2018 International Residential Code, prints the nominal figure in its "Windspeed (MPH)" column: 90. For roof loading the same City documents give a ground snow load of 47 psf (calculated as "Pg = 0.10 (4710) = 47.1 PSF" for the City's 4,710-foot elevation), a calculated flat roof snow load of 29 psf, and the City's statement that "Historically, the city has mandated a minimum 30 PSF roof snow load", adding that where drifting, site exposure or roof slope produce a higher load in the structural engineer's calculation, "that is the load the jurisdiction will go by." Frost line depth is 30 inches, weathering severe, winter design temperature -6. THE TWO CITY DOCUMENTS DISAGREE ON ONE VALUE, and it is not a roofing value: the Geographic Design Criteria gives a seismic design category of D, while the amended Table R301.2(1) in the City Code prints C with an earlier D1 struck through. Confirm the seismic category with the Building Division before relying on either. 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." Idaho Falls repeats that deletion in its own code at 7-6-2(F). 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.
Roof layer limit / recover
Neither the State of Idaho nor the City of Idaho Falls 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. Idaho Falls City Code Title 7, Chapter 6, the City's own adopting chapter, adopts the 2018 IRC at 7-6-1 and then lists its local amendments at 7-6-2 as items (A) through (V); all twenty-two were read, and none touches Chapter 9 either. The base 2018 IRC provisions therefore apply unmodified in Idaho Falls. 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).
Deck & sheathing requirements
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. Idaho Falls City Code Title 7, Chapter 6 amends the 2018 IRC in twenty-two places, 7-6-2(A) through 7-6-2(V), and none of them reaches Chapter 8 or Chapter 9 either; the City's structural amendments run to footings (7-6-2(R) through 7-6-2(T)), foundation drainage (7-6-2(U)) and wall bracing (7-6-2(V)). The base 2018 IRC roof sheathing and decking requirements therefore apply unmodified, along with the shingle manufacturer's printed installation instructions, which the code makes binding. Two Idaho Falls facts bear on the deck even though neither is a sheathing rule. The City's own design criteria set a ground snow load of 47 psf and state that "Historically, the city has mandated a minimum 30 PSF roof snow load", so a deck and its framing here are carrying real load. And roof trusses are handled separately from the roof covering: the City publishes a Roof Truss Design Submittal Agreement and requires a roof truss design and roof truss layout with a new residential permit application.
Sales & use tax
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 this jurisdiction 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 Falls lies within the Idaho Falls Auditorium District, but that district's tax applies only to short-term lodging and does not change the rate on a roof. Idaho counties levy no sales tax at all. 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.

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