Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding single stairway building exceptions.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 706 BY BUSINESS COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO THE IDAHO BUILDING CODE ACT; AMENDING CHAPTER 41, TITLE 39,2 IDAHO CODE, BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 39-4109C, IDAHO CODE, TO3 ESTABLISH PROVISIONS AUTHORIZING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO ALLOW FOR SINGLE4 STAIRWAYS IN CERTAIN APARTMENT BUILDINGS; AMENDING SECTION 39-4116,5 IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE A PROVISION REGARDING LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADOPTION6 AND ENFORCEMENT OF BUILDING CODES; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PRO-7 VIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.8

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:9

SECTION 1. That Chapter 41, Title 39, Idaho Code, be, and the same is10 hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and des-11 ignated as Section 39-4109C, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:12 39-4109C. SINGLE STAIRWAY BUILDING EXCEPTIONS. (1) Notwithstanding a13 local government's adoption of the International Building Code or any other14 provision of law to the contrary, local governments may allow residential15 group R-2 apartment buildings to be served by one (1) single stairway under16 the following conditions:17 (a) The building has no more than six (6) stories above grade plane18 without an occupiable roof, or has no more than five (5) stories above19 grade plane with an occupiable roof and no more than one (1) basement20 level;21 (b) The building has no more than four (4) dwelling units on any floor22 with a maximum gross floor area not exceeding six thousand (6,000)23 square feet for each story;24 (c) The building is of type I, II, III, IV, or V construction;25 (d) An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided throughout the26 building in accordance with section 903.3.1.1 of the national fire pro-27 tection association's standard, NFPA 13;28 (e) An interior stairway is provided and doors in the stairway swing29 into the interior stairway regardless of the occupant load served, pro-30 vided that doors from the interior exit stairway to the building exte-31 rior are permitted to swing in the direction of exit travel;32 (f) Openings into the interior exit stairway shall be ninety (90)33 minute fire protection rated with self-closers and no hold-open de-34 vices, unless they are interconnected with the fire alarm system to35 release upon activation of the occupant notification system and open-36 ings are limited to those required for exit access into the enclosure37 from normally occupied spaces, openings required for egress from the38 stairway, and openings to the exterior. Elevators shall not open into39 the interior exit stairway;40

2 (g) The interior exit stairway and elevator shaft shall have a fire re-1 sistance rating of not less than two (2) hours regardless of the number2 of stories connected;3 (h) The width of the exit stairway shall not be less than forty-eight4 (48) inches;5 (i) A minimum one (1) hour fire resistance rated corridor separates6 each dwelling unit entry and exit door from the door to an interior exit7 stairway, including any related exit passageway, on each floor;8 (j) Dwelling unit doors shall not open directly into an interior exit9 stairway;10 (k) No more than twenty (20) feet of travel distance shall exist between11 the exit stairway and the entry and exit door of any dwelling unit;12 (l) Exit access travel distance shall not exceed one hundred twenty-13 five (125) feet;14 (m) An exit serving the group R-2 occupancy as defined in the Interna-15 tional Building Code shall not discharge through any other occupancy,16 including an accessory parking garage;17 (n) An exit shall not terminate in an egress court where the court depth18 exceeds the court width unless it is possible to exit in either direc-19 tion to the public way;20 (o) Exterior wall openings shall be three-fourths (3/4) hour fire pro-21 tection rated when located within ten (10) feet of the exit discharge22 door or other unprotected exterior wall openings into the interior exit23 stairway;24 (p) Emergency escape and rescue openings shall comply with the require-25 ments of the International Building Code on all floors served by the26 single exit;27 (q) No electrical receptacles shall be installed in an interior exit28 stairway. Any electrical receptacles in a common corridor or lobby29 shall have lockable outlet covers, accessible by maintenance person-30 nel;31 (r) An automatic smoke and fire detection system that activates the oc-32 cupant notification system in accordance with the requirements of the33 International Building Code shall be installed in the building;34 (s) An approved sign mounted adjacent to the fire alarm control panel35 shall be provided stating "THIS BUILDING CONTAINS ONLY ONE STAIR";36 (t) There shall be no more than two (2) buildings, or two (2) areas in a37 single building, each provided with a single exit, per lot. Where there38 are two (2) buildings on the same lot, exception 1 of section 705.3 of39 the International Building Code shall not be allowed; and40 (u) The building shall meet all other applicable provisions of the41 adopted local building codes.42 (2) A manual fire alarm system and automatic smoke detection system43 that activates the occupant notification system in accordance with the re-44 quirements of the International Building Code shall be installed in single45 stairway apartment buildings provided for in this section in the following46 locations:47 (a) Common spaces outside of dwelling units;48 (b) Laundry rooms, mechanical equipment rooms, and storage rooms;49 (c) Interior corridors serving dwelling units; and50

3 (d) Interior corridors, interior exit stairways, and exit passageways.1

SECTION 2. That Section 39-4116, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby2 amended to read as follows:3 39-4116. LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADOPTION AND ENFORCEMENT OF BUILDING4 CODES. (1) Local governments enforcing building codes shall do so only in5 compliance with the provisions of this section. Local governments that have6 not previously instituted and implemented a code enforcement program prior7 to the effective date of this act may elect to implement a building code8 enforcement program by passing an ordinance evidencing the intent to do so.9 Local governments may contract with a public or private entity to administer10 their building code enforcement program.11 (2) Local Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, local govern-12 ments that issue building permits and perform building code enforcement ac-13 tivities shall, by ordinance effective January 1 of the year following the14 adoption by the Idaho building code board, adopt the following codes as pub-15 lished by the International Code Council together with any amendments or re-16 visions set forth in section 39-4109, Idaho Code, including subsequent ver-17 sions of the International Building Code as adopted and amended by the Idaho18 building code board through the negotiated rulemaking process provided in19 this chapter:20 (a) International Building Code, including all rules promulgated by21 the board to provide equivalency with the provisions of the Americans22 with disabilities act accessibility guidelines and the federal fair23 housing act accessibility guidelines;24 (b) Idaho residential code, parts I-III and IX; and25 (c) 2018 Idaho energy conservation code, pursuant to chapter 97, title26 39, Idaho Code.27 Local governments are not required by this chapter to adopt the other refer-28 enced codes in the International Building Code. Local jurisdictions shall29 not adopt provisions, chapters, sections or parts of subsequent versions30 of the International Residential Code or residential provisions of the31 International Energy Conservation Code, or subsequent versions in their32 entirety, that have not been adopted by the Idaho building code board except33 as provided in subsection (4) of this section.34 (3) All single family homes and multiple family dwellings up to two35 (2) units are hereby exempted from the provisions of the International Fire36 Code, the International Building Code and the Idaho residential code that37 require such dwellings to have automatic fire sprinkler systems installed.38 Nothing in this section shall prevent any person from voluntarily installing39 an automatic fire sprinkler system in any residential dwelling.40 (4) Except as provided in this subsection, local governments may amend41 by ordinance the adopted codes or provisions of referenced codes to reflect42 local concerns, provided such amendments establish at least an equivalent43 level of protection to that of the adopted building code. A local jurisdic-44 tion shall not have the authority to amend any accessibility provision pur-45 suant to section 39-4109, Idaho Code, except as provided in this subsection.46 (a) A local jurisdiction shall not have the authority to amend any ac-47 cessibility provision pursuant to section 39-4109, Idaho Code.48

4 (b) A local jurisdiction shall not adopt any provision, chapter, sec-1 tion or part of the International Residential Code or residential pro-2 visions of the International Energy Conservation Code, or subsequent3 versions in their entirety, that have not been adopted or that have been4 expressly rejected or exempted from the adopted version of those codes5 by the Idaho building code board through the negotiated rulemaking6 process as provided in section 39-4109, Idaho Code.7 (c) Local jurisdictions may amend by ordinance the following provi-8 sions of the Idaho residential code to reflect local concerns:9 (i) Part I, Administrative;10 (ii) Part II, Definitions;11 (iii) Part III, Building Planning and Construction, Section R 301,12 Design Criteria; and13 (iv) Part IX, Appendices.14 (d) Local jurisdictions may amend the remainder of Part III of the15 Idaho residential code if they find that good cause for building or life16 safety exists for such an amendment to such codes and that such amend-17 ment is reasonably necessary. Amendments shall be adopted by ordinance18 in accordance with the provisions of chapter 9, title 50, Idaho Code, or19 chapter 7, title 31, Idaho Code, and provided further that such local20 jurisdiction shall conduct a public hearing and, provided further, that21 notice of the time and place of the public hearing shall be published22 in the official newspaper or paper of general circulation within the23 jurisdiction and written notice of each of such public hearing and the24 proposed language shall be given by the local jurisdiction to the lo-25 cal chapters of the entities identified in section 39-4109(5), Idaho26 Code, not less than thirty (30) days prior to such hearing. In the event27 that there are no local chapters of such entities identified in sec-28 tion 39-4109(5), Idaho Code, within the local jurisdiction holding the29 hearings, the notice shall be provided to the state associations of the30 respective entities.31 (5) Local governments shall exempt agricultural buildings from the re-32 quirements of the codes enumerated in this chapter and the rules promulgated33 by the board. A county may issue permits for agricultural buildings to as-34 sure compliance with road setbacks and utility easements, provided that the35 cost for such permits shall not exceed the actual cost to the county of issu-36 ing the permits.37 (a) For the purposes of this subsection, "agricultural buildings"38 means:39 (i) Livestock shelters or buildings, including shade structures40 and milking barns;41 (ii) Poultry buildings or shelters;42 (iii) Barns;43 (iv) Storage and maintenance structures for equipment and machin-44 ery used exclusively in agricultural operations;45 (v) Horticultural structures, including detached production46 greenhouses and crop protection shelters;47 (vi) Sheds used as part of an agricultural operation;48 (vii) Grain silos;49 (viii) Stables; and50

5 (ix) Any other structure designed, constructed, and intended to1 house, accommodate, or store farm implements, hay, grain, poul-2 try, livestock, or other horticultural products.3 (b) For the purposes of this subsection, "agricultural buildings" does4 not include:5 (i) A place of human habitation, which means a space in a build-6 ing for living, sleeping, or cooking. Structures with bathrooms,7 shower rooms, break rooms, locker rooms, storage or utility space,8 or other similar areas are not considered places of human habita-9 tion;10 (ii) A place of employment where agricultural products are pro-11 cessed, treated, or packaged; or12 (iii) A place used by the public.13 (c) Counties shall not alter, amend, deny, limit, or narrow the exemp-14 tion provided pursuant to this subsection by, including but not limited15 to, requiring size limitations of agricultural buildings, requiring16 maximum travel distances to exits within agricultural buildings, or17 requiring installation of automatic sprinkler systems in agricultural18 buildings.19 (6) Permits shall be governed by the laws in effect at the time the per-20 mit application is received.21 (7) The division shall retain jurisdiction for in-plant inspections22 and installation standards for manufactured or mobile homes and for in-plant23 inspections and enforcement of construction standards for modular buildings24 and commercial coaches.25

SECTION 3. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby26 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after27 July 1, 2026.28