Permitting Authorities / Idaho / City of Idaho Falls, Idaho - Building Division
Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Idaho Falls, ID?
Adopted codeCity of Idaho Falls, Idaho - Building Division
Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Idaho Falls, ID, issued by City of Idaho Falls, Idaho - Building Division. 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.
Roof code checklist: Idaho Falls, ID
| Item | Answer | Code cite | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permit to replace a roof | Yes | idahofallsidaho.gov | 2026-09-03 | |
| Repair permit threshold | Published | R105.2 | idahofallsidaho.gov | 2026-09-03 |
| Layer limit / roof-over | Published | R908.3.1.1 | idahofallsidaho.gov | 2026-09-03 |
| Deck & sheathing | Published | idahofallsidaho.gov | 2026-09-03 | |
| Drip edge | Yes | R905.2.8.5 | idahofallsidaho.gov | 2026-09-03 |
| Ice & water shield | Yes | idahofallsidaho.gov | 2026-09-03 | |
| Mid-roof inspection | No | idahofallsidaho.gov | 2026-09-03 | |
| Impact-resistant (Class 4) roofing | No | idahofallsidaho.gov | 2026-09-03 | |
| Wind design criteria | Published | idahofallsidaho.gov | 2026-09-03 | |
| Adopted code | Published | Sec. 7-6-1 | idahofallsidaho.gov | 2026-09-03 |
| Contractor license / registration | Yes | legislature.idaho.gov | 2026-09-03 | |
| Sales & use tax | Published | legislature.idaho.gov | 2026-09-03 |
Each row comes from the sourced record on this page; full wording is in the table below. "Not published" means no official source for that item was found when the record was last verified.
- url: https://www.idahofallsidaho.gov/2082/Building
- phone: 208-612-8270
- 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.
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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.
Hail reports near Idaho Falls, ID
- Reports, last 24 months
- 3
- Largest, last 24 months
- 1.75 in Sep 17, 2026
- Most recent
- Sep 17, 2026 1.75 in
- Reports, last 5 years
- 6
| Date | Hail size | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 17, 2026 | 1.75 in | 9 mi SW |
| Sep 17, 2026 | 1.00 in | 9 mi SSW |
| Sep 17, 2026 | 1.00 in | under 1 mi |
| Aug 5, 2023 | 1.00 in | 9 mi SSE |
| Jul 13, 2022 | 1.00 in | 5 mi ENE |
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database and daily storm reports (reports since the start of the current year are preliminary), within 10 miles of Idaho Falls, ID (Census point). Data through Oct 7, 2026, not updated since. A report is an observation, not a damage record.
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Sources
- idahofallsidaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- app04.cityworksonline.com verified 2026-09-03
- idahofallsidaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- idahofallsidaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- idahofallsidaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- idahofallsidaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- legislature.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- legislature.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- legislature.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- legislature.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- legislature.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- legislature.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- legislature.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- dopl.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- idahofallsidaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- edopl.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- idahofallsidaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- idahofallsidaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- idahofallsidaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- adminrules.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- legislature.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- legislature.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- idahofallsidaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- idahofallsidaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- legislature.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- legislature.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- tax.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- tax.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03
- tax.idaho.gov verified 2026-09-03