Residential Building Permit (New Construction) in Mountain Home, Idaho

Mountain Home requires a residential building permit (new construction) for: Building permit required for new single-family residential construction within Mountain Home city limits; Plans reviewed against the City-adopted ICC codes (2018 IBC/IRC/IECC, per Mountain Home City Code 5-1-1 and the Building Services Department's own confirmation of the 2018-cycle adoption effective December 31, 2020); Foundation footings must be at least two feet (2') below finish grade or natural ground surface, per City Code 5-1-6 (Frost Depth); Contractor registration number required, per City Code 5-1-11; Agricultural buildings are exempt from the adopted building codes but remain subject to zoning placement requirements; Apply via the OpenGov/ViewPoint Cloud portal (mountainhomeid.viewpointcloud.com) — 'Building Department-Applications and Permits' category. If your project isn't listed, confirm with City of Mountain Home Building Services Department (Building Services and Code Enforcement Services) at 208-580-2091 (fax 208-587-2171) before starting work.

Mountain Home does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact City of Mountain Home Building Services Department (Building Services and Code Enforcement Services) at 208-580-2091 (fax 208-587-2171) for current turnaround.

You'll need: Building Permit Application. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Mountain Home requires 3 inspection(s) for a residential building permit (new construction), in order: Footing/Foundation, Framing, Final / Certificate of Occupancy. Schedule each through City of Mountain Home Building Services Department (Building Services and Code Enforcement Services) (208-580-2091 (fax 208-587-2171)).

Applications are submitted through the City's OpenGov/ViewPoint Cloud online permit portal at mountainhomeid.viewpointcloud.com, under 'Building Department-Applications and Permits.'

Mountain Home, Idaho has adopted: Idaho Building Code Act (Idaho Code Title 39, Chapter 41) makes building code standards a matter of statewide concern; local governments that issue building permits and perform code enforcement must adopt the International Building Code and Idaho Residential Code (Parts I-III and IX) and the Idaho Energy Conservation Code as amended by the Idaho Building Code Board through negotiated rulemaking. Source: Idaho Legislature, Idaho Code Title 39 Chapter 41 (39-4116), https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title39/t39ch41/.; City of Mountain Home Code of Ordinances, Title 5, Chapter 1 ('Building Code'), Section 5-1-1 ('Adoption Of Building Codes'): the City adopts building codes published by the International Code Council, effective January 1, 2014, with current ICC editions becoming the City's building codes effective January 1 immediately following the edition's publication and adoption by the State of Idaho or the Idaho Building Code Board. As codified, this adopts the International Building Code (excluding the incorporated electrical, mechanical, fuel gas, plumbing, fire, and property maintenance codes, other than specifically referenced subjects) together with the incorporated International Residential Code, Parts I, II, III, IV and IX, and the International Energy Conservation Code. Agricultural buildings are exempt from the adopted building codes but remain subject to zoning placement requirements. Source: Mountain Home City Code 5-1-1, 'Adoption Of Building Codes' (codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/mountainhomeid/latest/mountainhome_id/0-0-0-1143), confirmed via targeted search-engine indexing of the codified section text (the amlegal.com viewer itself is a client-side-rendered React app that returns HTTP 200 but no static body text to either a plain fetch or a browser-header curl request; the codified text was independently corroborated through the search index rather than invented).; The City of Mountain Home's own Building Services department page states the City 'formally adopted the 2018 updates to the building codes,' effective for all permits drawn from the Building Department as of December 31, 2020 — i.e., the current enforced edition set is the 2018-cycle ICC codes (2018 IBC / 2018 IRC / 2018 IECC), consistent with the codified Section 5-1-1 mechanism under which the City's adopted edition automatically rolls forward to match the edition currently adopted by the State of Idaho / Idaho Building Code Board. Source: City of Mountain Home Building Services page (https://www.mountain-home.us/177/Building-Services).; Idaho adopted the 2018 IECC (with Idaho amendments) for residential construction and the 2021 IECC for commercial construction as the statewide energy code baseline, administered by the Idaho Division of Building Safety (DOPL); Mountain Home enforces the state-adopted IECC edition via the automatic-rollforward mechanism in its own Section 5-1-1. Source: Idaho Energy Code (idahoenergycode.com/current-energy-code) and UpCodes Idaho Energy Conservation Code (2020 Edition) viewer (up.codes/viewer/idaho/iecc-2018).; Mountain Home's own Building Services page states the department 'enforces current ICC Building and Fire Codes, plus state-regulated provisions for plumbing, electrical, and mechanical systems' — meaning the City does NOT self-administer electrical, plumbing, or mechanical trade permits; those trades are regulated and permitted through the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL) Building Safety Program (formerly Division of Building Safety), not through a City of Mountain Home trade-permit process. This is confirmed independently via web-indexed language stating 'The City of Mountain Home does not regulate these codes and is instead regulated by the State of Idaho's Division of Building Safety Department' for the electrical/plumbing/mechanical trades. This is the opposite pattern from Chubbuck and Twin Falls (which self-administer all trades) and differs from Rexburg (which self-administers M/E/P) — confirming Idaho cities vary and this file does not assume either pattern. Source: City of Mountain Home Building Services page (mountain-home.us/177/Building-Services); Idaho DOPL Plan Review and Permits page (https://dopl.idaho.gov/bld/bld-plan-review-and-permits/).; No City of Mountain Home source was found citing specific adopted editions of the National Electrical Code (NEC), Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC), International Mechanical Code (IMC), or International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC) as distinct city-enforced code editions — consistent with the City not self-administering those trades; Idaho's statewide DOPL-administered editions govern those trades directly rather than through a City of Mountain Home code-adoption ordinance. Left unspecified rather than invented — contact DOPL (208-334-3233) or the Building Services Department for the current statewide-adopted trade code editions.. Local amendments apply — see the Mountain Home overview page for the full list.

Two feet (2') below finish grade or the natural ground surface, per City Code 5-1-6 — all foundation footings must meet this minimum depth.