Coeur d'Alene, ID Accessory Structures: Tiny Homes (2026)

Section 15.08.005 A.2 adopts the 2018 International Residential Code, as adopted by the State of Idaho through the Idaho Building Code Board, with the exceptions and amendments the section lists. Near the end of that list the City Council states that appendices are not adopted except Appendix J Existing Buildings and Structures, Appendix K Sound Transmission and Appendix Q Tiny Houses. Appendix Q is therefore adopted by name. The word tiny appears nowhere else in the municipal code, so the code prints no separate tiny house size cap or zone table. The appendix text itself sits in the International Residential Code, which the city adopts by reference instead of reproducing.

Occupancy classes come from the amended Section R101.2. Detached one-and-two-family dwellings and townhouses are classified as an R-3 occupancy, and all garages, shops and accessory structures are classified as a U occupancy.

Permits still apply. Section 15.08.010 requires a separate building development permit for each building or structure before anyone places, sets, erects, constructs or moves it. The amended Section R106.1 calls for one paper set and one PDF of the plan set on approved electronic media, with the architectural construction documents prepared by an architect licensed in Idaho. Section 15.08.030 lets the building official waive the design professional stamp for a single-family residence not exceeding two stories in height and for an auxiliary building that fits the same exception.

Foundations follow the amended Section R403.1.4.1: footings extend below the frost line specified in table R301.2(1), with a minimum of twenty-four (24) inches from ground surface to the bottom of a footing. The city also deletes IRC Section R322 Flood-Resistant Construction and handles flood rules in chapter 15.32. Building permit fees are set by City Council resolution under 15.08.005 B.