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Residential Building Permit (New Dwelling / Addition / Remodel) in Melba, Idaho

Required for new single-family dwellings, residential additions/remodels, and detached structures within Melba city limits. Issued by the City of Melba's own Building Department under Melba City Code §9-2-1; the City contracts with outside inspection professionals to perform plan review and inspections, but the permit and its legal authority are the City's, not Canyon County's.

Reviewed 2026-07-08 · Source

When you need this permit

  • Building permit required before starting construction, per Melba City Code §9-2-1(A)
  • Two (2) plot plans drawn to scale showing proposed work
  • Two (2) complete sets of plans and specifications (one set is returned to applicant)
  • A copy of the full legal description (recorded) or Subdivision, Lot & Block of property
  • Contractor Registration Number required on the application Contractor
  • Zoning classification must be identified on the application
  • Mechanical permits are required separately through the City of Melba, with a copy of the Manual J calculation kept on site

Required documents

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Fee schedule

Building Permit FeeConfidence for this fee line is intentionally NOT verified — see confidence field below. Contact City Hall at (208) 495-2722 for the current Exhibit A valuation table. New chase 2026-07-23: re-read the live, Browser-rendered AmLegal ordinance text directly (the prior chase only had the static page shell) — §9-2-1(B) still reads only 'the building permit fee schedule is on file with the City as exhibit A and made a part hereof' (Ord. 147, 1-19-1994; amd. Ord. 258, 7-9-2018), no table included; checked the City's full Historical Documents/Development Services 'Documents & Permits' library (15 forms enumerated) — no fee-schedule PDF present; checked the complete City Council minutes archive 2017-2025, including the 7/9/2018 meeting that adopted Ord. 258 — the entire pre-August-2020 minutes host (gbm.wef.mybluehost.me) is now dead (404) with zero Wayback Machine captures for any of those files (confirmed via CDX API); found and chased a 2021 'Notice of Proposed Fee Increase' PDF via Wayback CDX search, but only the PDF-viewer wrapper page was ever archived, not the PDF itself (also dead on the live site). Gap remains unrecoverable short of a phone call to City Hall — not a live-source figure, so left unfilled rather than estimated.
Unpublished — the Building Permit Application itself leaves the "Permit Fee" line blank/hand-filled, and Melba City Code §9-2-1(B) states the fee schedule is on file with the City as Exhibit A. This Exhibit A fee schedule is not published on the City's website, its linked Google Drive document library, Municode/AmLegal codification, or in Wayback Machine snapshots of cityofmelba.org checked as of this verification.
Plan Review FeeNot found in any published source as of verification. New chase 2026-07-23: same unpublished Exhibit A document as the Building Permit Fee line above — the live ordinance text, City document library, and full 2017-2025 council-minutes archive were all re-checked (pre-2020 minutes host now entirely dead, no Wayback captures); still unrecoverable without a direct call to City Hall.
Unpublished — same as Building Permit Fee; line is blank on the City's own application form
Water Hookup FeePublished directly on the City of Melba Building Permit Application form (fixed amount, not valuation-based)
$1,800.00
Sewer Hookup FeePublished directly on the City of Melba Building Permit Application form (fixed amount, not valuation-based)
$4,500.00

Review timeline

Plan review
Not published — contact the department

How long did your Residential Building Permit (New Dwelling / Addition / Remodel) permit actually take in Melba?

Anonymous — one question, no email. Answers are combined and only shown once at least 5 people have reported.

Inspection process

  1. 1

    Footings

    Before concrete pour

  2. 2

    Floor Framing

  3. 3

    Shear 1 – Nailing

  4. 4

    Shear 2 – House Wrap, Windows, and Flashing

  5. 5

    Framing

  6. 6

    Insulation

  7. 7

    Final

See the full Melba inspection guide — scheduling & re-inspection fees →

Tips

  • Melba is NOT served by Canyon County's Development Services Department for building permits — Melba operates its own Building Department under City Code Title 9. Do not confuse this with unincorporated Canyon County's process.
  • Melba's own Planning & Zoning page states the City "contracts with outside planning, engineering, and building inspection professionals" — this means labor is outsourced to contracted individuals/firms, not that legal authority transfers to the County.
  • All inspections are completed after 5:00 PM or on weekends and require 24-48 hour notice — call the inspection contact listed on the current application (Chuck Pavelka, 208-249-4244, on the Building Permit Application; 208-724-0433 on the Mechanical Permit applications).
  • Water hookup ($1,800) and sewer hookup ($4,500) fees are fixed, published amounts — budget for these in addition to the (unpublished) building permit and plan review fees.
  • Mechanical permits are separate from the building permit and required directly through the City of Melba — bring or reference a Manual J calculation.
  • The exact building-permit valuation fee table (Exhibit A) is not published online; call City Hall to obtain current pricing before budgeting for a project.

Frequently asked questions

Melba requires a residential building permit (new dwelling / addition / remodel) for: Building permit required before starting construction, per Melba City Code §9-2-1(A); Two (2) plot plans drawn to scale showing proposed work; Two (2) complete sets of plans and specifications (one set is returned to applicant); A copy of the full legal description (recorded) or Subdivision, Lot & Block of property; Contractor Registration Number required on the application; Zoning classification must be identified on the application; Mechanical permits are required separately through the City of Melba, with a copy of the Manual J calculation kept on site. If your project isn't listed, confirm with City of Melba — Building Department (Development Services) at (208) 495-2722 before starting work.

The exact building permit fee is set by a fee schedule (Exhibit A) that is on file with the City under Melba City Code §9-2-1(B), but is not published online. The City's own Building Permit Application form leaves the Permit Fee and Plan Review Fee lines blank for staff to fill in. Water and sewer hookup fees are published and fixed at $1,800 and $4,500 respectively. Contact Melba City Hall at (208) 495-2722 for current permit and plan review pricing.

Melba does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact City of Melba — Building Department (Development Services) at (208) 495-2722 for current turnaround.

You'll need: Melba Building Permit Application; Plot Plans (2 copies, drawn to scale); Construction Plans and Specifications (2 complete sets); Legal Description or Subdivision/Lot/Block Documentation. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Per the City's current Building Permit Application, contact Chuck Pavelka at (208) 249-4244. Inspections are completed after 5:00 PM or on weekends, and 24-48 hours notice is required.

Apply through City of Melba — Building Department (Development Services) at 401 Carrie Rex Ave, PO Box 209, Melba, ID 83641. Phone: (208) 495-2722, email: cityclerk@cityofmelba.org. Office hours: Monday – Friday 8:00 AM – 12:00 Noon and 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM. Official information: https://cityofmelba.org/planning-zoning/.

Melba, Idaho has adopted: 2018 International Building Code (IBC), with Idaho amendments — Melba City Code §9-2-1 adopts "the International Building Code" by reference and binds the Building Department to it and State laws pertaining to buildings; Idaho Code §39-4116 requires local building-permit-issuing jurisdictions to enforce the edition currently adopted by the Idaho Building Code Board, which is the 2018 IBC (per DOPL's 2025 Updated Idaho Adopted Codes notice); 2018 International Residential Code (IRC), Parts I, II, III, and IX — Idaho Residential Code (2020 Edition amendments), statewide baseline applicable in Melba absent a more specific local amendment; 2018 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) — Idaho Energy Conservation Code (2020 Edition amendments); 2018 International Existing Building Code (IEBC); 2018 International Mechanical Code (IMC) and 2018 International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC) — statewide baseline; Melba additionally requires its own separate Mechanical Permit (with published flat fees) per city practice; 2017 Idaho State Plumbing Code (based on the 2015 Uniform Plumbing Code); 2023 National Electrical Code (NEC), with Idaho amendments; Melba City Code Title 9, Chapter 2 ("General Building Regulations"), §9-2-1 (Building Permits and Fees) and §9-2-2 (Fences). Local amendments apply — see the Melba overview page for the full list.

Melba has its own independent Building Department, codified at Melba City Code Title 9, Chapter 2, §9-2-1. The City contracts with outside inspection and engineering professionals to perform the work, but the permit itself, its fee, and its legal authority belong to the City of Melba — not Canyon County. Canyon County's Development Services Department handles building permits only for unincorporated Canyon County land outside Melba's city limits.

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