Miles City building permits

Building department

Address

17 S. 8th St., Miles City, MT 59301

Phone

(406) 874-8611

Email

gmartinsen@milescity-mt.org

Office hours

Monday-Friday 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM (Building Inspector); City Hall general hours Mon-Fri 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Website

Official site

Permit portal

Apply online at Miles City'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; a certified local program's adopted code 'may include only codes adopted by the Building Codes Bureau' (ARM 24.301.202). Non-certified trades within a jurisdiction fall under direct state administration by the DLI Building Codes Bureau. Source: Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau, Certified City, County and Town Programs and Current Codes pages (bsd.dli.mt.gov/building-codes-permits).
• Miles City is a Montana DLI-certified jurisdiction for Building (B), Swimming Pool (SP), and Electrical — residential only — within Miles City city limits; certified program contact on file with DLI: Gabe Martinsen, (406) 874-8611. Miles City is NOT certified for Plumbing or Mechanical, or for commercial Electrical — those permits/inspections are issued directly by the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau (Helena) even within Miles City city limits. Source: Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau, Certified City, County and Town Programs list (List of certified jurisdictions table), bsd.dli.mt.gov/building-codes-permits/certified-government
• Miles City City Code § 5-2(a): the city adopts by ordinance 'the current editions of the building codes and all accompanying appendices, amendments and modifications' adopted by the DLI Building Codes Bureau, as authorized by MCA 50-60-301(1)(b) — the city does not maintain independently amended code text; it tracks whatever edition the state Building Codes Bureau currently has in force for local-government jurisdictions. Source: Miles City Code of Ordinances § 5-2, Municode (Ord. No. 1132, 5-28-02; most recently amended by Ord. No. 1375, 1-23-24)
• International Residential Code (IRC), 2021 Edition, as amended by ARM 24.301.154 — adopted by City of Miles City Code § 5-46 (Ord. No. 1375, 1-23-24)
• 2021 Existing Building Code, as amended by ARM 24.301.171 — adopted by City of Miles City Code § 5-61(a) (Ord. No. 1375, 1-23-24)
• 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, as amended by ARM 24.301.175 — adopted by City of Miles City Code § 5-61(b); Miles City is DLI-certified for Swimming Pool (SP) permitting (Ord. No. 1375, 1-23-24)
• 2021 International Energy Conservation Code, as amended by ARM 24.301.161 — adopted by City of Miles City Code § 5-61(c) (Ord. No. 1375, 1-23-24)
• National Electrical Code (NEC), 2020 Edition, as amended by ARM 24.301.401 — adopted by City of Miles City Code § 5-76 (Ord. No. 1392, 3-11-25); Miles City is DLI-certified for residential Electrical permitting only — commercial electrical work in Miles City is permitted and inspected directly by the state DLI Building Codes Bureau
• International Building Code (IBC) — applicable via § 5-2(a)'s blanket adoption of the DLI Building Codes Bureau's current edition (2021 IBC statewide, effective June 11, 2022); the City of Miles City Building Permit Application form itself references IBC Section 105.3.2 (180-day application-abandonment provision) and IBC Section 110 (duty to request inspection)
• 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) and 2021 International Mechanical Code (IMC)/International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC) — statewide editions; state-administered in Miles City since the city holds no Plumbing or Mechanical DLI certification
• Miles City Code § 24-65 (Zoning, Article III): locally adopted Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) performance standards, including a Tiny Home provision referencing International Residential Code Appendix Q

Permit types & fees

• Building Permit (New Construction / Addition / Remodel / Repair)

  Required for construction of new one- and two-family dwellings, additions, alterations, and repairs within Miles City. Issued by the City of Miles City Building Department under its DLI-certified local Building program (2021 IRC/IBC as adopted via City Code § 5-2). Applications are submitted through the city's Cloud Permit online portal or on a paper form.

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• Addition / Alteration Permit

  Required for additions and alterations to existing one- and two-family dwellings in Miles City, using the same Building Permit Application as new construction. Reviewed under the 2021 IRC as adopted via City Code § 5-46.

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• Residential Electrical Permit

  Required for residential electrical installation, alteration, or repair work within Miles City city limits. Miles City is DLI-certified for residential Electrical only, so this permit is issued by the City of Miles City Building Department under the 2020 NEC (City Code § 5-76), using the same Building Department application as Building and Roofing permits. Commercial electrical work in Miles City is NOT covered by this local certification and is instead issued directly by the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau.

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• Plumbing Permit (State-Administered)

  Required for plumbing work anywhere in Miles City and Custer County, including new water heater installation/replacement. Because Miles City holds no DLI Plumbing certification, this permit is issued directly by the Montana Department of Labor & Industry Building Codes Bureau (Helena) under the 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code, not the city.

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• Mechanical / HVAC Permit (State-Administered)

  Required for mechanical/HVAC work anywhere in Miles City and Custer County, including furnaces, gas piping, ventilation, and cooling equipment. Because Miles City holds no DLI Mechanical certification, this permit is issued directly by the Montana Department of Labor & Industry Building Codes Bureau (Helena) under the 2021 International Mechanical Code, not the city.

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• Roofing Permit

  Required for roof repair or replacement within Miles City, issued by the City of Miles City Building Department under the same application used for Building and Residential Electrical permits (2021 IRC/IBC as adopted via City Code § 5-2/§ 5-46).

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• Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Permit

  Residential solar PV installations in Miles City are permitted through the City of Miles City Building Department: a Building Permit for the structural roof- or ground-mount work, plus a Residential Electrical Permit for the interconnection/panel work, since Miles City is DLI-certified for residential Electrical. No solar-specific ordinance, application, or fee schedule is separately codified.

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• Electric Vehicle (EV) Charger Permit

  Miles City publishes no distinct EV-charger permit type or fee. The City is DLI-certified for residential Electrical only (City Code § 5-76, adopting the 2020 NEC), so a new circuit, outlet, or panel/service upgrade installed to serve an EV charger at a residence would be permitted through the City Building Department's standard Residential Electrical Permit process, on the same Cloud Permit application used for Building, Residential Electrical, and Roofing permits. No EV-specific city guidance, and no standalone electrical fee table separate from the general § 5-4 valuation-based schedule, was found published.

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• Demolition Permit

  Required for demolition of a structure within Miles City. There is no demolition-specific ordinance, bond, or standalone application; demolition is applied for on the general Building Permit Application (Class of Work 'Other', with a written scope description), governed by the same City Code § 5-4 fee schedule.

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• Fence and Retaining Wall Permit

  Required for construction or replacement of a fence or retaining wall within Miles City. Uses a dedicated one-page Fence Permit application (separate from the Cloud Permit Building Department process) with a flat $100 fee, covering both fences and retaining walls on the same form.

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• Sign Permit

  Miles City has no standalone Sign Permit application, fee table, or online-portal entry published on the City website. A sign requiring a permit is applied for through the same City Building Permit Application used for other Building Department work (Class of Work 'Other'), which has no dedicated 'Sign' checkbox. A 2016 Miles City Zoning Commission final report on the (then-planned) rewrite of Zoning Code Chapter 24 records that the city's prior sign-restriction sections — former § 24-19 'Signs prohibited on certain premises' and former § 24-20 'Signage for bed and breakfast' — were removed from Chapter 24 and slated to be 'addressed under separate ordinance.' The resulting standalone sign ordinance's current section number, permit process, and fee (if any) could not be independently verified for this review: Miles City's Code of Ordinances is hosted on Municode's client-rendered MunicodeNEXT platform, which returned only an empty application shell to every automated-fetch method attempted (direct an automated fetch, an automated fetch, Jina reader proxy, and the legacy municode.com mirror all returned the same unrendered Angular shell) and blocked the an automated fetch tool outright with HTTP 403.

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• Fire Sprinkler & Fire Alarm Permit (Plan Review)

  Fire sprinkler and fire alarm systems for new and existing construction in Miles City are plan-reviewed by Miles City Fire & Rescue (MCFR), the city's own fire department — MCFR's official website (linked directly from milescitymt.gov/fire-rescue as 'the official Miles City Fire & Rescue website') lists 'Fire sprinkler plan review for new and existing construction' and 'Fire alarm plan review for new and existing construction' among its published services. This permit type sits outside Montana's DLI Building Codes Bureau certification framework: Miles City's DLI certification covers only Building, Swimming Pool, and residential Electrical (see this file's codesAdopted/department records); fire protection systems are instead regulated under Montana's statewide Fire Prevention and Investigation Program (Title 50, Chapter 3, MCA), administered by the Montana Department of Justice State Fire Marshal's Office, with day-to-day local plan review and inspection carried out by MCFR's own Fire Inspector. No online application, fee schedule, or standalone permit form for fire sprinkler/alarm work is published by the City of Miles City or MCFR as of this review.

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• Change of Use / Certificate of Occupancy

  Miles City does not publish a standalone Change of Use or Certificate of Occupancy application, fee, or process distinct from its general Building Permit. A change in use or occupancy of an existing building, and certificate-of-occupancy issuance for new construction, are governed by the same 2021 International Building Code and 2021 Existing Building Code already adopted by City Code § 5-2(a) and § 5-61(a) (see this file's codesAdopted) that the city's DLI-certified Building Department administers — filed on the standard Building Permit Application (Class of Work 'Alteration' or 'Other') rather than through a separate CO/change-of-use product.

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