The Gooding County Building Department at 714 Main Street in Gooding takes every building permit application online through the County’s OpenGov portal, and the same portal carries the applications for the City of Gooding and the City of Wendell. The County says most applications are decided in a couple of weeks, although its zoning ordinance allows 60 days, and since January 1, 2026 each failed inspection costs $65. Electrical, plumbing, gas and mechanical permits come from the state.
What needs a building permit in Gooding County?
The County’s residential handout puts it broadly: a permit is required any time a building or structure is erected, constructed, remodeled, enlarged, altered, repaired, moved or converted. That includes work many owners think of as non-structural, such as moving or putting up non-bearing walls. Work started without a permit is red tagged and can lead to a fine.
Permit required
- New homes, additions and remodels
- Moving or building interior walls, bearing or not
- Enlarging or reducing a window or door opening
- Removing or replacing sheathing or structural members
- Shops, pole buildings, sheds and decks above the exempt sizes
- Fences over 7 ft
- Manufactured homes, solar, signs and towers
- Commercial buildings
Exempt on the County handout
- Painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets and counter tops
- Swings and playground equipment
- Sidewalks and driveways
- Fences not over 7 ft high
- Retaining walls not over 4 ft, unless supporting a surcharge
- Like-for-like window and door replacement
- New roofing or re-roofing, new siding or re-siding, with no structural change
- One-story detached accessory structures up to 200 sq ft
- Detached decks up to 200 sq ft, not more than 30 inches above grade and not serving the required exit door
Agricultural buildings are exempt from the building codes under County Ordinance 91, but the County still issues a permit for farm buildings to check road setbacks and utility easements. The portal has an AG Permit application for it, and the Planning and Zoning fee list prices an Agriculture Siting Permit at $200.
Who issues building permits in Gooding County?
The Building Department shares an office and a phone number with Planning and Zoning. A County Building Inspector reviews plans and inspects the work, and a Permit Technician handles applications.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Department | Gooding County Building Department |
| Address | 714 Main Street, Gooding, ID 83330 (mail: P.O. Box 417) |
| Phone | 208-934-5958; Building Inspector ext. 1204, Permit Technician ext. 1205 |
| Hours | Monday to Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. |
| Apply | County OpenGov portal (goodingcountyid.portal.opengov.com) |
Short on time to read all of this?
Get a free quote →Gooding County has four incorporated cities. Two of them send their building permits through the County.
| City | Who issues building permits |
|---|---|
| Gooding | The County Building Department, through the City Of Gooding section of the County portal. The City’s building permit page links to the portal and gives the County Building Inspector’s number, 208-934-5958. City Hall is at 308 5th Avenue West (208-934-5669). |
| Wendell | The County Building Department, through the City Of Wendell section of the portal; the City’s Building/Sign/Solar Permits link goes there. City Hall is at 375 1st Avenue East (208-536-5161). |
| Hagerman | The City of Hagerman, on its own Building Permit application, which carries the City’s permit fee, plan check fee and Building Official sign-off. City Hall is at 191 State Street North (208-837-6636). |
| Bliss | The published sources do not say. Bliss has no section in the County portal, so ask the County Building Department on 208-934-5958 before you apply. |
Gooding County permit applications in OpenGov
The Building Department went fully electronic: there is no paper application, and correspondence, fees and inspection times all sit inside your OpenGov record. Pick the application that matches the project, because the County splits its forms by whether the building has a bathroom, which decides whether a septic approval is needed.
- Residential Building Permit Application: a new home. It is not used for manufactured homes or commercial buildings.
- Residential addition and remodel/alteration, each in a with-bathroom and a no-bathroom version.
- Residential Accessory Dwelling/Building.
- Shop and metal or lumber pole building, each with or without a bathroom.
- Shed, patio, concrete building, Quonset hut, barn, deck or fence over 7 ft.
- Manufactured Home Permit, Solar Permit Application and Signs.
- Commercial Building Application, with a separate no-bathroom version, and Telecommunication Tower/Antenna.
- New address or address change request, under Planning and Zoning.
Property inside Gooding or Wendell uses the matching application in that city’s own section of the portal. Gooding’s section also has a Fence Permit, which the City prices at $30.
Not sure this scope needs a permit?
Get a free quote →Gooding County permit fees
Ordinance 91 leaves building permit, plan review and re-inspection fees to a resolution of the Board of County Commissioners, and the County does not post that building fee table on its website. The fee for a specific project is calculated inside the OpenGov application and paid there. The figures the County does publish are below.
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Re-inspection after a failed building inspection (from January 1, 2026) | $65, paid before the new inspection is scheduled |
| Demolition Permit | $100 |
| Agriculture Siting Permit | $200 |
| Certificate of Zoning Compliance | $100 |
| Special Use Permit | $300 |
| Variance | $300 |
| Minor Land Division | $250 |
The planning figures come from the County’s Planning and Zoning fee list adopted by Resolution 2021-03-08. Revising the site plan or building plans after the permit is issued can bring additional plan review fees. The City of Gooding’s fee schedule says building permit and inspection fees inside the city are set by code.
Electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits in Gooding County
The County handout is direct about this: electrical, gas, mechanical and plumbing are separate permits issued through the state, and the inspections are done by state inspectors. In practice that is the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses. The County building inspector does not sign off framing until the rough mechanical, electrical and plumbing have passed, and the final inspection needs the final plumbing, electrical and mechanical signed off.
The fire district that covers the parcel reviews the plans inside OpenGov before the building permit is issued.
Plans and documents for a Gooding County application
Everything is uploaded as PDF. Photographs of plans are not accepted; if you only have paper, the Planning and Zoning office will scan the plans for you.
Rather talk it over?
Call 1-855-478-4290 →Site plan
- Drawn to scale, with the grid or legal address and a north arrow
- All property lines, lot dimensions and survey corner stakes
- Easements, rights-of-way, well and septic locations
- Existing buildings and the distances between buildings and property lines
- The new construction, with dimensions and the front setback from the property line
- Surface drainage away from the structure
- Driveway location, length, width and surface
Building plans
- One set at 1/4 inch to 1 ft, or computer-drawn at not less than 1/8 inch to 1 ft, with numbered pages
- Footing and foundation plan with steel reinforcement
- Floor plan with room uses, doors, windows and headers, stairs and heating appliance location
- Egress windows, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and basement window wells
- Attic and crawl space access
- Square footage summary by type of space
- Exterior elevations with finishes
- Existing and proposed floor plans for a remodel or addition
You may draw your own plans for a house. An architect or engineer is only required when the building is more than two stories high, has walls taller than 12 ft, is of unusual design, or sits on ground that needs structural engineering.
The site plan used for the building permit must be the same one South Central Public Health District stamped for the septic permit. A new home within 1,320 ft of a confined animal feeding operation needs a signed waiver from the operation’s owner, and staff work that out with you during the application.
How to apply in Gooding County: 6 steps
Unincorporated parcels use Gooding County Building Department; lots in Gooding or Wendell use that city’s section. Hagerman lots go to Hagerman City Hall.
Apply to South Central Public Health District for the septic permit, and to the highway district if the parcel needs a new entrance from a public road.
Scan or export the site plan and building plans, or have the County office scan them.
Choose the application by building type and by whether it has a bathroom, then upload the plans.
The fire district, highway district and health district add their approvals in the same record, and County correspondence arrives there.
Pay the fees in the portal. The application stays active for inspection requests until the Certificate of Occupancy is issued.
Rather not deal with the Gooding County building department?
Get a free quote →Gooding County inspections
Each inspection is requested inside the OpenGov record for the permit, and the appointment time comes back through the portal. The Building Inspector works Monday to Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and a request made after 8:00 a.m. is moved to the following business day. Keep the permit, the inspection card and the red-stamped approved plans on site.
| Inspection | What has to be ready |
|---|---|
| Setback and footing | Footing laid out with rebar, the Ufer ground and blocks for underground utilities; setbacks are measured from the footing |
| Foundation walls | Stem walls formed, with vertical and horizontal rebar tied |
| Sheathing | Shear walls, portal framing and roof nailed and blocked, before any paper goes on |
| Framing | Rough mechanical, electrical and plumbing passed, penetrations filled, and the roof truss submittal on site |
| Insulation | Insulation in the walls with its R-value identifiable, before sheetrock |
| Sheetrock | Board hung with screws and grade stamps still visible |
| Final | Address numbers posted, life safety items installed, trade finals signed off, health district sign-off on a septic system, and site drainage in place |
A failed inspection costs $65 before it can be rebooked. The Certificate of Occupancy is issued once every inspection has passed, and the building may not be used before then. In a rural location the final also needs an address pole with reflective numbers near the driveway entrance.
Local Gooding County details that matter
Septic: South Central Public Health District issues septic permits and loads the permit or inspection report directly into your online building permit. The approval is only needed for a building with a bathroom. Its Gooding office is at 255 North Canyon Drive (208-934-4477).
Highway districts: access from a public road is the local highway district’s business. A new entrance into a parcel needs that district’s permit for the access location; where an entrance already exists, the district approves the plans inside OpenGov.
Canals and water: if an irrigation ditch, pond, spring, creek or river is on or beside the parcel, the County tells applicants to contact the canal company or the Idaho Department of Water Resources before applying.
Want this handled start to finish?
Get a free quote →Dairies and feedlots: confined animal feeding operations are regulated under County CAFO Ordinance No. 90, and Planning and Zoning has a CAFO distance and waiver inquiry in the portal.
Zoning and floodplain: Planning and Zoning administers Zoning Ordinance 104 and Floodplain Ordinance 108, with separate zoning maps for the Gooding, Wendell, Hagerman, Clear Lakes and Bliss-to-Tuttle areas.
Wendell sidewalks: under Wendell Ordinance 293, no building permit for a residential or business building is issued in the city unless the application describes the plans for curbs, gutters and sidewalks.
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 Gooding County permitting resources
These are the primary sources behind this guide. Codes, fee schedules and procedures change — confirm the position for your filing date.
- Idaho DOPL trade permits
- Idaho DOPL building codes
- Gooding County OpenGov permit portal
- Gooding County residential building guidance
- Gooding County Planning and Zoning
- Gooding County Building Department
- Idaho DOPL building FAQ
- Gooding County: I Have My Building Permit, What’s Next
- Gooding County Planning and Zoning fees (Resolution 2021-03-08)
- Gooding County Ordinance No. 91 (building codes)
- City of Gooding building permit page
- City of Wendell forms and permits
- City of Hagerman forms and permits
- South Central Public Health District offices
Inspections are where schedules slip.
Get a free quote →Gooding County building permit FAQs
How do I apply for a building permit in Gooding County?
Online, through the County’s OpenGov portal. The Building Department no longer takes paper applications, and plans are uploaded as PDFs.
Who issues building permits in the City of Gooding and in Wendell?
The Gooding County Building Department, through each city’s own section of the County portal.
Who issues building permits in Hagerman?
The City of Hagerman, on its own application filed at City Hall, 191 State Street North.
How long does a Gooding County building permit take?
The County says it usually decides in a couple of weeks. Zoning Ordinance 104 gives the department up to 60 days.
Do I need a permit for a shed or a fence in Gooding County?
Not for a one-story detached accessory structure of 200 sq ft or less, or a fence not over 7 ft high.
Do I need a permit to re-roof or re-side?
No, as long as nothing structural changes. Replacing sheathing or structural members needs a permit.
What does a failed inspection cost?
$65 since January 1, 2026, paid before a new inspection can be scheduled.
Who issues septic permits in Gooding County?
South Central Public Health District, which uploads the septic permit into the building permit record.
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More Idaho permitting guides
This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Gooding County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.