Commercial Building Permit (New Construction, Additions, Remodels & Tenant Improvements) in Wallace, Idaho

Wallace requires a commercial building permit (new construction, additions, remodels & tenant improvements) for: Building permit required prior to commencement of commercial new construction, additions, alterations, remodels, or tenant-improvement build-outs within city limits — Wallace City Code Chapter 153; Commercial and other non-residential occupancies are reviewed against the International Building Code, 2018 Edition, as adopted by the State Building Code Board — Wallace City Code § 153.001(A)(1) — rather than the 2020 State Residential Code track used for one- and two-family dwellings (§ 153.001(A)(2)); Wallace publishes no distinct commercial or tenant-improvement application, checklist, or fee schedule: the City's Building Permit Process and Procedures handout (adopted by City Council 11/12/2025) describes a single generic building-permit process — obtain the application from the City Clerk, submit a plot plan, truss plan, project valuation, and two complete sets of building plans, and pay fees when the building official signs off — with no commercial-specific branch or additional step called out anywhere in the handout; Idaho Code § 39-4117 requires the City to give a commercial applicant written notice of whether the application is complete within twenty (20) business days of receiving the original or any revised submission (versus ten (10) business days for a residential application); a completeness determination is not itself permit approval, only authorization to proceed into full plan review, and no further review-timeline commitment beyond this statutory completeness window is published for either track; Because the entire city lies within the Wallace Historic District, any exterior work on a commercial building — new construction, alteration, restoration, demolition, or an outdoor advertising sign — requires a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Planning & Zoning/Historic Preservation Commission first, per Wallace City Code § 155.075; the ordinance text applies to exterior work on 'any building or other structure' without a residential/commercial carve-out, so a new storefront sign needs the same Certificate as a home addition (see the historic-preservation-certificate-of-appropriateness permit type); Plan review and inspections are performed by the contracted City of Kellogg Building Official under the same interlocal Agreement to Provide Building Inspection Services used for residential permits; that agreement requires all building permit applications, plans, and fees to be submitted to Wallace (not to Kellogg directly), with Wallace then forwarding the application to Kellogg and remitting Kellogg 100% of plan-check fees and 75% of building-inspection fees collected — meaning Wallace's own fee schedule, not a Kellogg fee schedule, applies to a Wallace commercial applicant; Building permit and Building Department fees are set by resolution of the City Council rather than fixed in code text — Wallace City Code § 153.001(E) — and no such resolution with dollar figures has been adopted: a draft consolidated fee resolution (#2025-222) was still described as 'a very rough draft' needing Planning & Zoning review as of a September 2025 workshop, and has not appeared on a City Council agenda for adoption at any regular or special meeting since, through the August 12, 2026 meeting; Electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work is not issued or inspected by the City of Wallace — those permits are issued and inspected by the State of Idaho (Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses / Division of Building Safety, 1-800-955-3044, dbs.idaho.gov / dopl.idaho.gov), the same as for residential work; The Idaho State Fire Marshal's plan-review program is limited by its own published scope to state-owned and state-leased buildings; a privately owned commercial building in Wallace does not fall within that program based on the State Fire Marshal's own description of its plan-review scope; A fire official does participate in the City's building sign-off process in at least some cases: correspondence from a Wallace property owner in the City's November 2025 Council Packet describes a contractor being told he needed a 'fire marshal' signature on building plans (in that instance, over hillside road-access adequacy) before a permit would be issued. Neither the City of Wallace nor Silver Valley Fire Rescue — the Shoshone County fire protection district serving Wallace, formed in October 2025 by the merger of former Shoshone County Fire Districts 1 and 2 — publishes a plan-review process, timeline, or fee specific to commercial construction; confirm directly with the Building Official and with Silver Valley Fire Rescue (208-784-1188) before budgeting for this step. If your project isn't listed, confirm with City of Wallace — Planning & Zoning / Building Department (building official services contracted to the City of Kellogg) at (208) 752-1147 before starting work.

Not published. Building permit and Building Department fees are set by City Council resolution (Wallace City Code § 153.001(E)) rather than posted online, and a draft consolidated fee resolution has not been adopted as of the City's August 2026 Council meetings. Wallace collects the fees itself and remits a contracted share to the City of Kellogg for building-official services, so Kellogg's own (also unpublished) fees do not separately apply. Call City Hall, (208) 752-1147, for a current quote.

Wallace does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact City of Wallace — Planning & Zoning / Building Department (building official services contracted to the City of Kellogg) at (208) 752-1147 for current turnaround.

You'll need: Building Permit Application; Construction Drawings / Site Plan. Depending on your project, Wallace may also ask for: Certificate of Appropriateness (if exterior work); Building Permit Process and Procedures handout. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Apply through City of Wallace — Planning & Zoning / Building Department (building official services contracted to the City of Kellogg) at 703 Cedar Street, Wallace, ID 83873. Phone: (208) 752-1147, email: kristina.larson@wallace.id.gov. Office hours: Mon–Fri 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM (closed holidays). Official information: https://wallace.id.gov/departments/.

No. Wallace uses the same Building Permit, under the same Wallace City Code Chapter 153, for residential and commercial/TI construction alike — the difference is which adopted code governs the project (the 2020 State Residential Code for one- and two-family dwellings, the 2018 International Building Code for commercial and other non-residential occupancies) and the state's completeness-review clock (20 business days for commercial versus 10 for residential, under Idaho Code § 39-4117). No distinct commercial or TI application, fee schedule, or process is published by the City.

Yes, if it involves exterior work. Because the entire City of Wallace is a National Historic Landmark district, Wallace City Code § 155.075 requires a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Planning & Zoning/Historic Preservation Commission for exterior work on any building or structure — including a commercial storefront alteration, new commercial construction, or a new business sign — before the building permit can be issued. No commercial exemption from this requirement is published.

Not confirmed as a general rule. A fire official has been involved in at least one documented Wallace building-permit sign-off, but neither the City of Wallace nor Silver Valley Fire Rescue (the Shoshone County fire protection district serving Wallace since an October 2025 merger of the county's two former fire districts) publishes a plan-review process, timeline, or fee specific to commercial construction. Ask the Building Official or Silver Valley Fire Rescue (208-784-1188) directly.