Hardin building permits

Building department

Address

406 N. Cheyenne Ave, Hardin, MT 59034

Phone

(406) 665-9260 Ext. 106

Email

jconnelly@hardinmt.com

Office hours

City Administrative Office, 406 N. Cheyenne Ave, Hardin, MT 59034. For Building Inspector questions call (406) 665-9260 Ext. 106 — Joe Connelly (jconnelly@hardinmt.com) or Nathan McConnell (nmcconnell@hardinmt.com). Applications may also be submitted online via the City of Hardin Citizen Portal (hardinmt2.portal.iworq.net).

Website

Official site

Permit portal

Apply online at Hardin's portal

Codes adopted

Montana adopts a single statewide building code by rule and, by default, enforces it directly — local governments only gain enforcement authority once the state certifies them. Under the Montana Building Codes Act (Mont. Code Ann. Title 50, Chapter 60), the Department of Labor & Industry's Building Codes Bureau adopts one state building code applicable everywhere (§ 50-60-203, codified further at Administrative Rules of Montana Title 24, Chapter 301) — currently the 2021 editions of the IBC, IRC, IMC, IFGC, IECC, IEBC, ISPSC, and UPC, with the 2020 NEC for electrical (effective statewide since 6/11/2022 per the Bureau's own Current Codes page). A city, county, or town may adopt and enforce its own building-code program under § 50-60-301, but its adopted code "may include only codes adopted by the Building Codes Bureau" — a local edition can never diverge from or be less stringent than the state's. Critically, under § 50-60-302, a local government cannot enforce ANY building code — even one it has formally adopted — until the Bureau certifies its program (requiring an approved code, a published fee schedule, an enforcement plan, and properly licensed or nationally certified inspectors); certification is granted per TRADE, not as one blanket designation. The Bureau's own "Certified City, County and Town Programs" list uses the key B=Building, P=Plumbing, E=Electrical, M=Mechanical, SP=Pool, W=Wildland-Urban-Interface — a jurisdiction can be certified for Building only while Electrical/Plumbing/Mechanical remain directly state-enforced within the same city limits (e.g., Havre, Anaconda-Deer Lodge), or certified across all trades (e.g., Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, Bozeman, Helena, Kalispell). Non-certified jurisdictions — most of Montana's unincorporated county land, since very few counties appear on the certified list — fall under direct enforcement by the state Building Codes Bureau (§ 50-60-304). Montana also exempts private homes and buildings of four or fewer dwelling units not serving transient guests from the state building-permit requirement entirely, though electrical, plumbing, and mechanical permits remain separately required regardless. Always confirm with the specific jurisdiction which trades it is certified for versus which remain directly state-enforced.

• Montana has a mandatory statewide building code administered by the Montana Department of Labor & Industry (DLI) Building Codes Bureau, amended by the Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM) Title 24, Chapter 301. Cities, counties, and towns may become 'certified' to locally administer permitting and inspection for all or part of the code; non-certified trades — and, where a city's Building certification is itself partial (e.g. residential-only), non-certified project types — fall under direct state administration by the DLI Building Codes Bureau. Source: Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau, Certified City, County and Town Programs (bsd.dli.mt.gov/building-codes-permits).
• Hardin is a Montana DLI-certified jurisdiction for Building (B), RESIDENTIAL ONLY, within city limits; certified official on file with DLI: Joseph Connolly (listed on City of Hardin's own site as 'Joe Connelly'), (406) 665-9264. Verified directly against the DLI Building Codes Bureau's 'Montana Certified Local Government Program' roster PDF, updated 04/22/2026 (fetched and text-extracted directly from the source PDF): 'Hardin | B (residential only) | Joseph Connolly | 665-9264 | City Limits'. This is a NARROWER certification than the B-only-but-all-project-types pattern seen in Choteau/Conrad/Cut Bank/Glasgow/Lewistown/Red Lodge — Hardin's own certification does not cover COMMERCIAL building work at all, meaning commercial building permits in Hardin route to the state DLI Building Codes Bureau exactly as they would in a non-certified jurisdiction, in addition to Electrical/Plumbing/Mechanical for all project types. Source: https://bsd.dli.mt.gov/_docs/building-codes-permits/certified-city.pdf
• Hardin, MT Code of Ordinances, Title 4 Building Regulations, Chapter 1 Building Codes (current through Ord. 2025-04, passed 12-4-2025) contains three sections: 4-1-1 Adoption Of Codes And Regulations, 4-1-2 Building Code Adopted, and 4-1-3 Other Codes Enforced By State Officials — a notably thin chapter (no locally-authored fee schedule or plan-review-timeline section), consistent with a small, partially-certified jurisdiction that enforces state-adopted code editions rather than authoring independent code text or a distinct administrative process. Section 4-1-3's title ('Other Codes Enforced By State Officials') is itself corroborating evidence of the residential-only/state-routed-commercial split described by the DLI roster. Source: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/hardinmt/latest/hardin_mt/0-0-0-994
• Per the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau's Current Codes page (statewide effective date June 11, 2022, applicable uniformly to all certified and state-enforced jurisdictions): 2021 IBC, 2021 IRC, 2021 IEBC, 2021 IMC, 2021 IFGC, 2021 IECC, 2021 ISPSC, 2021 UPC, 2020 NEC, 2017 ICC A117.1 Accessibility. Hardin's own Building Permit Application form cites Title 50, Chapter 60, Section 104, MCA and ARM 24.301.131 (the same statutory/administrative basis as the state's own BCP-1 form), consistent with a residential-certified jurisdiction enforcing the state-adopted editions without independently amended local code text. Source: bsd.dli.mt.gov/building-codes-permits/current-codes; City of Hardin Building Permit Application PDF (hardinmontana.info/Building_Permit_application011019.pdf)

Permit types & fees

• Residential Building Permit (New Construction / Addition / Alteration / Re-Roof)

  Required for new single-family/two-family home construction, additions, alterations, and re-roofing on RESIDENTIAL property within Hardin city limits. Issued by the City of Hardin under its DLI certification for Building (B), RESIDENTIAL ONLY, reviewed by Building Inspectors Joe Connelly and Nathan McConnell against the state-adopted 2021 IBC/IRC/IECC editions. This certification does NOT extend to commercial building work — see the separate commercial-building-permit-state entry.

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• Accessory Building Permit (Residential and Business)

  Required for accessory structures (sheds, detached storage buildings, etc.) in Hardin. The City publishes a dedicated Application For Business Accessory Building for accessory structures on business/commercial property, governed by Hardin City Code 11-1-8-2, which caps accessory buildings at 200 square feet without a Variance Request. Residential accessory structures fall under the general residential-building-permit process.

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• Commercial Building Permit (State-Issued)

  Because Hardin's DLI certification for Building covers RESIDENTIAL work only, any commercial building project within Hardin city limits — new construction, addition, alteration — requires a Building Permit/Plan Review Application issued directly by the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau in Helena, not by the City of Hardin, under the 2021 IBC.

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• Electrical Permit (State-Issued)

  Because Hardin holds no DLI certification in Electrical (only a residential-only Building certification), electrical work anywhere within Hardin city limits — residential or commercial — requires a Residential or Commercial Electrical Permit issued directly by the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau in Helena, not by the City of Hardin, under the 2020 NEC.

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• Plumbing Permit (State-Issued, incl. Water Heater)

  Because Hardin holds no DLI certification in Plumbing (only a residential-only Building certification), plumbing work anywhere within Hardin city limits — including water heater installation/replacement, residential or commercial — requires a Plumbing Permit issued directly by the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau in Helena, not by the City of Hardin, under the 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code.

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• Mechanical / HVAC Permit (State-Issued)

  Because Hardin holds no DLI certification in Mechanical (only a residential-only Building certification), mechanical/HVAC work anywhere within Hardin city limits — residential or commercial — requires a Mechanical Permit issued directly by the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau in Helena, not by the City of Hardin, under the 2021 International Mechanical Code and International Fuel Gas Code.

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• Demolition / Building Removal Permit

  Required for demolishing or removing a structure within Hardin city limits, using the City's residential-building-permit process (Type of Work checkboxes on the same Application For Building Permit include 'Moved Building' and 'Other', the latter used with a full description of work for demolition scope) for residential property; commercial demolition follows the state-routed process since Hardin's certification excludes commercial building work.

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• Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Permit

  Required for installation of rooftop or ground-mount solar photovoltaic systems within Hardin city limits. For a RESIDENTIAL installation: a City Building Permit (structural/racking, issued by the City's Building Inspectors) plus a State of Montana Electrical Permit (wiring/interconnection) -- Hardin is city-certified for residential Building permits only. For a COMMERCIAL installation: BOTH the building permit and the electrical permit are issued directly by the Montana Department of Labor & Industry Building Codes Bureau, since Hardin's local certification does not extend to commercial building work or to any electrical/plumbing/mechanical permits of any project type.

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• EV Charger / EVSE Permit

  Because Hardin holds no DLI certification in Electrical (only a residential-only Building certification), EV charger circuit work anywhere within Hardin city limits -- residential or commercial -- requires an Electrical Permit issued directly by the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau in Helena, not by the City of Hardin, under the 2020 NEC. The state's Application for Residential Electrical Permit (Rev. 11/25) has no dedicated EV/EVSE line item -- it lists an 'Alternative Energy' line (K, $45) that only covers Solar/Wind/Hydro generation, not vehicle-charging loads. A single EV charger circuit added to an existing home instead falls under line H, '1 additional circuit or piece of equipment' ($45), the same category used for a hot tub or A/C circuit.

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• Sign Regulations Compliance (No Standalone Sign Permit Published)

  Hardin City Code 11-1-8-3 (Sign Regulations, part of Title 11 Zoning, Chapter 1) establishes substantive size, placement, and attachment standards for signs by zoning district. Direct review of the City's Permits/Forms page (which lists every downloadable PDF form the City publishes) and the general Application For Building Permit's Type of Work checkbox list found no standalone sign-permit application, fee schedule, or dedicated form -- an honest publication gap, not an invented omission. Sign compliance in Hardin appears to be enforced through the City's general, complaint-driven Code Enforcement process rather than a proactive permit-application gate.

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• Fire Sprinkler (Fire Suppression) and Fire Alarm Permit

  Hardin holds no Montana DLI certification in Fire (its only certification is Building (B), RESIDENTIAL ONLY) and has no local Fire Marshal -- confirmed there is no dedicated, separately-fee-scheduled 'Fire Sprinkler/Alarm Permit' product published by the City. Fire SUPPRESSION (sprinkler) work is instead processed through the same general Application For Building Permit used for all other Hardin building work: 'Fire Suppression' is an explicit Type of Work checkbox on both the City's own form and the underlying Montana BCP-1 statewide template it is based on (confirmed by direct read of the current PDF) -- residential-scope sprinkler work goes to the City (Joe Connelly / Nathan McConnell), commercial-scope sprinkler work goes to the state DLI Building Codes Bureau in Helena, mirroring the same residential/commercial split as Hardin's other building permits. Fire ALARM system wiring has no dedicated line item on either the current Montana Residential or Commercial Electrical Permit fee schedules (confirmed by direct read of both PDFs) and, since Hardin holds no Electrical certification at all, is billed under the same general state Electrical Permit valuation/circuit-based fee tiers as any other electrical work. Montana has adopted the 2021 International Fire Code statewide via ARM 23.12.601, administered by the Montana DOJ Office of the State Fire Marshal (not the DLI Building Codes Bureau) -- but direct review of the State Fire Marshal's own 'Fire Prevention and Investigations' page shows its published functions are inspection certification, code-adoption assistance, and fire investigation, not a separate SFMO-issued sprinkler/alarm permit with its own fee schedule comparable to larger Montana cities' locally-issued fire-alarm-and-sprinkler permits (e.g. Great Falls). No such Hardin-specific or SFMO-specific fire permit fee was found published.

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• Change Of Use Permit (No Standalone Certificate Of Occupancy)

  'Change of Use' is an explicit Type of Work checkbox on the same general Application For Building Permit used for all other Hardin building work (confirmed by direct read of the current PDF) -- there is no standalone change-of-use application, fee, or Certificate of Occupancy document published separately by the City. The form additionally requires a mandatory free-text 'detailed description of the project use and occupancy... before application is accepted' regardless of which Type of Work box is checked. For residential property, submit to the City of Hardin Building Department under Hardin's residential Building certification; for commercial property, Hardin's certification does not cover commercial building work at all, so a change-of-use submission routes to the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau's BCP-1 Building Permit/Plan Review Application in Helena instead (same 'Change of Use' checkbox), consistent with this corpus's existing commercial-building-permit-state entry for Hardin. No dedicated 'Certificate of Occupancy' form or process was found among the City's downloadable Permits/Forms PDFs.

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