The City of Burley Building Department, at 2020 Parke Avenue, issues building, electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits for work inside the city, all through its iWorQ online portal. Fees come from the Master Fee Schedule the City Council adopted on June 2, 2026 (Resolution 11-26): building permits follow a valuation table, and each trade permit for a new home starts at $130.
What requires a building permit in Burley?
Burley’s Building Department page puts it bluntly: do not start any construction without consulting the Chief Building Official. The City keeps five online applications, and a project can need several of them at once.
Online permit applications
- Building permit — buildings and additions, priced on valuation
- Electrical permit
- Plumbing permit
- HVAC permit
- Right-of-way encroachment permit — work in a City street or right-of-way
Also priced in the fee schedule
- Sign permits, by sign area
- Fire sprinkler and fire alarm permits
- Water heater replacement, gas lines and lawn sprinklers
- Sewer and water service lines
- Manufactured or mobile home sewer and water connections
- Swimming pool, spa and hot tub electrical inspections
Who issues Burley building permits?
The Building Department handles permits and inspections within the City of Burley, and Gary Pawson is the Chief Building Official. Burley is one of the Idaho cities that runs its own trade programs: the state’s permit map sends electrical, plumbing and HVAC applicants with a Burley address to the City, not to the state portal.
Planning and Zoning is a separate City office that reviews plats, lot splits, variances and commercial development applications. Outside the city limits the county is the permitting authority. On the Cassia County side that is the county Zoning and Building Department in the courthouse at 1459 Overland Avenue; part of the Burley area lies in Minidoka County.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Department | City of Burley Building Department |
| Chief Building Official | Gary Pawson |
| Phone | 208-647-7086 |
| Address | 2020 Parke Avenue, Burley, ID 83318 |
| Apply | Burley iWorQ Citizen Portal |
| City Electric Department (new service) | 208-878-2538 |
Short on time to read all of this?
Get a free quote →Burley online applications
All five applications open from the Burley Citizen Portal on iWorQ, which is also where you search for an existing permit by number.
- Building Permit Application — have the documents ready to upload. The portal names scaled building plans, elevation, floor, foundation and cross-section plans, and a plot plan, and says required submittals vary by project. Every commercial project must show exiting clearly.
- Electrical, HVAC and Plumbing Permit Applications — each states that the applicant must hold a State of Idaho contractor licence.
- Right of Way Permit Application — a $100 application fee; a residential permit needs a $1,000 bond and $100,000 of insurance, and a commercial or rental permit a $20,000 bond and $1,000,000 of insurance.
Planning and Zoning posts its own PDF forms: commercial development with or without a plat, preliminary and final plat, lot split, lot line adjustment, variance and voluntary annexation.
Building permit costs and fees in Burley
The adopted schedule is Resolution No. 11-26, the Master Fee Schedule, passed June 2, 2026 after a public hearing that day. All Building Department fees are based on valuation. The resolution sets the residential valuation method at $200 plus $150 per square foot, garages and basements at $50 per square foot, and commercial and industrial work at actual valuation.
| Total valuation | Fee |
|---|---|
| $1 to $500 | $23.50 |
| $501 to $2,000 | $23.50 for the first $500, plus $3.05 for each additional $100 or fraction |
| $2,001 to $25,000 | $69.25 for the first $2,000, plus $14 for each additional $1,000 or fraction |
| $25,001 to $50,000 | $391.75 for the first $25,000, plus $10.10 for each additional $1,000 or fraction |
| $50,001 to $100,000 | $643.75 for the first $50,000, plus $7 for each additional $1,000 or fraction |
| $100,001 to $500,000 | $993.75 for the first $100,000, plus $5.60 for each additional $1,000 or fraction |
| $500,001 to $1,000,000 | $3,233.75 for the first $500,000, plus $4.75 for each additional $1,000 or fraction |
| $1,000,001 and up | $5,608.75 for the first $1,000,000, plus $3.65 for each additional $1,000 or fraction |
Not sure this scope needs a permit?
Get a free quote →On that table a valuation of $250,000 gives a fee of $993.75 plus 150 × $5.60, which is $1,833.75.
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Sign permit under 32 sq ft | $60 |
| Sign permit over 33 sq ft | $125 (over 200 sq ft: by value) |
| Re-inspection, or inspection outside business hours | $50 per hour, 2-hour minimum |
| Additional plan review after changes | $50 per hour, half-hour minimum |
| Fire Department plan review, home up to 1,500 sq ft | $75 |
| Fire Department plan review, home of 1,501–3,000 sq ft | $150 |
| Fire Department plan review, outbuilding | $75 |
| Water hookup, 1 inch, inside the city | $1,800 |
| Sewer connection and inspection, per equivalent dwelling unit | $3,750 |
Commercial fire plan review is based on project value. Where a sprinkler or alarm system is required it is $250 plus 0.0005 times the value, to a maximum of $1,500. For projects with neither, the City’s fee web page shows $150 plus 0.0003 times the value with a $525 maximum, while the adopted resolution prints the 0.0005 factor and $1,500 maximum for that case too; ask the Fire Department which it will bill.
Electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits in Burley
Burley issues and inspects all three trades itself. For a new single-family home the electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits share one scale by floor area:
Rather talk it over?
Call 1-855-478-4290 →| New single-family home | Fee per trade |
|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 sq ft | $130 |
| 1,501–2,500 sq ft | $195 |
| 2,501–3,500 sq ft | $260 |
| 3,501–4,500 sq ft | $325 |
| Duplex | $260 |
| Three or more units (contractors only) | $130 per building plus $65 per unit |
An electrical or HVAC permit for a home over 4,500 sq ft is $325 plus $65 for each additional 1,000 sq ft. Work in an existing home, a mobile or modular home or a detached shop starts at $65, plus $10 for each additional branch circuit or piece of HVAC equipment. Other flat fees: sewer line $38, water line $38 (both at one inspection, $65); water heater replacement, gas line, lawn sprinklers, kitchen range hood or bathroom exhaust fan $65 each; fire sprinkler permit $75; fire alarm permit $75. An electrical re-inspection is $150.
Commercial and industrial trade permits are priced on the cost of the system: 2% plus $60 up to $10,000; $260 plus 1% of the amount over $10,000 up to $100,000; and $1,160 plus 0.5% of the amount over $100,000.
Burley also owns its electric utility. Every service needs an outside disconnect and a ringless meter base, and new power is requested from the City Electric Department, which works out an Electric Tap Fee from the material cost of the design.
Application documents and plan review
The portal asks for the following with a building permit application, depending on the project:
- Scaled building plans
- Elevation, floor, foundation and cross-section plans
- A plot plan
- For commercial projects, plans with exiting clearly indicated
Plans for homes, duplexes, townhomes and outbuildings also go through Fire Department plan review, priced by floor area, and that fee has to be paid before the approval letter is issued. A structure over 56,000 cubic feet that needs a monitored alarm or sprinkler system pays a further $200 review and inspection fee, with the alarm and sprinkler plans sent to the Fire Department.
Rather not deal with the building department?
Get a free quote →For site and utility work, the City posts its Infrastructure Construction Drawings and a Sewer Tapping Standard Procedure (April 2021).
How to apply for a Burley permit: 6 steps
The City asks for this before any construction starts; call 208-647-7086.
Send the Electric Department the address, panel amperage, voltage and phase. Processing the request typically takes 2 to 4 weeks and the design and tap fee calculation 6 to 8 weeks.
Choose the building permit application and upload the scaled plans and plot plan.
Licensed contractors submit the electrical, plumbing and HVAC applications in the portal.
The permit fee follows the valuation table; fire plan review and utility connection fees are added where they apply.
Use the City’s Request Inspection page with the permit’s access code.
Burley inspections
Inspections are requested on the City’s Request Inspection page: search for the permit by number or address, enter its access code (the page can email it to you), then pick the date, morning or afternoon, and the inspection type. Because Burley inspects the trades itself, one list covers everything:
- Footings, foundation walls, framing and insulation
- Electrical: temporary, rough and final
- Plumbing: rough and final
- Mechanical: rough and final
- Fire sprinkler rough-in, fire alarm rough, and the Fire Department’s building CO final
- Final inspection
A separate “Off Over a Year” electrical inspection ($65) applies when power has been off at a property for more than a year.
Local Burley details
Meter location: a building with one or two ground-to-sky residential units must have the meter and outside disconnect within the front 10 feet of the structure, with no fence or enclosure blocking the utility’s access.
Want this handled start to finish?
Get a free quote →What the owner supplies for new power: trenching and excavation, the surveyor’s easement document, the concrete street light base, the ringless meter base and main breaker, the electrical permit and a qualified electrician. The City supplies wire, connections, the meter and the street light, and does not charge for its labor or trucks.
Out-of-city utilities: water hookups outside the city cost twice the in-city fee ($3,600 for a 1-inch service), and out-of-city water and wastewater service is billed at twice the in-city rate.
Zoning: Burley’s districts run from R-1 (single-family homes and duplexes) through R-4, C-1 to C-3 and a special S-1 district; the City posts its current zoning map and a March 2025 comprehensive plan.
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 Burley permitting 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
- Burley City Fees: fee tables by department
- Burley Building Department
- Burley iWorQ Citizen Portal (permit applications)
- Burley Resolution 11-26, Master Fee Schedule (June 2026)
- Burley Request Inspection page
- Burley electrical installation requirements
- Burley Planning and Zoning
- Burley infrastructure construction drawings
Inspections are where schedules slip.
Get a free quote →Burley building permit FAQs
How much is a building permit in Burley?
The fee comes from the valuation table in Resolution 11-26. A $250,000 valuation works out to $1,833.75; a $100,000 valuation is $993.75. Homes are valued by the square foot under the resolution.
Does Burley issue its own electrical and plumbing permits?
Yes. The City issues building, electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits inside the city limits, and applicants for the trade permits must hold a State of Idaho contractor licence.
Where do I apply?
Online, in the Burley Citizen Portal on iWorQ. The Building Department is at 2020 Parke Avenue, 208-647-7086.
How do I schedule an inspection in Burley?
Through the Request Inspection page on the City website, using the access code for your permit.
What does a trade permit cost for a new house?
$130 for each of the electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits on a home up to 1,500 sq ft, rising to $325 for 3,501 to 4,500 sq ft.
How much is a sign permit?
$60 for a sign under 32 sq ft and $125 above that; signs over 200 sq ft are priced by value.
How long does it take to get power to a new building?
The Electric Department says 2 to 4 weeks to process the request and 6 to 8 weeks for design and the tap fee calculation.
Simplify Burley permitting with Alliance Permitting
Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and submission company in Idaho. We prepare your paperwork, file it correctly and coordinate with the permitting authority through issuance. We are not a contractor and we do not perform licensed plan review or inspections; that work stays with your licensed team and the jurisdiction.
Ready to break ground in Burley sooner?
Let Alliance prepare, file, and track your Burley permits while your crew stays on the job.
More Idaho permitting guides
This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Burley permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.