Reference · Bonneville, Jefferson and Bingham counties
The agricultural exemption is narrower than almost everyone assumes, and as of January 2026 the office handling electrical and plumbing changed. Both are on this page, with the jurisdiction that applies to your parcel.
Mon–Fri 8am–5pm · Idaho Falls and the surrounding towns
Give the parcel address. The reply names the office that will review your plans.
Your mailing address is not what determines this. Where the parcel actually sits is. Rigby’s permits come from Jefferson County. Ammon and Shelley run their own departments. Whether your parcel sits inside city limits or in the unincorporated county changes the office, the code and the paperwork.
| Area | Office | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| City of Idaho Falls | Building Division, 380 Constitution Way | (208) 612-8270 |
| Unincorporated Bonneville County | Planning & Zoning, 605 N Capital Ave | (208) 524-7920 |
| Ammon | City Building Department | (208) 612-4024 |
| Rigby, Lewisville, Menan + unincorporated Jefferson County | Jefferson County P&Z & Building, 210 Courthouse Way Ste 170 | (208) 745-9220 |
| Shelley | City Building & Safety, 155 E Pine St | (208) 681-3391 |
| Blackfoot (city) | City Building Department | (208) 812-4198 |
| Unincorporated Bingham County | Planning & Development, 490 N Maple Ste A | (208) 782-3177 |
These numbers are the offices’ own. Call the one covering your parcel and confirm jurisdiction before design starts — a set of plans drawn to the wrong county’s criteria is a rework, not a revision.
Idaho Code §39-4105 exempts farm buildings from the state building code. That is the statute people mean when they say a pole barn “doesn’t need a permit.” It is real, and it is narrower than the shorthand suggests.
Bonneville County Code §156.040 sets the local terms. All of them apply at once:
And the part that catches people: a zoning permit and setbacks still apply. Bonneville zoning (§156.086) requires a permit for any structure valued at $100 or more when completed. No real building comes in under that.
The expensive mistake
The exemption exists because a hay shed is not a house. The moment someone sleeps in it, that reasoning stops applying and so does the exemption.
Converting an exempt building to living space later is not a paperwork formality. It requires a conversion permit, full compliance with current code, and an occupancy permit. Current code, not the code in force when the building went up.
In practice that means opening up finished work to prove what is behind it: egress, insulation, wiring, plumbing, fire separation. Every one of those is cheap to do first and expensive to retrofit.
If living space is anywhere in the plan — now or in five years — design to the residential path from the outset and permit it that way. Barndominium shells →
Changed recently
January 20, 2026
As of that date, Bonneville County took over electrical and plumbing permits from the State of Idaho. Those trades no longer file where they used to.
If your shop includes power — and most do — this affects who you file with and when. Confirm the current process with Planning & Zoning at (208) 524-7920 at the same time you sort out the building or zoning paperwork.
What each jurisdiction publishes for design. These are the figures your engineer needs before drawing anything.
Ordinance 2017-01 amends IRC Table 301.2(1) to a 30-inch frost depth and a −4°F winter design temperature.
This came from a scanned document. Confirm it with the county at (208) 745-9220 before relying on it for design.
Not available on any official source. Call (208) 524-7920 and ask which edition is in force before your engineer picks one.
Not published anywhere official. Any fee figure you find online for this county is somebody's recollection. Call (208) 524-7920.
None of these offices publish how long review takes. Rather than invent a figure, this page leaves it blank — put the question to the office directly when you submit.
Give the parcel address and you will know before you draw anything: the department that stamps it, and whether the ag exemption is even on the table for that use.