Sign Regulations Compliance (No Standalone Sign Permit Published) in Hardin, Montana

Hardin City Code 11-1-8-3 sets size and placement standards for signs by zoning district (R, R2, C), but the City does not publish a standalone sign-permit application or fee schedule. Confirm current requirements with the City -- Code Enforcement Officer at (406) 665-9268 or the Building Department at (406) 665-9260 Ext. 106 -- since a C District sign that can't be attached to a building or kept on private property requires written City Council approval as an encroachment.

Hardin does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact City of Hardin Building & Code Department — Building Inspectors Joe Connelly and Nathan McConnell; city-certified for Building (B), RESIDENTIAL ONLY. Commercial building permits, and Electrical, Plumbing, and Mechanical/HVAC permits of ANY project type, within Hardin city limits are issued directly by the Montana Department of Labor & Industry Building Codes Bureau, not the City. at (406) 665-9260 Ext. 106 for current turnaround.

Depending on your project, Hardin may also ask for: No dedicated Sign Permit application published. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Apply through City of Hardin Building & Code Department — Building Inspectors Joe Connelly and Nathan McConnell; city-certified for Building (B), RESIDENTIAL ONLY. Commercial building permits, and Electrical, Plumbing, and Mechanical/HVAC permits of ANY project type, within Hardin city limits are issued directly by the Montana Department of Labor & Industry Building Codes Bureau, not the City. at 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).. Official information: http://www.hardinmt.com/Permits-Forms.html.

Hardin, Montana has adopted: 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). Local amendments apply — see the Hardin overview page for the full list.

In the C (commercial) Districts, total sign area on a premises may not exceed two square feet for each lineal foot of street frontage. Signs must be attached to a building (not extending more than 5 feet over the property line), located wholly on private property, or specifically approved by the City Council as an encroachment.