Unincorporated Nez Perce County building permits

Building department

Address

Courthouse, 3rd Floor, 1230 Main Street, Lewiston, ID 83501 (P.O. Box 896, Lewiston, ID 83501)

Phone

(208) 799-3089 (main); Building Services (208) 799-3197; Building Official Kile Allen (208) 799-3035

Email

chelsem@co.nezperce.id.us (Planner); kilea@co.nezperce.id.us (Building Official); TiffanyS@co.nezperce.id.us (Senior Customer Service Specialist)

Office hours

Monday-Thursday, 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM; Friday, 7:00 AM to Noon. Fax: 888-757-7326. Staff: Chelse Maughan (Planner), Kile Allen (Building Official), Tiffany Simmet (Senior Customer Service Specialist).

Website

Official site

Inspection guide

See how inspections work in Unincorporated Nez Perce 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.

• 2018 International Building Code (IBC), per Nez Perce County Planning and Building Department's Building Permits page — the county enforces the 2018 IBC as its building code standard.
• Nez Perce County's Land Development Code (zoning/subdivision provisions) is separately codified and available via Municode (library.municode.com/id/nez_perce_county); the Building Permits page itself does not separately enumerate IRC/IECC/IMC/IPC/NEC edition years beyond the IBC citation, unlike the City of Lewiston's dedicated Current Codes page, which lists each adopted code individually.

Permit types & fees

• Single Family Residence Building Permit

  Required for new single-family residence construction in unincorporated Nez Perce County, regulated under the county-adopted 2018 IBC. Building valuation for fee purposes is set at a minimum of $112.65 per square foot of Fixed Living Space, per the county's Residential Building Permit Fee Schedule (effective 10-1-2017).

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• Manufactured Home Permit

  Required for manufactured home placement in unincorporated Nez Perce County, whether in a manufactured home park or on a private lot. Fees are charged per home section and explicitly exclude electrical and plumbing work, which require separate permits.

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• Accessory Building Permit / Agricultural Siting Permit

  Nez Perce County distinguishes a general Accessory Building Permit from a separate Siting Permit specifically for agricultural buildings, per the county's Building Permits page permit-type list.

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• Solar PV Permit

  Nez Perce County has no dedicated solar/photovoltaic permit type or fee category — its Building Permits page lists only Accessory Building, Blasting, Commercial Building, Manufactured Home, Mechanical, Single Family Residence, and Siting (Agricultural) permits, and its Residential Building Permit Fee Schedule (effective 10-1-2017) has no 'solar' line item. A rooftop or ground-mounted PV installation is most likely processed as an Accessory Building Permit (structural/mounting work) using the fee schedule's per-square-foot categories, with the schedule's own fallback rule — 'the contract amount shall be used where it exceeds this table' — applying since no solar-specific rate exists. Electrical interconnection is expected to be handled by the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL), consistent with the statewide pattern documented elsewhere in this corpus for Idaho counties that have not separately adopted the NEC, though this was not explicitly confirmed on Nez Perce County's own site.

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• EV Charger / EVSE Permit

  Nez Perce County has no dedicated EV charger/EVSE permit and, more fundamentally, no county electrical permit type of any kind — its Building Permits page lists only Accessory Building, Blasting, Commercial Building, Manufactured Home, Mechanical, Single Family Residence, and Siting (Agricultural) permits. Electrical installation work statewide in Idaho, including EV charging equipment/circuit installation, is licensed and permitted through the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL) under the Rules of the Idaho Electrical Board (IDAPA 24.39.10), not through the county — this follows the same statewide DOPL pattern already documented elsewhere in this corpus for other Idaho counties (e.g., Gem, Jefferson, Latah, Minidoka), though it was not independently confirmed on Nez Perce County's own site specifically for EV chargers.

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