City of Kuna - Building Department

City of Kuna, Idaho

city

751 W. 4th Street, Kuna, ID 83634

Required

Required

THERE IS NO REROOF FORM AND NO REROOF PERMIT TYPE, WHICH IS NOT THE SAME AS NO PERMIT. Kuna publishes a Residential Permit Application, a Residential Permit Modification Application, and separate electrical, mechanical, plumbing, demolition, fence and change-of-occupancy applications; none of them is roofing-specific. The Residential Permit Application asks for a Contractor License number, parcel, subdivision, lot and block, site address, applicant or contractor details and a project description, and its Select Project Type row offers New, Re-Model, Addition, Accessory Building, Cover, Garage, Foundation and Other. A reroof is described in the project description and filed under the type that fits it. SUBMITTAL AND FEES. Submittal is digital only, by e-mailing PDFs of the application and supporting documents to the Building Department. The residential submittal fee is $70 and residential structural plan review runs at $65 per hour with a one-hour minimum; the permit fee itself comes off a project-value table that starts at $65 for a project valued at $2,000 or less and adds $11.35 for each additional $1,000 up to $25,000. A building permit modification is $100. The City's fee schedule is adopted by council resolution, and Kuna City Code 4-1-3(B) requires plan review fees at submittal with permit fees due when the permit is picked up. INSPECTIONS. Inspection requests must be in before 4:00 p.m. to be scheduled for the next business day, and the City states there are no times or time frames given for inspections except for concrete. Requests go through the City's iWorQ online portal using a contractor access code issued by iWorQ, which is not the contractor's registration number. A complete set of approved plans must be onsite for every inspection, an adult 18 or older must be present for inspections inside occupied homes, and a failed or unready inspection draws a $65 re-inspection fee. Covering work before it is inspected carries its own $50 fine. TIMING AND ENFORCEMENT. Work must commence or resume within 180 days or the permit is invalid, though the building official may grant an extension before expiry, and permits must be picked up within 180 days of issuance or they are voided. Starting without a permit, occupying without an occupancy permit or continuing past a required inspection must stop on written notice under Kuna City Code 4-1-2, which sets civil penalties of $50, $100 and $150 for first, second and third violations, allows the City to suspend or revoke the permit or issue a stop work order, treats each day as a separate offense, and makes a continuing violation a misdemeanor. The City also bars construction during quiet hours, between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., and requires the site to be cleaned nightly.

LOCALLY ENACTED, AND IT ADOPTS THE STATE'S EDITION WITH NO LOCAL CHANGES. Kuna City Code 4-1-1-1(A) adopts five codes "as the official building codes of the City of Kuna", and the formula is the same for each. The residential one reads: "The International Residential Code, prepared by the International Code Council, Inc., as adopted by the Idaho building Code Board together with any amendments or revisions made by the Idaho Building Code Board through the negotiated rulemaking process, and accepted by the State of Idaho, is adopted with the following exceptions or amendments: None." The same sentence, ending in the same "None.", is used for the International Building Code, the International Energy Conservation Code, the International Mechanical Code and the International Fuel Gas Code. Kuna's adoption is expressly a moving one rather than a frozen edition: it takes whatever the Idaho Building Code Board has adopted "together with any amendments or revisions", so it tracks the State and does not stop at the date of the last City ordinance. The adopting history is Ord. 629, 3-10-2003; Ord. 691, 7-20-2004; Ord. 2006-105A, 9-4-2007; and Ord. No. 2013-24, section 1, 12-17-2013. The City Code as published is codified through Ordinance No. 2026-15, enacted May 19, 2026. Kuna City Code 4-1-1-1(B) adds that all buildings constructed in the city shall be constructed in compliance with the adopted building code. WHAT THAT EDITION IS TODAY. 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 the Board's own amendments; and 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, which are the energy, mechanical, fuel gas, plumbing and electrical parts, are not part of the Idaho residential code under Idaho Code 39-4109(1)(b); roofing sits in Part III and is included. The City's own permit applications and its Building Department page both say the same thing in the field, referring to "IRC/IBC 2018 regulations" for the 180-day permit expiry. 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 run ahead of the state. Idaho Code 39-4116(6) settles which edition governs a given job: "Permits shall be governed by the laws in effect at the time the permit application is received."

Required — IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03, the State of Idaho's complete list of amendments to the 2018 International Residential Code, read in full, does not touch Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies, and the City of Kuna touches it even less: Kuna City Code 4-1-1-1(A) adopts the International Residential Code as adopted by the Idaho Building Code Board "with the following exceptions or amendments: None.", and Kuna City Code Title 4, Building Regulations, read in full, contains no roofing provision. The base 2018 IRC drip-edge requirement for asphalt shingle roofs, Section R905.2.8.5, therefore applies unmodified. 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 Kuna. 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. Kuna City Code 4-1-1-1(A) adopts the International Residential Code as adopted by the Idaho Building Code Board "with the following exceptions or amendments: None.", and Kuna City Code Title 4, Building Regulations -- all five chapters, read in full -- contains no such reference either. 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.

Kuna sets no size, area, dollar or tear-off-versus-overlay threshold below which roofing work escapes a permit, and the City's code names the work itself. Kuna City Code 4-1-3(A) reads: "It shall be unlawful for any person to erect or alter any building or structure or reroof any building or structure within the corporate limits of the city without having applied for and obtained a permit to do so from the director or the city clerk." That sentence is unconditional. The whole of the exemption apparatus in the City's building title is Kuna City Code 4-1-5, headed EXEMPTIONS, which reads in its entirety: "Agricultural buildings, as defined by the International Building Code, are exempt from the building codes adopted herein but shall remain subject to placement requirements and permits established by zoning regulations." That exempts a class of building, not a class of work, and it matches Idaho Code 39-4116(5), which makes the agricultural exemption mandatory on every Idaho local government. No other exemption, threshold or minor-work carve-out appears anywhere in Kuna City Code Title 4, Building Regulations, which was read in full. The State of Idaho adds no roofing exemption either: its only two amendments to the adopted code's list of work exempt from permit change a dimension in item 7 and add flag poles. TWO CITY PAGES POINT THE OTHER WAY AND DO NOT OVERRIDE THE CODE. The City's Residential Building Information page lists as work requiring a permit "Improvements and additions to existing residences or accessory structures" without naming roofing, and the City's building FAQ answers the question "What requires a building permit and inspection in residential construction?" with a five-item list -- accessory buildings over 200 square feet, structural additions and alterations, window replacement, retaining walls over 4 feet, and manufactured home placement -- that also does not name roofing. Neither page says the list is exhaustive, and neither is the enacted ordinance. Do not rely on the hundred-square-foot roof repair figure that appears in Idaho state building code rules either. It sits inside the definition of "Minor Alteration", which that rule says "is used for the purpose of administering annual permits" -- a blanket permit the State issues to state agencies for work on buildings they already own or operate. It is not a permit exemption for a homeowner or a roofing contractor anywhere in Idaho.

Neither the State of Idaho nor the City of Kuna 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. Kuna's own adopting instrument is shorter still: Kuna City Code 4-1-1-1(A) adopts the International Residential Code as adopted by the Idaho Building Code Board "with the following exceptions or amendments: None." Kuna City Code Title 4, Building Regulations, was read in full -- Chapter 1 Building Codes, Chapter 2 Manufactured Home Parks with both of its articles, Chapter 3 Numbering Buildings, Chapter 4 Moving Buildings and Chapter 5 Flood Damage Prevention -- and contains no roofing provision of any kind. The base 2018 IRC provisions therefore apply unmodified. 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). Kuna has made no such amendment.

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. Kuna adds nothing: Kuna City Code 4-1-1-1(A) adopts the International Residential Code as adopted by the Idaho Building Code Board "with the following exceptions or amendments: None.", and Kuna City Code Title 4, Building Regulations, read in full, contains no sheathing, decking, fastening or structural roof provision at all. 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. One thing Kuna does not supply: because its adopted code amends nothing, the City makes no local entry in the residential code's Table R301.2(1), Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria, so the ground snow load and the other design figures a decking decision can turn on should be confirmed with the Building Department for the address before designing to a number.

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 Kuna 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 Ada 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.