Do I Need a Building Permit in North Dakota?
North Dakota building permit rules. The state building code covers four model codes only, exempts unheated and uncooled buildings and most agricultural ones, and enforcement may be relinquished to the county.
It depends on the building and on who administers the code where you are. North Dakota's state building code covers the international building, residential, mechanical and fuel gas codes — plumbing, electrical and fire are governed separately — and it exempts buildings that are neither heated nor cooled, along with most agricultural buildings.
The state code is four model codes, and no more
N.D.C.C. § 54-21.3-03(1) requires the department of commerce, with the state building code advisory committee, to adopt rules implementing the state building code, “which must consist of the international building, residential, mechanical, and fuel gas codes.” That list is exhaustive, and what is missing matters as much as what is there. Under § 54-21.3-04(1) three statewide codes are “exempt from this chapter” and run on their own tracks: “the Standards for Electrical Wiring and Equipment”, “the State Plumbing Code”, and “the State Fire Code, as contained in the rules of the state fire marshal”. So an electrical or plumbing question in North Dakota is not answered by the state building code at all — you are looking at the wrong instrument if you start there.
Unheated and uncooled buildings are exempt
Section 54-21.3-04(2) exempts three categories of building from the chapter, and the first is unusually broad and simple to apply: “buildings which are neither heated nor cooled.” The second is an energy-intensity test for buildings below a stated peak design rate of energy usage per square foot. The third covers heritage: “restored or reconstructed buildings deliberately preserved beyond their normal term of use because of historical associations, architectural interests, or public policy, or buildings otherwise qualified as a pioneer building, historical site, state monument, or other similar designation pursuant to state or local law.” An unconditioned shed, pole barn or storage structure will often sit outside the chapter on the first limb alone — though that is an exemption from this chapter, not from zoning or from the separately governed plumbing, electrical and fire codes.
Agricultural buildings are exempt unless people live in them or the public uses them
Section 54-21.3-04(3) provides that “any building used for agricultural purposes, unless a place of human habitation or for use by the public, is exempt from this chapter.” The two conditions are the whole test, and “agricultural purposes” is defined at § 54-21.3-02(1) to include “purposes related to agriculture, farming, ranching, dairying, pasturage, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, and animal and poultry husbandry.” So a barn is outside the chapter; a farmhouse is not, because it is a place of human habitation; and a farm building opened to the public is not either. Note that accessibility runs the other way: under § 54-21.3-04.1, and expressly “notwithstanding section 54-21.3-04”, every building or facility subject to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act “must conform to the 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act standards for accessible design”.
Who administers the code — and who can hand it back
Section 54-21.3-05 sets the geography of enforcement. “A city or township may administer and enforce the state building code only within its jurisdictional area”, and “a county may administer and enforce the state building code within those areas of the county in which the state building code is not administered by a city or township.” The county therefore fills the gaps rather than overlapping. Two further options are express: cities and townships “may relinquish their authority to administer and enforce the state building code to the county in which they are located”, and jurisdictions “may provide by agreement for joint administration and enforcement and may contract for private enforcement of the state building code.” Private contracted enforcement is unusual and worth knowing — the inspector on your project may not be a municipal employee at all.
Amendments need named organisations to agree
North Dakota does not leave code amendment to a single official. Section 54-21.3-03(2) composes the state building code advisory committee from named appointing bodies — two representatives from the North Dakota building officials association, “one of whom must be from a jurisdiction of fewer than ten thousand people”, plus appointees of the state chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the society of professional engineers, the association of builders, the association of mechanical contractors, the associated general contractors, a fire marshal appointed by the state fire marshal, and an individual appointed by the state electrical board. Subsection 3 requires the committee to meet with the department at least once each calendar year on proposed amendments, and provides that the department “may not adopt an amendment to the state building code unless the amendment is approved by a majority vote” of the listed professional appointees. Small-jurisdiction representation is written into the committee by statute rather than left to practice.
In North Dakota, check three things before assuming you need a permit under the state building code. What the code covers: only the international building, residential, mechanical and fuel gas codes, with electrical, plumbing and fire governed by separate statewide instruments. Whether your building is exempt: buildings that are neither heated nor cooled are out, as are low-energy and preserved historic buildings, and agricultural buildings unless they are a place of human habitation or for use by the public — though ADA-covered buildings must meet the 2010 accessibility standards regardless. And who administers it where you are: a city or township only within its jurisdictional area, the county in the areas they do not cover, with the option for a city or township to relinquish that authority to the county, for jurisdictions to administer jointly, or to contract enforcement out privately.
Based on the International Residential Code (IRC) and International Building Code (IBC) model codes. Every jurisdiction adopts a specific edition with its own local amendments — check your city’s permit page for the exact codes in force and their source citations.