City of Rexburg, Idaho - Building Department

City of Rexburg, Idaho

city

35 N 1st East, Rexburg, ID 83440

Required

Required

THE 2018 EDITIONS, CODIFIED BY THE CITY ITSELF, WITH A FLOATING CLAUSE TO WHATEVER THE STATE CURRENTLY ADOPTS. Rexburg City Code Section 15.01.015 "Code Adoption" states that "the editions of the following recognized codes as currently adopted by the State of Idaho as the official building codes of the City of Rexburg" are, "The adopted versions of the foregoing codes shall be effective January 1, 2021," and "shall be deemed superseded by successive versions of such codes as they are adopted or approved by the State of Idaho effective on the 1st day of January the year following the date any such codes are made effective for the state, unless a different date is required by state statute." The list: 2018 International Building Code, 2018 International Existing Building Code, 2018 International Residential Code, 2017 Idaho State (Uniform) Plumbing Code or the Division of Building Safety's currently adopted edition, 2018 IECC, 2018 Idaho Fire Code including State Fire Marshal amendments, 2017 National Electrical Code or the Division's currently adopted edition, and 2018 International Mechanical Code or the Division's currently adopted edition. Section 15.01.010 is the underlying adoption clause (Ord. 1059, 2010, amended by Ord. 1174 on 1/17/2018 and Ord. 1240 on 12/16/2020). The floating electrical-code clause is visible on the ground: the City's own Codes & Standards web page, read the same day as this record, lists the 2023 National Electrical Code rather than the 2017 edition named in the codified text, which is exactly what the floating clause predicts once the state moves to a newer NEC edition. WHAT THE STATE REQUIRES AND WHY THE CITY CANNOT LAG IT ON ROOFING. IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03 (current rule) adopts "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 state amendment list, items a through q, read here in full: none of them touches Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies. Idaho Code 39-4116(2) requires a local government that issues building permits and performs code enforcement to adopt those codes by ordinance and bars it from adopting a later residential code edition the Idaho Building Code Board has not adopted. Roofing sits in Part III of the 2018 IRC. Idaho Code 39-4116(6): "Permits shall be governed by the laws in effect at the time the permit application is received." THE CITY'S OWN AMENDMENTS TO THE ADOPTED RESIDENTIAL CODE. Rexburg City Code Section 15.01.030 amends the 2018 IRC in respects covering the permit-exempt list (item 7, prefabricated pools; item 11, flag poles), floodplain and elevation provisions, fire-sprinkler exceptions, mechanical ventilation, footing and foundation reinforcement detailing, wall bracing, and a replacement climatic and geographic design table (Table R301.2(1)) set out under wind design criteria below. None of it touches Chapter 8 (Roof-Ceiling Construction) or Chapter 9 (Roof Assemblies). The whole of Title 15 (all ten chapters, Building Code through Commercial Building Design Standards) was searched for R908, R905, R803, reroof, roof covering, roof recover, sheathing and drip-edge language and returns no hits outside the climatic table.

Required — Rexburg City Code Chapter 15.1 was read in full and does not touch Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies; the word drip does not appear in the City's codified building amendments. IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03, the State of Idaho's own amendment list to the 2018 International Residential Code, items a through q, does not touch Chapter 9 either. The base 2018 International Residential Code drip-edge requirement for asphalt shingle roofs, Section R905.2.8.5, therefore applies unmodified in Rexburg. 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

Required — THE CITY ANSWERS THIS ITSELF, IN ITS OWN CODIFIED TABLE, AND THE ANSWER IS CITY-WIDE. Rexburg City Code Section 15.01.030 replaces Table R301.2(1) of the 2018 International Residential Code with the City's own single table, headed "TABLE R301.2(1) CLIMATIC AND GEOGRAPHIC DESIGN CRITERIA." Its row "Ice Barrier Underlayment Required" carries the value "Yes." That is a city-wide answer and it is not conditioned on elevation, on a map or on a snow zone. Because neither the City's amendments nor the State's touch Chapter 9, the ice barrier provisions of the adopted 2018 International Residential Code apply as written; confirm the required extent up the slope from the eave against that code and against the shingle manufacturer's printed instructions before ordering material. About ice & water barrier

Not required — REXBURG PUBLISHES ITS COMPLETE INSPECTION SEQUENCE AND THERE IS NO MID-ROOF STAGE IN IT. The City's Residential Building Permit Inspection Checklist was read in full. It runs, in order: Layout & Footing, Foundation, Plumbing Underground (and Radon, where applicable), Plumbing Water & Sewer, Sheeting (nail separation, prior to plumbing, electrical and mechanical), Plumbing Rough-in, HVAC Rough-in, Electrical Service, Electrical Rough-in, Framing ("made after roof, masonry, all framing, fire stopping, drafts topping, & bracing are in place. This includes house wrap"), Insulation, Drywall, Sidewalk, Electrical Final, Plumbing Final, HVAC Final, and Building Final ("made after all other finals have passed"). The roof covering itself is folded into the Framing stage rather than given a named "Roofing" line of its own, and no in-progress inspection of the roof covering -- a mid-roof or underlayment inspection of the kind some jurisdictions require between tear-off and completion -- appears anywhere in the published sequence.

Not required — No impact-resistance mandate applies in Rexburg. Rexburg City Code Chapter 15.1, Building Code, was read in full -- all of Sections 15.01.010 through 15.01.150 -- and the whole of Title 15 beyond it, and contains no reference to UL 2218, to a Class 4 or Class IV impact rating, or to FM 4473, and no amendment to Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies. The City's Residential Building Permit Inspection Checklist contains no such reference either. IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03, the State of Idaho's own amendment list to the 2018 International Residential Code, items a through q, read in full, contains none of them. So neither the City's nor the State's adopted code imposes an impact-resistant roof covering requirement. Do not confuse this with the fire and wind ratings that also appear in roofing work: an impact rating is UL 2218, a fire classification is Class A, B or C under ASTM E108 or UL 790, and a wind rating is ASTM D3161 or D7158. 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 CITY-STATED SIZE OR DOLLAR THRESHOLD FOR ROOFING. Rexburg City Code Section 15.01.030 amends the adopted 2018 International Residential Code's Section R105.2 "Work exempt from permit" in exactly two respects: item 7 under the "Building" subheading is replaced with a prefabricated-swimming-pool dimension, and item 11, "Flag poles," is added. Neither touches roofing, and no other part of the City's codified Title 15 exempts roof covering work from permit at any size or dollar figure. The base adopted code requires a permit for work of this kind under Section R105.1 and lists only its own narrow, named exemptions in R105.2; roofing is not among them. IDAPA 24.39.30 contains a "roof repairs involving installation of less than one hundred (100) square feet of new roof covering" phrase, but it sits inside the rule's definition of "Minor Alteration," which the rule itself says "is used for the purpose of administering annual permits" -- a blanket permit issued to state agencies for work on buildings they already own or operate. It is not a permit-exemption threshold for a homeowner or a roofing contractor in Rexburg or anywhere else in Idaho. WHAT IS NOT ESTABLISHED. Rexburg's building-permit application forms are served through the City's online forms portal rather than as static pages, and a specific published fee line or valuation figure for a reroof was not established here. Ask the Building Department what a reroof is valued at, and confirm the current fee, before quoting a permit cost.

THE CITY PUBLISHES ITS OWN WIND SPEED IN ITS OWN CODIFIED TABLE AND PRINTS NO BASIS FOR IT. Rexburg City Code Section 15.01.030 replaces Table R301.2(1) of the 2018 International Residential Code with a table of the City's own. Its row "Minimum Wind Design Speed" reads "90 mph." THE TABLE DOES NOT SAY WHETHER THAT IS A FASTEST-MILE, A NOMINAL THREE-SECOND-GUST OR AN ULTIMATE DESIGN SPEED, and those are different measurement bases for the same loading rather than different loadings. A design method, a shingle wind-rating listing or a product approval written for one basis gives the wrong answer if it is fed a number from another, so no basis is supplied here and no conversion is made. Ask the Building Official which basis the City plan-reviews to before selecting a wind-rated assembly or an enhanced fastening pattern. THE REST OF THE CITY'S REPLACEMENT TABLE, reported as printed: Ground Snow Load 50 lb; Topographic Effects No; Special Wind Region (Air Freezing Index) 2500; Windborne Debris Zone No; Seismic Design Category D-0; Subject to Damage From Weathering Severe; Frost Line Depth (final grade to bottom of footing minimum) 36 inches; Termite Slight to Moderate; Winter Design Temperature (Rexburg) -5 degrees Fahrenheit; Ice Barrier Underlayment Required Yes; a Flood Hazards row whose own heading text is garbled in the City's source document and reads "Adopted June 3, 1991" twice over, with a value of "NVG 1991 FIRM Map"; Air Freezing Index 2500 again, repeated from the special-wind-region row; and, separately, a "Minimum Roof Snow Load" of 35 #/sq.ft and a Mean Annual Temperature of 43.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Two different snow figures appear in the same table (Ground Snow Load 50 lb and Minimum Roof Snow Load 35 #/sq.ft), printed as the City's document has them and not reconciled here. Confirm every figure with the Building Official before designing to it. ONE STATE FACT THAT SITS BESIDE THIS AND IS A WIND FACT. IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03 deletes the model code's wind-borne debris opening-protection section statewide: "Section R301.2.1.2 Protection of Openings. Delete." That is an opening provision for windows and doors 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. Rexburg's own Section 15.01.030 separately deletes Section R301.2.1.2 as well, matching the state deletion.

NEITHER THE CITY NOR THE STATE OF IDAHO MODIFIES THE MODEL RULE. Rexburg City Code Chapter 15.1, Building Code -- all of Sections 15.01.010 through 15.01.150, and the whole of Title 15 beyond it -- was read in full and amends the adopted 2018 International Residential Code in the respects set out under adopted code above: the permit-exempt list, floodplain provisions, fire-sprinkler exceptions, mechanical ventilation, footing and foundation reinforcement, wall bracing, and the City's own climatic design table. None of it touches Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies, and the whole of Title 15 was searched for "R908," "reroof," "roof covering" and "roof recover" with no hits. IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03, the State of Idaho's own amendment list to the 2018 International Residential Code, items a through q, read in full, contains no Chapter 9 amendment either. So the base 2018 International Residential Code recover-versus-replacement rule applies here 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 roof covering is water soaked or has deteriorated to the point that it is not adequate as a base for additional roofing; where the existing roof covering is slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile; or where the existing roof 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 AMENDMENT WOULD BE UNUSUALLY VISIBLE IF ONE EXISTED. Idaho Code 39-4116(4)(d) lets a city 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). No such Rexburg amendment is published.

NO LOCAL ROOF-DECK RULE, BUT THE CITY'S OWN INSPECTION SEQUENCE CATCHES THE DECK EARLY. Rexburg City Code Chapter 15.1, read in full, contains no amendment to Chapter 8, Roof-Ceiling Construction, and none to Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies; the whole of Title 15, all ten chapters, contains no occurrence of the word sheathing at all. IDAPA 24.39.30.600.03, the State of Idaho's own amendment list, items a through q, leaves both chapters alone as well. So the base 2018 International Residential Code roof sheathing and decking requirements apply unmodified, along with the shingle manufacturer's printed installation instructions, which the code makes binding. THE CITY INSPECTS THE DECK AS ITS OWN STAGE, BEFORE THE TRADES GO IN. The City's Residential Building Permit Inspection Checklist, read in full -- Layout & Footing, Foundation, Plumbing Underground, Plumbing Water & Sewer, Sheeting, Plumbing Rough-in, HVAC Rough-in, Electrical Service, Electrical Rough-in, Framing, Insulation, Drywall, Sidewalk, and four Final inspections -- lists a "Sheeting" stage that reads in full: "will be inspected for nail separation. Prior to plumbing, electrical, & mechanical." That is the roof and wall sheathing stage, and it runs before the trades are inspected, ahead of the framing inspection that follows it. The checklist cites no code section number for this stage. WHAT DECIDES A DECK HERE IS SNOW, AND THE CITY PUBLISHES TWO DIFFERENT FIGURES FOR IT. The City's replacement Table R301.2(1) gives a "Ground Snow Load" of 50 lb and, separately, a "Minimum Roof Snow Load" of 35 #/sq.ft -- printed as two distinct rows, not reconciled with each other in the table. Confirm which figure the Building Official plan-reviews to, and the units, before re-decking or ordering trusses.

6.0% -- the Idaho state rate, with no local add-on in Rexburg. Idaho Code 63-3619 imposes the state sales tax "at the rate of six percent (6%)." Idaho's only local sales tax is the resort-city local-option tax, which Idaho Code 50-1044 confines to a resort city, and the Idaho State Tax Commission's own current list of cities that levy one -- twenty-two cities, last updated by the Commission January 13, 2026 -- does not include Rexburg. Idaho counties, including Madison County, 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, giving a worked example where a contractor pays the 6% to the material supplier and folds it into the bid rather than itemizing it. 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.