Unincorporated Latah County building permits
VerifiedDepartment contacts, adopted codes, permit types, fees, and gotchas for Unincorporated Latah County, Idaho.
Last verified 2026-07-04 · Source · Embed this page’s badge · Version history
Building department
- Address
- 200 S Almon Street, Ste 102 (Annex Building), Moscow, ID 83843
- Phone
- (208) 883-7220
- PB@LatahCountyID.gov
- Office hours
- Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 5 PM. Per the Latah County government contact-directory API (api.latah.id.us/web/getcontact?dept=Planning%2C%20Building%20and%20GIS), fetched 2026-07-04, which returns this department's authoritative current name, address, phone, and hours record: {"Id":13,"Department":"Planning, Building and GIS","Phone":"(208) 883-7220","AddressLn1":"Latah County Planning & Building","AddressLn2":"200 S Almon Street, Ste 102","AddressCSZ":"Moscow, Idaho 83843","AddressRoom":"Annex Building","DeptHours":"Monday - Friday\r\n8 am - 5 pm"}. NOTE ON CORRECTION: a prior research pass on this file reported the address as '522 South Adams Street' and phone '(208) 882-8580' / '(208) 883-7220' (ambiguous, unreconciled) sourced from a City of Moscow homeowner's-guide directory listing; this pass queried the county's own live contact API directly and found the current authoritative record uses the Annex Building address above with phone (208) 883-7220 only. The email PB@LatahCountyID.gov is confirmed on the county's own Zoning Placement Permit application form (Application for Zoning Placement, revised 6/5/2026) and Building Permit Application Requirements handout.
- Website
- Official site
- Permit portal
- Apply online at Unincorporated Latah County's portal
Inspection guide
See how inspections work in Unincorporated Latah County — sequence, scheduling & re-inspection fees.
Codes adopted
Idaho adopts a statewide baseline building code set under the Idaho Building Code Act (Idaho Code Title 39, Chapter 41) and IDAPA rules administered by the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL). Effective January 1, 2021, the statewide baseline includes the 2018 International Building Code (IBC), 2020 Idaho Residential Code (based on the 2018 IRC Parts I–III and IX with Idaho amendments), 2020 Idaho Energy Conservation Code (based on the 2018 IECC with Idaho amendments), 2018 International Existing Building Code (IEBC), 2018 International Mechanical Code (IMC), 2018 International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC), and 2018 International Fire Code (IFC). The National Electrical Code is adopted separately by the Idaho Electrical Board (IDAPA 24.39.10), not bundled with the building code: Idaho enforces the 2023 NEC, effective July 1, 2024 (the state used the 2017 NEC with amendments before that and skipped the 2020 edition). Local jurisdictions must enforce the state baseline and may adopt amendments only where those amendments are at least as stringent as the state-adopted editions; local amendments may not be less restrictive. Enforcement is local — each city or county issues permits and performs inspections. Always confirm the current adopted edition and any local amendments with your specific jurisdiction before submitting plans.
- International Building Code, 2018 edition — Latah County Code of Ordinances, Title 7 'Building Regulations,' Chapter 1 'Building Codes and Regulations,' Section 7-1-2 'Codes Adopted,' subsection A.1. Adopted in accordance with Idaho Code Title 39 Chapter 41, Idaho Code Title 44 Chapters 21 and 22, and Idaho Administrative Procedures Act Section 24.39 (7.03). (Ord. 384, 12-14-2021; amd. Ord. 408, 6-24-2025). Source: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/latahcountyid/latest/latahcounty_id/0-0-0-1168, fetched 2026-07-04 via browser-header curl (amlegal.com returns 200 to a Chrome-UA request and embeds the full section text as JSON inside a `window._redux_state = JSON.parse(...)` script tag; the HTML field of the matching `sections.items` entry contains the verbatim ordinance text, extracted and parsed for this file).
- International Residential Code, 2018 edition, Parts I through VI — same source, subsection A.2, same ordinance history.
- International Mechanical Code, 2018 edition — same source, subsection A.3.
- International Fuel Gas Code, 2018 edition — same source, subsection A.4.
- International Energy Conservation Code, 2018 edition — same source, subsection A.5.
- International Existing Building Code, 2018 edition — same source, subsection A.6.
- International Property Maintenance Code, 2018 edition — same source, subsection A.7.
- Adopted appendices: IBC 2018 Appendices C (Group U Agricultural Buildings), E (Supplementary Accessibility Requirements), F (Rodent Proofing), G (Flood Resistant Construction), H (Signs), I (Patio Covers), J (Grading); IRC 2018 Appendices A, B, C, D, J, M, H (Patio Covers), Q (Tiny Houses), R (Light Straw-Clay Construction), S (Strawbale Construction); IEBC 2018 Appendices A-1, A-2, B, and Resource A — Section 7-1-2, subsections B, C, D.
- Idaho Building Code Act (Idaho Code Title 39, Chapter 41, Section 39-4116) makes building code standards a matter of statewide concern; local governments that issue building permits must adopt the IBC and Idaho Residential Code as amended by the Idaho Building Code Board. Source: https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title39/t39ch41/
- The Latah County Building Code (all codes adopted in Title 7, Chapter 1) is formally designated as such under Section 7-1-1 'Composition Of County Building Code' and applies to all structures and property in Latah County. Source: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/latahcountyid/latest/latahcounty_id/0-0-0-1167, fetched 2026-07-04.
Permit types & fees
Residential/General Building Permit
Required for new construction, additions, alterations, repairs, moves, or change of use of any structure in unincorporated Latah County regulated by the adopted 2018 IBC/IRC, via the county's single 'Building Permit Application' (Latah County Department of Planning & Building).
Mechanical Permit
Required for new, added, altered, repaired, moved, or removed mechanical/fuel-gas equipment in unincorporated Latah County, per Code of Latah County Section 7-1-4 (Amendments To Mechanical Code And Fuel Gas Code). Mechanical fees for new residences are bundled into the building permit fee; a separate mechanical permit is required for all other mechanical installations.
Zoning Placement Permit
Required under Code of Latah County Section 7-1-3(A) for most structures that are exempt from a building permit (agricultural exempt buildings and non-agricultural exempt buildings), to confirm zoning compliance before construction or placement, via the county's 'Application For Zoning Placement.'
Temporary RV Permit (Temporary Living Quarters)
Required under Code of Latah County Section 7-1-7 ('Permanent Living Quarters') to live in a camping trailer, RV (including park models), or similar unit on a property while a permanent residence is under construction, via the county's 'Temporary RV Permit' application.
Manufactured/Modular/Mobile Home Installation Permit
Required under Code of Latah County Section 7-1-5 for installation of any HUD-approved manufactured or modular home, or pre-HUD mobile home (built before June 15, 1976) with a valid rehabilitation certificate, in unincorporated Latah County.
Solar PV Permit
Latah County publishes a distinct per-square-foot valuation rate for 'solar panels' ($5.00/sq ft) in its Development Services Fee Schedule, Table 1-A, used to compute a standard valuation-based Building Permit fee for rooftop or larger ground-mounted PV installations. Separately, the Code of Latah County Section 7-1-3(A) unconditionally exempts small freestanding solar collectors (not exceeding 200 sq ft and no higher than 10 ft) from BOTH a building permit AND the Zoning Placement Permit that otherwise applies to most permit-exempt structures. Electrical interconnection is handled by the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL), not the county, consistent with the statewide Idaho pattern documented elsewhere in this corpus (Latah has adopted no electrical code of its own).
EV Charger / EVSE Permit
Unincorporated Latah County does not issue its own electrical permits — electrical inspection authority in unincorporated Latah County is held by the State of Idaho, administered by the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL, formerly the Division of Building Safety), confirmed by the DOPL statewide Inspector List with Schedules (Latah County ZIP codes assigned to state electrical inspector Sam Kasper). An EV charger/EVSE installation therefore requires a standard state Electrical Permit through DOPL, not a county permit. DOPL publishes no distinct EV charger/EVSE fee line; a residential EVSE circuit added to an existing home is billed under the homeowner (or contractor) electrical permit fee structure — a base fee plus a per-branch-circuit charge for existing-residence work.
New residential construction activity
New privately-owned residential construction onlyHousing units authorized by building permits for new privately-owned residential construction — this is not total permit volume (no commercial permits or remodels).
- Latest month (2026-05)
- 14units
14 buildings · $4.6M valuation
- Trailing 12 months
- 219units
12 of 12 months reported · #22 in Idaho coverage by units
- Year to date (2026 YTD through 2026-05)
- 62units
52 buildings · $20.9M valuation
- Full year 2025
- 240units
146 buildings · $62.8M valuation
County-wide figures: BPS reports county-wide totals; jurisdiction here is the unincorporated remainder — county totals include incorporated cities (Moscow, Genesee, Juliaetta, Kendrick, Bovill, Deary, Onaway, Potlatch, Troy). Unincorporated communities include Avon, Cedar Creek, Farmington, Harvard, Helmer, Howell, Joel, Princeton, and Viola.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey (BPS), 2026-05 vintage. Census survey data — separate from the permit-requirements verification above. All Idaho building activity
Tips & gotchas
- Latah County (the unincorporated county, via its Planning, Building and GIS Department, now at 200 S Almon Street, Ste 102, Annex Building, Moscow, ID 83843, phone (208) 883-7220) has its OWN SEPARATE building department from the City of Moscow (via its Building Safety Division) — properties inside Moscow city limits must use the City's department, while properties in the unincorporated county (or in communities such as Avon, Princeton, Viola, Harvard, Helmer, Howell, Joel, Farmington, Cedar Creek) must use the County's department. This file corrects a stale address ('522 South Adams Street') and an unreconciled phone number carried over from a prior research pass; the current figures were pulled directly from the county's own live contact-directory API (api.latah.id.us/web/getcontact) on 2026-07-04.
- Several OTHER incorporated cities within Latah County (e.g., Potlatch, Deary) separately publish their own building-permit pages, confirming Idaho's home-rule model allows multiple incorporated cities within a county to each self-administer permits independently of the county.
- Latah County has adopted the 2018-edition family of I-Codes (IBC, IRC, IMC, IFGC, IECC, IEBC, IPMC) — an older edition family than some neighboring jurisdictions in this corpus that have adopted 2021 editions.
- The codified ordinance (Section 7-1-11) does not itself state dollar fee amounts — it defers entirely to 'a separate resolution.' That resolution (County Development Services Fee Schedule, Resolution 2023-18, amended by Resolutions 2024-14, 2025-06, and 2025-10) was independently located via the county's own online document library/API (api.latah.id.us) and used as the source for every dollar figure in this file.
- amlegal.com (the code-library host for Latah County's ordinances) initially appears to return HTTP 403, but a browser-header curl request (Chrome User-Agent) succeeds with HTTP 200, and the full verbatim ordinance text is embedded as JSON inside a `window._redux_state = JSON.parse("...")` script tag in the HTML response — the rendered page body is populated client-side by a React/Redux SPA and is not present in a plain fetch. This same technique, applied to Latah County's specific TOC and section doc_ids, is what recovered the complete Title 7 Chapter 1 text for this file.
- The Latah County government website (latahcountyid.gov) populates its 'Codes, Applications, and Handouts' file-directory panels via a public JSON API at api.latah.id.us/web/getdirectorystructure and serves the underlying files via api.latah.id.us/web/DownloadFile — this was used to retrieve the county's actual fee-schedule PDF, building permit application/checklist, and per-permit-type application forms directly, bypassing the need for the JavaScript-rendered directory tree UI.
- No jurisdiction-published plan-review or permit-issuance turnaround time (business or calendar days) was found for any permit type as of 2026-07-04 across the codified ordinance, the Fee Schedule, or any application form — reviewTimelineDays is honestly null with a note rather than estimated for every permit type in this file.
- The University of Idaho webpages.uidaho.edu mirror of 'Ordinance #299 Latah County Building Code' (an older/superseded ordinance) returned HTTP 403 on direct fetch and was not needed once the amlegal.com browser-header-curl technique succeeded in recovering the CURRENT codified text (Ord. 384/408, current through Ord. 419, Feb 17, 2026) directly from the authoritative code-library source.
- Latah County's own Building Permit Full Checklist (fetched 2026-07-04) states Wind Speed as '115mph or design using 1609IBC or Chapter 26-30 ASCE 7' without separately citing the 90 mph IRC figure that appears in the codified Section 7-1-3(J) text — both figures are reported as each source states them, not reconciled into a single number.