City of Ketchum - Building Department

Ketchum, Idaho

city

191 5th Street West, PO Box 2315, Ketchum, ID 83340

Required

Required

THE PERMIT CLOCKS HERE ARE UNUSUAL AND THEY ARE IN THE CODE RATHER THAN ON A HANDOUT. Ketchum's amendment to residential code section R105.5 provides: "Maximum Project Duration. Under no circumstances may any project exceed three (3) years of construction activity from the date the building permit was issued, unless otherwise agreed upon in writing by the Building Official. After three (3) years, a building permit shall be considered null and void and the applicant shall reapply for a new building permit for the unfinished portions of the project and shall pay all applicable fees. The new building permit shall be subject to the current City adopted building codes." Extensions are available but capped: "A permit may be extended for a period not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) days ... A permit issued under the provisions of this code may be granted a maximum of four (4) extensions but in no case may the total number of extensions exceed 180 days." Note the sting in the tail of the first quote - a reapplication is judged against whatever codes the City has adopted by then, not the ones in force when the job started. FORMS, FEES AND REFUNDS. The City's amendment to the building code's application section states that "Required building permit applications shall be made on forms furnished by the city of Ketchum", and its amendment to the residential fee section provides that "On buildings, structures, or alterations requiring a permit, a fee for each permit shall be paid as required, in accordance with the schedule as established by resolution of the city of Ketchum" - so the fee schedule is a council resolution rather than part of the code. On refunds, the building official "shall not authorize the refunding of more than eighty percent (80%) of the permit fee or the various plan review fees", and a refund must be requested in writing on or before the first anniversary of the date the application was completed. IF A DECISION GOES AGAINST YOU. The City appoints a three-person board of appeals as needed, drawn from a list that includes a Blaine County building official, the Ketchum fire chief, a licensed Idaho architect and a licensed Idaho structural engineer. ONE THING TO PLAN FOR ON A KETCHUM ROOF. Because the City requires snow retention devices designed to 100 pounds per square foot above skylights, sun rooms, greenhouses and pedestrian areas, and because gutters and downspouts must be noncombustible with a debris guard, a Ketchum reroof carries line items that the same job would not carry in most of Idaho. Get those into the bid rather than discovering them at inspection.

THE 2018 EDITIONS, ADOPTED BY THE CITY UNDER ITS OWN CODIFIED ORDINANCE. Ketchum Municipal Code section 15.04.010, "Codes adopted", opens "Pursuant to Idaho Code section 39-4116(1), the following codes published by the International Code Council are adopted by reference" and then lists them, including "The International Building Code ("IBC"), 2018 edition, as amended by the Idaho Building Code Board and including new Appendix O" and "The International Residential Code ("IRC)", 2018 edition, as amended by the Idaho Building Code Board, parts I-III and IX, including appendix F, radon control methods", together with the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code, International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, International Existing Building Code and International Property Maintenance Code. That is Ordinance 1126 of 2014 as amended by Ordinance No. 1217, section 1 (Exhibit A), 2-16-2021. Roofing sits in Part III of the residential code and is included. AND THEN KETCHUM AMENDS THAT CODE HEAVILY, INCLUDING THE ROOFING CHAPTER. Section 15.04.020, "Amendments", was read in full for this record. On the residential side it amends or adds R902 Fire Classifications, R905 Requirements for Roof Coverings and a wholly new R910 Snow Retention Devices, along with amendments to R105 permits, R108 fees, R112 board of appeals, R302 fire separation, R404.1.6 and the chimney sections, and it replaces Table R301.2(1) with the City's own climatic and geographic design criteria. On the commercial side it makes matching changes at IBC 1505, 1507, 1511 and 1513 and repeals the model code's wood shingle and wood shake sections in their entirety. So unlike most Idaho jurisdictions, the roofing answers here are local rather than inherited. STATE FRAMEWORK. 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", with a list of state amendments that contains nothing touching Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies. Idaho Code 39-4116(4) permits a local government to amend the residential code only by ordinance on a recorded good-cause finding after a noticed public hearing, and 15.04.020 opens by invoking exactly that authority - "Pursuant to Idaho Code section 39-4116(4)". Idaho Code 39-4116(6) provides that "Permits shall be governed by the laws in effect at the time the permit application is received."

Required — THE REQUIREMENT REACHES KETCHUM UNMODIFIED, AND THE CITY ADDS TO IT RATHER THAN SUBTRACTING. Ketchum Municipal Code section 15.04.010 adopts the 2018 International Residential Code as amended by the Idaho Building Code Board, and section 15.04.020 was read in full: the City amends R902, adds R902.2 with its valley, underfloor and gutter subsections, adds R905.1.4 and adds R910, and it touches nothing else in the roofing chapter. Nothing in it repeals or relaxes the drip edge provision. IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03, the State of Idaho's own complete list of amendments to the 2018 International Residential Code, does not touch Chapter 9 at all. The base 2018 IRC drip edge requirement for asphalt shingle roofs, at Section R905.2.8.5, therefore applies in Ketchum unmodified. The operative text of that section sits behind the code publisher's paywall; this record does not restate it and does not rely on any third-party republication of it. What is recorded is the sourced fact that the requirement is in force here and has not been amended away by either the City or the State. WHERE KETCHUM IS STRICTER THAN THE MODEL CODE ON EDGE AND VALLEY METAL. Its added R902.2.1 specifies valley flashing of not less than 0.019 inch corrosion resistant metal over a minimum 36 inch wide underlayment of 72 pound mineral surfaced nonperforated cap sheet to ASTM D 3909, run the full length of the valley, and its R902.2.3 requires noncombustible gutters and downspouts. Take the flashing detail, the fastener spacing and the required overlap for the drip edge itself from the code text, and confirm them against the shingle manufacturer's printed installation instructions. About drip edge

Required — KETCHUM ANSWERS THIS DIRECTLY IN ITS OWN CLIMATIC TABLE, WHICH IS RARE AND WORTH RELYING ON. The City replaces the model Table R301.2(1) with its own, printed in Ketchum Municipal Code section 15.04.020, and the column headed "Ice Barrier Underlayment Required" reads "YES 24" inside of wall line". The neighbouring cells in the same row give a winter design temperature of -20 degrees F, a ground snow load of 120 pounds per square foot, a frost line depth of 32 inches and weathering "Severe". So an ice barrier is required on Ketchum work as a matter of the City's own adopted table, not as an inference from the climate. WHAT THE 24 INCH FIGURE MEANS FOR A CREW. The City's table states the extent as measured inside the exterior wall line rather than from the eave edge, so on a house with a deep overhang the membrane has to run further up the roof than a fixed distance from the edge would give. Measure from the inside face of the exterior wall and work back out. The detailed installation requirements sit in the base 2018 International Residential Code, which is behind the code publisher's paywall; this record does not restate that text. Take the underlayment specification, the lap requirements and the treatment at valleys and low-slope areas from the code itself and from the manufacturer's printed instructions, which the code makes binding. Note also that the City's own R902.2.1 requires a 72 pound mineral surfaced cap sheet underlayment at valleys, which is a separate and additional requirement. About ice & water barrier

Not required — NO IMPACT-RESISTANCE MANDATE APPLIES IN KETCHUM, AND THIS IS A CITY WHERE THAT IS EASY TO GET WRONG. Ketchum Municipal Code Title 15, "Buildings and Construction", was read in full - all six chapters and the whole of the amendment list at 15.04.020. It contains no reference to UL 2218, to a Class 4 or Class IV impact rating, or to FM 4473. IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03, the State of Idaho's complete list of amendments to the 2018 International Residential Code, carries no such reference either. Neither the City's nor the State's adopted code requires an impact-resistant roof covering. WHY THE CONFUSION IS LIKELY HERE. Ketchum requires a "Class A" roof covering all over its code - on new buildings, on reroofs, and on whole structures after a large addition - and a reader skimming for the word "Class" will find it a dozen times. That is a FIRE classification and the City says so: its amended R902.1 ends "Class A roofing required by this section to be listed shall be tested in accordance with UL 790 or ASTM E108", which are the fire test standards. A Class A, B or C rating is FIRE. A Class D, F or H rating is WIND, tested to ASTM D3161 or D7158. Only UL 2218 or FM 4473 rates a covering for hail IMPACT, and that is the standard a Class 4 shingle is measured against. Ketchum's Class A requirement is a wildfire measure and says nothing about hail. WHAT KETCHUM DOES REQUIRE, SO IT IS NOT MISSED. Its amended R902.1 provides: "Roofs shall be covered with a Class A roof covering or assembly containing no wood products as set forth in Sections R904 and R905", and its added R902.2 provides that "Roofs shall have at least a class C roof assembly ... or an approved noncombustible roof covering. Cedar shake and all wood based roof coverings are prohibited, even if such roof coverings are classified as a class C roof assembly." Those two sections state the fire class differently - Class A in one and at least Class C in the other - and this record does not adjudicate between them; ask the building official which applies to the job in front of you. What is not in doubt is that wood is prohibited either way. 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 in Ketchum.

KETCHUM RUNS A TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT RULE, AND IT IS NOT A PERMIT THRESHOLD - IT IS A HOW-MUCH-OF-THE-ROOF-MUST-COMPLY THRESHOLD. Read the difference before quoting a job. The City's added residential code section R902.2, "Roof Coverings", provides: "Any alteration, addition or repair of twenty-five percent (25%) or more of a roof surface or any new construction shall construct the entire roof in compliance with this section R902.2. If an alteration, addition or repair of an existing roof involves less than twenty-five percent (25%) of a roof, only that alteration, addition or repair shall conform to the requirements of this section R902.2 without the existing structure complying with all of requirements of this section R902.2." So crossing a quarter of the roof surface pulls the whole roof up to standard; staying under it confines the requirement to the patch. Nothing in that sentence exempts anybody from getting a permit. THE SAME QUARTER APPEARS IN THE REROOF RULE, WITH A FIVE-YEAR ANTI-STAGING CLAUSE. The City's added section R905.1.4, "Reroof Requirements", provides: "When a structure is being reroofed it is required to have a class A roof covering or assembly containing no wood products. Class A or the highest rated covering that matches existing covering is required when less than twenty-five (25%) percent of the roof areas is being repaired and additional areas are not subsequently repaired within five (5) years." A job phased to stay under a quarter at a time does not escape the requirement if the rest follows within five years. ADDITIONS TRIGGER A WHOLE-ROOF UPGRADE AT A THOUSAND SQUARE FEET. The City's amended R902.1 adds: "Where an addition to an existing structure exceeds 1,000 square feet of roof area, the entire structure must be upgraded to a class A roof covering or assembly containing no wood products." WHAT IS NOT PUBLISHED. Ketchum's amendments to residential code section R105 Permits add a demolition permit section and rewrite the expiration rules; they do not add or remove anything from the exempt-work list. The exempt-work list that applies here is therefore the residential code's own as the State of Idaho has amended it, and IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03 amends that list in only two places - changing "24 inches (610 mm)" to "four (4) feet (1219) mm)" in item 7 under the Building subheading, and adding "11. Flag poles." Neither touches roofing. There is no published Ketchum figure below which a roof repair needs no permit. Ring the City on 208-726-3841 before treating a repair as exempt.

KETCHUM REPLACES THE MODEL CLIMATIC TABLE WITH ITS OWN, AND THE SNOW FIGURE IS THE ONE THAT MATTERS. The City's own Table R301.2(1), "Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria", as printed in Ketchum Municipal Code section 15.04.020, gives a ground snow load of "120 PSF", a wind speed of "90 MPH", "NO" for topographic effects and "NO" for special wind region, seismic design category "D", weathering "Severe", a frost line depth of 32 inches, termite "Slight to moderate", a winter design temperature of -20 degrees F, an air freezing index of 2000 and a mean annual temperature of 40 degrees F. The Manual J block below it gives an elevation of 5840 feet and a latitude of 44 degrees N. The windborne-debris-zone cell in the City's published row is not filled in. READ THE WIND FIGURE CAREFULLY, BECAUSE 90 MPH IS NOT THE NUMBER MOST IDAHO JURISDICTIONS PRINT. Neighbouring Idaho jurisdictions publish 115 mph. Those are not necessarily different loadings: a nominal, allowable-stress wind speed and an ultimate design wind speed are two ways of expressing the same load, and 115 times the square root of 0.6 is about 89. The City does not state which basis its 90 mph figure is on, so do not apply it to a method that expects the other one, and settle the basis with the building official before running a calculation. SNOW RETENTION IS A LOCAL REQUIREMENT WITH A NUMBER ATTACHED. Ketchum adds a new residential code section, R910: "Snow Retention Devices. These devises are permanently attached to the roofing assembly and shall be placed on the roof above, including but not limited to, skylights, sun rooms, greenhouses, and pedestrian areas, to limit the potential for sliding snow or ice onto pedestrian areas below said roof areas for all occupancies. Minimum design shall be equal to the design roof snow load of 100 pounds per square foot." Price the retention devices into a Ketchum bid, and note that the 100 pounds per square foot is a design figure for the devices rather than the ground snow load above. ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE, WHICH IS A DIFFERENT TRACK. The City's parallel amendments to the International Building Code set the ground snow load "for Ketchum ... to be site specific (CS) and shall be taken as 120 psf" at Section 1608.2, and amend Section 1608.5 so that the flat roof snow load on a roof sloped 5 degrees or less "shall be the greater of 100 psf" or the calculated value. They also amend Table 1607.1 to require a 100 pound snow load on all balconies and decks regardless of occupancy or size. Those are commercial-code figures; a one- and two-family dwelling is governed by the residential table above. A STATE DELETION THAT SITS NEXT TO THIS. IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03(d) reads "Section R301.2.1.2 Protection of Openings. Delete." That is a window and door wind-borne debris provision rather than a roofing one.

NEITHER KETCHUM NOR THE STATE AMENDS THE MODEL RULE ON RECOVERING A ROOF, BUT THE CITY CONSTRAINS WHAT MAY GO ON TOP OF IT. Ketchum Municipal Code Title 15, "Buildings and Construction", was read in full - all six chapters, and within the building codes chapter the whole of the amendment list at 15.04.020, residential items 1 through 20 and the parallel commercial items. The City amends R902, adds R902.2 and its subsections, amends R905 by adding R905.1.4 and adds a new R910; it does not amend the residential code's reroofing section, which is where the model rule on recovering over existing layers sits, and Title 15 contains no layer count of any kind. IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03, the Idaho Building Code Board's own complete list of amendments to the 2018 International Residential Code, contains no Chapter 9 amendment either. SO THE BASE 2018 INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTIAL CODE RULE ON ROOF RECOVER VERSUS REPLACEMENT APPLIES IN KETCHUM UNMODIFIED. Its operative text sits behind the code publisher's paywall; this record does not restate it and does not rely on any third-party republication of it. Read the limit out of the code text itself, or ask the building official, before bidding a recover. THE PRACTICAL LIMIT IN KETCHUM COMES FROM THE COVERING RULES RATHER THAN A LAYER COUNT. The City's own R905.1.4 requires that "When a structure is being reroofed it is required to have a class A roof covering or assembly containing no wood products", and its R902.2 states that "Cedar shake and all wood based roof coverings are prohibited, even if such roof coverings are classified as a class C roof assembly." The City has also repealed the commercial code's wood shingle and wood shake sections in their entirety. A recover that leaves a wood covering in the assembly is therefore the wrong question to be asking here.

KETCHUM ADDS A DECK-LEVEL FIRE REQUIREMENT THAT MOST JURISDICTIONS DO NOT HAVE, AND IT BITES ON PROFILED COVERINGS. The City's added residential code section R902.2 provides: "For roof coverings where the profile allows a space between the roof covering and roof decking, the space at the eve ends shall be firestopped to preclude entry of flames or embers, or have on layer of seventy-two (72) pound (32.4 kg) mineral surfaced, nonperforated cap sheet complying with ASTM 3909 install over the combustible decking." That reaches tile, profiled metal and any covering that leaves a void at the eave. Two ways of satisfying it are given and either will do. THE VALLEY DETAIL IS ALSO LOCAL AND IS SPECIFIED IN FULL. R902.2.1, "Roof Valleys": "Where provided, valley flashings shall be not less than 0.019 inch (0.44 mm) (no. 26 galvanized sheet gage) corrosion resistant metal installed over a minimum thirty-six inch (36") wide (914 mm) underlayment consisting of one layer of seventy-two (72) pound (32.4 kg) mineral surfaced, nonperforated cap sheet complying with ASTM D 3909 running the full length of the valley." Gutters and downspouts must be noncombustible and must carry an approved means of preventing leaf and debris accumulation, under R902.2.3. WHAT IS NOT LOCAL. Ketchum's Title 15 was read in full and contains no amendment to the residential code's roof-ceiling construction chapter, which carries the roof sheathing thickness, span and fastening provisions. IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03 contains no amendment to that chapter either. Those base 2018 IRC requirements therefore apply here unmodified, along with the manufacturer's printed installation instructions, which the code makes binding. This record does not restate the code's numbers, which sit behind the code publisher's paywall.

KETCHUM IS ONE OF THE IDAHO RESORT CITIES THAT LEVIES ITS OWN SALES TAX ON TOP OF THE STATE RATE, AND THE FLAT 6% IS WRONG HERE. The state rate is 6.0%: Idaho Code 63-3619 imposes the state sales tax "at the rate of six percent (6%)". Idaho counties levy no sales tax, so there is no Blaine County add-on. But Idaho Code Title 50, Chapter 10 lets a small resort city levy a local-option tax, and Ketchum has done so. THE CITY'S OWN ORDINANCE, AND WHY IT REACHES A ROOFER. Ketchum Municipal Code section 3.12.030 provides: "A municipal sales tax is imposed upon each sale at retail within the City of Ketchum, Idaho, at the rate of two percent of the sales price of all property subject to taxation under Idaho Code section 63-3601 et seq., Idaho Sales Tax Act, including subsequent amendments, except on the sale of "groceries" ... and motor vehicles". The chapter's definition of "Retail sale or sale at retail" at 3.12.020 then says in terms: "All persons engaged in constructing, altering, repairing or improving real estate ... are consumers of the material used by them; all sales to or use by such persons of tangible personal property are taxable whether or not such persons intend resale of the improved property." So materials bought inside the city limits for a Ketchum roof carry the municipal tax as well as the state tax. A further one percent applies to hotel and motel room charges and another one percent to liquor by the drink; neither reaches roofing. CONFIRM THE CURRENT RATE WITH THE CITY BEFORE PRICING, BECAUSE THE CODE IS NOT SELF-EXPLANATORY ON IT. Section 3.12.030 states two percent, but section 3.12.040 records that the taxes run "for a duration of 15 years from the effective date hereof, which provides for the collection of local option taxes through December 31, 2027" and adds that "The duration for the imposition and collection to raise the current rates an additional one percent for five years from the effective date of January 1, 2019", and the same section 3.12.030 refers to a bracket system "for the collection of the three percent nonproperty tax" as well as one for the two percent tax. This record does not adjudicate which of the two rates is in force, on this or any other date. The Idaho State Tax Commission does not publish resort-city rates and directs enquirers to the city itself, giving Ketchum's number as 208-726-3841. Ring the City Clerk, who administers and collects the tax under section 3.12.070. HOW A ROOF IS TAXED IN IDAHO, 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 tax 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 does not charge sales tax to the customer. The Commission adds that if sales tax is charged on the bill, the customer can refuse to pay it.