Shoshone County, Idaho Building Permit Guide

Shoshone County Planning & Zoning Administration, at 700 Bank Street in Wallace, issues building permits and manufactured-home setting permits for land outside the county’s 7 cities. Under the fee schedule approved on March 24, 2026, a 2,000 sq ft house is valued at $140 per sq ft and pays a $2,001.75 permit fee plus a plan check fee that is typically 45% of it. Electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits are issued and inspected by the State of Idaho.

When does Shoshone County require a permit?

The County requires building permits for nearly all construction, additions, alterations, conversions and improvements of structures, and a setting permit for every manufactured or mobile home. Its fee schedule shows how far that reaches:

Exempt agricultural buildings still have to meet the County’s zoning placement and floodplain rules. Excavation, filling and clearing fall under the separate site disturbance code (County Code Title 9, Chapter 18), which sorts every proposal into low, medium or high risk and requires a permit for each.

Who issues Shoshone County building permits?

Planning & Zoning Administration covers building, planning and floodplain work for every part of the county outside city boundaries, including Kingston, Pinecreek, Elizabeth Park, Sunny Slopes, Silverton, Burke and Calder. The County’s building code (Title 7, Chapter 1) applies only to unincorporated areas.

The department has posted a notice that staffing vacancies may significantly delay application processing and response times.

Inside the 7 cities the County has no building jurisdiction, and it sends enquiries to each city hall:

• Kellogg (208-786-9131): the City’s own building department at City Hall, 1007 McKinley Avenue, open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It publishes building, re-roof and fence permit forms. Kellogg states that its Building Inspector also serves as Building Inspector for Shoshone County and for Pinehurst, Smelterville, Wardner, Osburn and Wallace. The application itself still goes to the office for the place where the land is.
• Osburn (208-752-0001): the City’s Planning and Zoning Department takes building permit applications in person at the Clerk’s Office and contracts with Kellogg’s Building Official for plan review and inspections; inspections are booked on 208-783-7751.
• Wallace (City Hall, 703 Cedar Street, 208-752-1147): the whole city is on the National Register of Historic Places, so exterior work first needs a Certificate of Appropriateness from the combined Planning & Zoning and Historic Preservation Commission; the building permit application then goes to the building inspector.
• Pinehurst (208-682-3721), Smelterville (208-786-3351) and Wardner (208-786-0118, an answering machine at a city hall that is not open on a regular basis): contact city hall first; Kellogg names its inspector as the building inspector for all 3.
• Mullan (208-744-1515): the County refers Mullan properties to the city, and neither publishes who reviews and inspects there, so start with Mullan city hall.

Shoshone County applications and how to file

There is no online portal. The County posts its applications as PDFs, and plan sets can be emailed to pz@co.shoshone.id.us or delivered to the Wallace office.

• Building Permit Application package: one form for new work, additions, alterations and repairs, re-roofs and siding. It asks for the square footage of the dwelling, post-frame building, wood garage and deck, the wastewater type (septic or sewer), the number of bedrooms and whether the site is in the floodplain. Valuation is entered by the applicant only on commercial jobs.
• Manufactured Home Application/Permit: for standard and permanent sets. Homes built before June 15, 1976 cannot be transported or set, and the County Code requires the Assessor’s confirmation that taxes on the home are paid.
• Contractors License Addendum: the County does not accept an application without a current Idaho contractor registration number or a signed declaration of exemption; owners working on their own property are exempt.
• Floodplain Development Permit and Elevation Certificate.
• Site disturbance application.

The application carries sign-off boxes for the agencies whose approval the project may need: Planning & Zoning, the Building Official, the fire district, wastewater (Panhandle Health District or the sewer district), the Institutional Controls Program and Public Works for the road approach. The County advises getting those approvals before you submit, to speed up processing.

Shoshone County permit fees and valuation

The Board of County Commissioners approved the current building permit fee schedule on March 24, 2026 (Resolution 2026-15). Residential fees work in 2 steps: the County sets a valuation from the square footage, then reads the permit fee from its valuation chart. The per-square-foot figures below are valuation factors, not fees.

Plan review is added on top. The schedule sets the plan check fee at 35% to 65% of the building permit fee and says it is typically 45%, adjustable by the building official or Planning Administrator. The County’s own example: 2,000 sq ft of dwelling space × $140 = $280,000 valuation, a permit fee of $2,001.75, plus a 45% plan check fee of $900.79, for a total of $2,902.54.

A $25 technology fee is added to permits over $150. Commercial and industrial projects are charged on the valuation approved by the Building Official. Other charges: $100 for a temporary Certificate of Occupancy, $75 per hour for changes to approved plans or plan re-review, $100 per hour for special inspections and re-inspections, $100 for each permit extension (3 at most), and 50% of the original fee to renew a permit that expired up to 6 months ago (the full fee after that). Work done with no valid permit can cost up to double the permit fee.

Electrical, plumbing, mechanical and septic permits

Shoshone County runs no trade program. Its application package states that electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits are issued and inspected by the State of Idaho, so each trade contractor or owner pulls those permits from the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (208-334-3233), separately from the county building permit. State trade inspections are booked by phone on 208-332-4700.

Septic permits come from Panhandle Health District, and the County will not issue a building permit until the application shows the required approvals from Panhandle Health and from any sewer or water district with jurisdiction. The fire protection district for the site also has to approve the proposal under the International Fire Code, which the Building Official does not administer.

Driveway approaches need the approval of the road agency for that road: County Public Works on the application form, or the highway district or Idaho Transportation Department where they have jurisdiction.

Application documents and plan review

Processing does not begin until the Planning office has all of the following:

• The completed building permit application, signed by one person who is responsible for the whole package.
• A site plan showing the property boundaries and dimensions, existing structures, drain fields, utilities and setbacks from every property line.
• 2 sets of plans; digital sets may be emailed.
• The building permit addendum and the signed, dated plan checklist, where they apply.
• A current Idaho contractor registration number or a signed declaration of exemption.

The square footage of the living space, garage and decks must be on the cover page of the plans, along with the codes and design criteria. Mirrored plans are refused, altered stock plans must be redrafted, and notes such as “see engineering” or “by others” are not accepted. Incomplete or unclear documents bring a correction letter and a resubmittal.

Engineering: stamped designs with calculations are required for, among others, structures over 2 stories, anything outside the prescriptive residential code, any alteration or addition to a manufactured home, retaining walls over 4 ft measured from the bottom of the footing, and every building site steeper than 15%, which needs an engineered foundation.

Design criteria: 2018 International Building Code, 2020 Idaho Residential Code and 2020 Idaho Energy Conservation Code; Seismic Design Category C; 30-inch minimum frost depth; 75 mph fastest-mile wind speed (90 mph, 3-second gust). Roof snow load depends on site elevation, which the department checks when it accepts the application:

How to apply for a Shoshone County permit: 6 steps

Inspections and permit completion in Shoshone County

County building inspections are requested by phone on 208-752-8891 or 208-786-4405. By signing the application the owner or agent gives the department permission to enter and inspect the property and the structures covered by the permit.

A re-inspection or special inspection is billed at $100 per hour with a $100 minimum, and County Code 7-1-9 applies the re-inspection fee to any inspection that has no fee of its own. Moving into a house before a temporary or regular Certificate of Occupancy carries a $100 penalty fee; a temporary Certificate of Occupancy, and each extension of one, costs $100.

Electrical, plumbing and mechanical inspections are carried out by state inspectors under the state permits, not by the County.

Local Shoshone County filing considerations

Site disturbance: a site disturbance permit costs $150 plus $65 per site visit without engineering review, or $200 plus the actual cost of the design professional’s review. High-risk proposals need plans by a design professional and may need a financial guarantee, and all projects follow Idaho’s best management practices for stormwater and erosion control.

Floodplain: any development in the Special Flood Hazard Area needs a Floodplain Development Permit: $100 plus $50 per site visit, $165 plus $50 per site visit with a community determination elevation certificate, or $200 plus actual review cost when an engineering or no-rise review is needed. The County adopted its current flood maps on September 26, 2008, and the Planning & Zoning Administrator is the Floodplain Administrator.

Mountain Overlay District: a $600 permit applies in the unincorporated area around Wallace.

Setbacks: in the residential zones the chart in the application package sets 25 ft front, 10 ft rear, 5 ft side and 10 ft street-side setbacks, measured from the property line, which is where the road right-of-way ends and not necessarily the edge of the road.

Existing violations: the County may refuse a permit application until any County Code violation on the same parcel is corrected.

Yard setback relief: an administrative exemption to yard setbacks costs $65 plus $50 per site visit; a variance with a public hearing is $500.

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 Shoshone County permitting resources

• Shoshone County Planning & Zoning Administration: applications and handouts
• Shoshone County building permit fees (Resolution 2026-15, March 24, 2026)
• Shoshone County Planning & Zoning fee schedule (Resolution 2026-15)
• Shoshone County building permit application package
• Shoshone County manufactured home application
• Shoshone County roof snow load requirements
• Shoshone County floodplain information
• Shoshone County Code Title 7, Building Regulations
• Shoshone County documents and forms
• Panhandle Health District septic permits and records
• City of Kellogg building department
• City of Osburn Planning and Zoning
• City of Wallace departments: Planning & Zoning and historic preservation
• Idaho DOPL building program
• Idaho DOPL HVAC permit questions
• Idaho DOPL building questions

Shoshone County building permit FAQs

Who issues building permits in Shoshone County?

Outside the cities, Shoshone County Planning & Zoning Administration at 700 Bank Street, Suite 25, Wallace (208-752-8891). Kellogg, Wallace, Osburn, Pinehurst, Smelterville, Wardner and Mullan handle property inside their own limits.

How much is a building permit for a house in Shoshone County?

The County values dwelling space at $140 per sq ft and reads the fee from its valuation chart. Its own example for 2,000 sq ft is a $2,001.75 permit fee plus a $900.79 plan check fee (45%), $2,902.54 in total, before the $25 technology fee and state trade permits.

Do I need a permit for an agricultural building?

Yes, an Agricultural Exemption Permit ($70). The building is exempt from the building code, plan review fee and inspections only if the Assessor classes the land under an agricultural exemption, and zoning and floodplain rules still apply.

Is a permit needed for a new roof or new windows in Shoshone County?

Both are on the fee schedule: a re-roof is valued at $315 per square and charged from the valuation chart, and residential window replacement is a $52.50 flat fee.

What snow load do I design for?

It depends on elevation: 40 psf up to 2,349 ft, 60 psf to 3,000 ft, 80 psf to 3,799 ft, 100 psf up to 4,500 ft and 120 psf from 4,500 ft up.

Who issues trade permits in Shoshone County?

The State of Idaho issues and inspects all 3 in Shoshone County. Septic permits come from Panhandle Health District.

Can I email my plans?

Yes. The County accepts digital plan sets at pz@co.shoshone.id.us in place of the 2 paper sets.

Simplify Shoshone County 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.

This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Shoshone County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.