Canyon County, ID Accessory Structures: Tiny Homes (2026)

Canyon County Code § 06-01-11(2) adopts the 2018 International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings to also include Appendix R, 'Tiny Homes,' as part of the building code applied throughout unincorporated Canyon County. That means the county does not run a separate tiny-home ordinance; it reviews a tiny home's construction against the IRC's own Appendix R standard, the same way it reviews any other one- or two-family dwelling. Because a tiny home is a building or structure, it needs its own permit from the County Development Services Department under § 06-01-09(1) before it can be erected, altered or moved, and none of the narrow repair exemptions listed in § 06-01-09(3), which cover items like painting or shelving on an already-existing home, apply to new construction.

The mobile and manufactured home exception in § 06-01-09(2), which lets setup follow the manufacturer's installation manual instead of a permit review, applies only to factory-built mobile, manufactured and modular homes, not a site-built tiny home reviewed under Appendix R. Whoever builds it must hold a current Idaho contractor registration number under Idaho Code § 54-5204, and Health Department or Fire Protection District approval is required first wherever it applies. This building-code classification governs construction standards only; it applies exclusively in unincorporated Canyon County and does not reach a tiny home built inside Caldwell, Nampa or the county's other incorporated cities.