Blackfoot’s Building Department issues building permits for property inside the city, and applications are made in the City’s OpenGov permit portal. Fees were reset by Resolution 437 on October 1, 2026: the permit fee comes from a valuation table (work valued at up to $2,000 pays $100), and plan review adds 15% for homes or 65% for commercial work. Electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits are not City permits; they come from the State.
What requires a building permit in Blackfoot?
The City’s portal lists a separate online application for each kind of building work. Blackfoot’s code adopts the building and residential codes in the edition the state has adopted, with one local exception: it leaves out the automatic sprinkler requirement for three-unit and four-unit residential buildings.
Building permit applications
- Residential Building Permit
- Commercial Building Permit
- Manufactured, modular or mobile home permit
- Swimming Pool Permit
- Solar Panel Permit
- Demolition Permit, required for every residential and commercial demolition
- Fence Permit / Acknowledgement
- Sign Permit
Other City applications in the portal
- Floodplain Development Permit
- Right-of-Way Permit
- Sidewalk, curb and gutter application
- Irrigation permit
- Water turn-on request
- Site Plan Meeting request
- Will-serve application for the Groveland Water and Sewer District
A manufactured home needs an installation permit before it is placed on a lot (City Code 10-2-3), and additions or alterations to one must meet the building code. The fee schedule also prices permits for retaining walls and for roof repairs that involve trusses or sheathing.
Who issues Blackfoot building permits?
The City of Blackfoot Building Department reviews plans and issues building permits inside the city limits. Planning & Zoning is a separate office at City Hall and handles zoning, subdivisions and other land use applications. Outside the limits, Bingham County Planning and Development is the building authority.
Blackfoot does not issue trade permits. Its permit page and each portal application send HVAC, electrical and plumbing work to the State of Idaho.
Short on time to read all of this?
Get a free quote →| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Building Department | 208-812-4198 |
| Planning & Zoning | 208-785-8600, ext. 1306 |
| City Hall | 157 N Broadway, Blackfoot, ID 83221; 208-785-8600 |
| City Hall hours | Monday to Thursday, 7:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m.; Friday, 8:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. |
| Apply | Blackfoot OpenGov permit portal |
| Trade permits | Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses |
Blackfoot permit portal and application types
Every application starts in the Blackfoot OpenGov portal, under the Building, Community Development, Public Works or Floodplain heading. Applications are reviewed in the order received, and an incomplete or inaccurate one is returned to the applicant for changes.
- Residential Building Permit — the application page carries the City’s Residential Plan Review Requirements.
- Commercial Building Permit — accepted only after a Site Plan Meeting. Attach either the Commercial Plan Review Checklist or, for work in an existing building, the Commercial Existing Building Remodel / Change of Use Submission Requirements.
- Manufactured/Modular/Mobile Home Permit — one application covers all three. A $20 zoning permit fee applies to manufactured and mobile homes.
- Swimming Pool Permit — needs a prefabricated or engineered pool design, cross sections, and plans for the fence or barrier (or the manufacturer’s specifications for a pool cover).
- Demolition Permit — needs a security plan and a safety plan. Asbestos test results are required for commercial jobs, multi-family buildings over 4 units and any structure built before 1975.
Site Plan Meetings are held as needed on Thursdays at 9:00 a.m. at City Hall. Upload the request, a project description, a scaled site plan and a basic floor plan at least 7 calendar days ahead. The first meeting is free; each later meeting for that project costs $200.
Building permit fees in Blackfoot
Blackfoot’s fees are in the City of Blackfoot Fee Schedule dated 10/01/2026, adopted by Resolution 437 on September 1, 2026 and in effect since October 1, 2026. Homes and commercial buildings use one valuation table; the plan review percentage is what differs.
Not sure this scope needs a permit?
Get a free quote →| Valuation | Permit fee |
|---|---|
| $0 to $2,000 | $100 |
| Over $2,000 to $25,000 | $69.25 for the first $2,000, plus $14 per additional $1,000 |
| Over $25,000 to $50,000 | $391.75 for the first $25,000, plus $10.10 per additional $1,000 |
| Over $50,000 to $100,000 | $643.75 for the first $50,000, plus $7 per additional $1,000 |
| Over $100,000 to $500,000 | $993.75 for the first $100,000, plus $5.60 per additional $1,000 |
| Over $500,000 to $1,000,000 | $3,233.75 for the first $500,000, plus $4.75 per additional $1,000 |
| Over $1,000,000 to $5,000,000 | $5,608.75 for the first $1,000,000, plus $3.65 per additional $1,000 |
| Over $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 | $20,208.75 for the first $5,000,000, plus $2.75 per additional $1,000 |
| Over $10,000,000 | $33,958.75 for the first $10,000,000, plus $2 per additional $1,000 |
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Plan review, residential (single family, duplex, townhome, manufactured home) | 15% of the building permit fee |
| Plan review, commercial (3 or more dwelling units, businesses, schools, churches, restaurants) | 65% of the building permit fee |
| Demolition permit | $70 |
| Retaining wall permit | $70 |
| Roof repair only (truss and/or sheathing) | $70 |
| Fence permit, when the fence is not exempt from the building code | $70 |
| Mobile home standard block set installation | $140 |
| Re-inspection | $47 per inspection |
| Additional plan review after revisions | $47 per review |
| Work without a permit | Double the permit fee |
| Permit reinstatement | Half the permit fee, within one year of expiry |
A $300,000 house, for example, has a permit fee of $993.75 plus 200 × $5.60, which is $2,113.75, and residential plan review adds $317.06.
Rather talk it over?
Call 1-855-478-4290 →New connections are charged separately under the utility section of that schedule: $2,536 for a 1-inch water service line connection and a $7,000 sewer availability fee per residential unit. The Fire Department charges $100 for construction plan review and inspection, $150 plus $2 per head for a sprinkler system and $100 plus $3 per device for a fire alarm system. Several identical commercial buildings submitted together for one parcel pay a single plan review fee.
Electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits in Blackfoot
Buy electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits from the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL), and book those inspections with the state. The City says so on its permit page, repeats it on the residential and pool applications, and the state’s permit map lists all three trades in Blackfoot as state-issued.
One thing can mislead: the City’s October 2026 fee schedule still prints rows of mechanical, electrical and plumbing permit fees, but the City portal has no application for any of them. Treat the state as the issuer.
The City does keep its own utility-side permits: a $40 sewer permit and inspection fee and a $40 irrigation or sprinkler permit and inspection fee. Only a City employee may turn on City water; use the Water Turn-On Request in the portal.
Plans and submission documents for Blackfoot
Plans must be drawn to scale. For a house the City asks for:
Residential plan set
- Site plan: property lines with lengths, distances from the structure to the lot line on all 4 sides, overhead utility lines, north arrow, adjacent streets, existing and proposed structures and the job address
- Footing and foundation plan: height, width, rebar schedule, anchor bolts, foundation straps, shear wall and concrete column details, with footings 30 inches deep
- Floor plans at ¼ inch to the foot: full dimensions, window and door sizes, braced wall lines and panels, beam, header and post sizes, room names, smoke detector locations, wall and ceiling heights
- Elevations: all four, showing foundation walls and footings below grade
- Framing: a wall section from roof to foundation, stud spacing, stair and rail dimensions, headers and beams, and the truss plan when engineered trusses are used
- Engineering for engineered floor joists and for irregular or non-prescriptive parts of the structure
Design criteria (2018 codes)
- 2018 IRC, IFGC and IMC
- Ground snow load: 50 psf
- Wind: exposure C, 90/105 mph 3-second gust
- Seismic design category D
- Frost depth: 30 inches
- Elevation: 4,488 feet
Rather not deal with the building department?
Get a free quote →The portal’s Building page also links the City’s 2026 Engineering Standards and Intermountain Gas’s meter location standards.
How to apply for a Blackfoot permit: 6 steps
Blackfoot permits only inside its limits; Bingham County handles the rest. In a new subdivision, building permits are issued only after the City has accepted the infrastructure and the final plat is recorded.
Request a Thursday meeting in the portal 7 days ahead. Commercial and larger multi-family demolitions need one too.
Pick the residential, commercial, manufactured home, pool, solar, demolition, fence or sign application.
Follow the plan review requirements on the application page so the file is not returned.
The City bills the valuation-table fee plus 15% or 65% plan review.
Buy electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits from DOPL, and ask the City for each building inspection at least 24 hours ahead.
Blackfoot inspections and permit closeout
Every City inspection has to be requested at least 24 hours in advance. A re-inspection fee of $47 is charged when an item needs more than 2 visits or the work is not ready at the time requested, and it must be paid before the re-inspection is scheduled.
Call 811 (DigLine) before any excavation. An expired permit can be reinstated within one year for half the original permit fee, but not when the property or the applicant has changed. In a subdivision the City’s own sequence is fixed: letter of acceptance, recorded final plat, building permits, building inspections, then certificates of occupancy.
Want this handled start to finish?
Get a free quote →Local Blackfoot permitting details to plan around
Demolition: the EPA must be notified 10 working days before any commercial demolition or the demolition of a multi-family building over 4 units. If work touches a City or State right-of-way, the Right-of-Way Permit has to be approved before the demolition permit.
Signs: the fee schedule charges $77.25 for a freestanding sign under 6 feet and for non-structural signs. Portable signs and signs in the Downtown Historic District need a permit but carry no fee.
Sidewalks: City Code makes the adjoining owner responsible for sidewalk repair, and the City runs a Sidewalk Repair/Replacement Grant to help with the cost.
Groveland: projects served by the Groveland Water and Sewer District file that district’s will-serve application through the City portal.
Idaho building code
Idaho’s building codes are set statewide and enforced by the cities and counties that run a building program: the 2018 International Building Code and the Idaho Residential Code (based on the 2018 IRC), the 2018 Idaho Energy Conservation Code, the 2023 National Electrical Code, and a state plumbing code based on the 2015 Uniform Plumbing Code rather than the International Plumbing Code. Idaho’s adopted codes
Official Blackfoot building permit resources
These are the primary sources behind this guide. Codes, fee schedules and procedures change — confirm the position for your filing date.
- Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses
- Blackfoot Planning & Zoning
- Blackfoot Permits & Applications
- Blackfoot OpenGov permit portal
- City of Blackfoot fee schedule page
- City of Blackfoot Fee Schedule, October 1, 2026 (Resolution 437)
- Blackfoot City Code
- Blackfoot Engineering Standards 2026
- Idaho DOPL permit map for electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits
Inspections are where schedules slip.
Get a free quote →Blackfoot building permit FAQs
How much is a building permit in Blackfoot?
Work valued at $2,000 or less is $100. Above that the fee follows the City’s table: a $300,000 house is $2,113.75, plus 15% ($317.06) for plan review. Commercial plan review is 65% of the permit fee.
Where do I apply for a Blackfoot building permit?
Online, in the City’s OpenGov permit portal. The Building Department’s number is 208-812-4198.
Does Blackfoot issue electrical and plumbing permits?
No. Electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits are issued by the State of Idaho through DOPL.
Do I need a permit for a fence in Blackfoot?
File the City’s Fence Permit / Acknowledgement in the portal. A fence that is not exempt from the building code pays a $70 permit fee.
Do I need a permit to demolish a building?
Yes. Blackfoot requires a demolition permit for every residential and commercial demolition; the fee is $70.
How much notice does an inspection need?
At least 24 hours.
What snow load and frost depth does Blackfoot use?
A 50 psf ground snow load and a 30-inch frost depth, with seismic design category D.
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More Idaho permitting guides
This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Blackfoot permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.