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Certificate of Occupancy / Change of Use Permit in Polson, Montana

Required when a structure's business use changes or a Certificate of Occupancy is needed, using the City's single combined 'Application for Certificate of Occupancy/Change of Use' form. The currently effective Planning and Public Works Fee Schedule (2026-01-15) separately lists 'Certificate of Occupancy' and 'Change of Use Permit' as two distinct $100 line items under Planning fees, even though the City's own application form is one combined document listing a single $100 fee.

Verified 2026-07-22 · Source

When you need this permit

  • Application required for a Certificate of Occupancy and/or a Change of Use within a structure in Polson, using the combined 'Application for Certificate of Occupancy/Change of Use' form
  • Applicant must provide business site address, mailing address, contractor/agent, property owner, legal description (subdivision/block/lot), lot size, zoning district, type of business proposed, previous business/use located in the structure, total square footage, number of stories, and type of construction (structural & exterior walls)
  • Two (2) detailed site plans required, showing scale (preferred 1 inch = 20 feet), north arrow, lot boundaries with dimensions, location of existing/proposed roads and driveways, interior floor plan (rooms, halls, doorways with dimensions), distances of existing/proposed structures to property boundaries (property pins evident or survey retracement completed), and lettered/numbered identification of each existing and proposed structure
  • Applicant grants permission for members of the Polson Building Department, Fire Department, or their designated agents to enter the property to evaluate the application and any resulting construction
  • A separate sign permit and fee applies if new signage is part of the change — the application form explicitly flags 'Sign appl (separate appl/fee)'
  • Incomplete or erroneous applications will be returned to the applicant

Required documents

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Fee schedule

Certificate of Occupancy/Change of Use (combined application fee, as printed on the City's own application form)City of Polson Application for Certificate of Occupancy/Change of Use (Rev 01/14): 'Fee: $100.00' for the single combined application.
$100.00
Certificate of Occupancy (as a distinct Planning fee line item)City of Polson Planning and Public Works Fee Schedule (effective January 15, 2026), Other Planning Fees section: 'Certificate of Occupancy $100'. This 2026 schedule lists Certificate of Occupancy and Change of Use as two separate $100 line items even though the City's own application form combines both into one document with one stated $100 fee — this discrepancy is reported here rather than silently reconciled; a project needing both a COO and a Change of Use determination may be charged $100 for each per the current fee schedule, though the single combined application form does not itself clarify this.
$100.00
Change of Use Permit (as a distinct Planning fee line item)City of Polson Planning and Public Works Fee Schedule (effective January 15, 2026), Other Planning Fees section: 'Change of Use Permit $100'.
$100.00

Review timeline

Plan review
Not published — contact the department

How long did your Certificate of Occupancy / Change of Use Permit permit actually take in Polson?

Anonymous — one question, no email. Answers are combined and only shown once at least 5 people have reported.

Inspection process

  1. 1

    Site/Occupancy Evaluation

    The application grants permission for the Polson Building Department, Fire Department, or their designated agents to enter the property to evaluate the application and any resulting construction; no further inspection sequence is published specifically for this permit type

See the full Polson inspection guide — scheduling & re-inspection fees →

Tips

  • This is ONE combined application covering both a Certificate of Occupancy and a Change of Use, with a single $100 fee printed on the form itself — but the currently effective 2026 Planning and Public Works Fee Schedule lists 'Certificate of Occupancy' and 'Change of Use Permit' as two separate $100 line items, so confirm with Community Development whether your specific project is billed once or twice.
  • If your change of use includes new signage, budget for a separate Sign Permit application and fee — the COO/Change of Use form itself flags this as a distinct process.
  • Both the Building Department and Fire Department are granted entry rights under this application to evaluate the property, reflecting the combined building-code and fire-safety review built into a change-of-use determination.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. The City uses a combined 'Application for Certificate of Occupancy/Change of Use' form, currently listing a $100 fee on the form itself, though the City's 2026 Planning and Public Works Fee Schedule separately lists Certificate of Occupancy ($100) and Change of Use Permit ($100) as two distinct line items.

In Polson, the published Certificate of Occupancy/Change of Use (combined application fee, as printed on the City's own application form) is: $100.00. Additional published fees: Certificate of Occupancy (as a distinct Planning fee line item) — $100.00; Change of Use Permit (as a distinct Planning fee line item) — $100.00. These are the jurisdiction's own published figures — see the fee schedule table and source citations on this page.

Polson does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact City of Polson Building Department (Planning & Building Department) at (406) 883-8214 for current turnaround.

You'll need: Application for Certificate of Occupancy/Change of Use; Site Plans (2 copies). See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Polson requires 1 inspection(s) for a certificate of occupancy / change of use permit, in order: Site/Occupancy Evaluation. Schedule each through City of Polson Building Department (Planning & Building Department) ((406) 883-8214).

Apply through City of Polson Building Department (Planning & Building Department) at 106 1st Street East, Polson, MT 59860. Phone: (406) 883-8214, email: bp@cityofpolson.com. Office hours: City Hall main line (406) 883-8200, fax (406) 883-8238. Building Official: Lynda Benson, (406) 883-8216. Community Development Director: Rob Edington, (406) 883-8213. Applications may be submitted by mail (City of Polson, 106 1st Street East, Polson, MT 59860) or by email to bp@cityofpolson.com. The City also directs applicants to apply online at GovWell.com.. Official information: https://www.cityofpolson.com/building.

Polson, 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; a certified local program's adopted code 'may include only codes adopted by the Building Codes Bureau' (ARM 24.301.202). Non-certified trades/areas 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/_docs/building-codes-permits/certified-city.pdf, updated 04/22/2026).; Polson is a Montana DLI-certified jurisdiction for Building (B), Plumbing (P), Electrical (E), and Mechanical (M) — but explicitly NOT Swimming Pool (SP) — within Polson city limits. Certified program contact on file with DLI: 'Office', (406) 883-8214. Source: Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau, 'Montana Certified Local Government Program' roster (bsd.dli.mt.gov/_docs/building-codes-permits/certified-city.pdf, updated 04/22/2026), row 'Polson | B, P, E, M | Office | 883-8214 | City Limits'. Directly fetched and text-extracted from the PDF during this research pass (2026-07-04); no 'SP' designation appears for Polson in the roster, unlike Darby, Hamilton, Manhattan, and other full-trade-certified Montana towns in this same roster which explicitly list 'SP'. No separate Lake County-level DLI certification row exists in the roster (the county itself is not a certified jurisdiction), so there is no competing county-level certification for areas outside Polson city limits.; 2021 International Building Code (IBC), as amended by ARM 24.301.131 — per City of Polson Standards for Design & Construction page (Montana Building Codes / International Code Council list); 2021 International Residential Code (IRC), as amended by ARM 24.301.154 — per City of Polson Standards for Design & Construction page; 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), as amended by ARM 24.301.161 — per City of Polson Standards for Design & Construction page; 2021 International Existing Building Code (IEBC), as amended by ARM 24.301.171 — per City of Polson Standards for Design & Construction page; 2021 International Mechanical Code (IMC), as amended by ARM 24.301.172 — per City of Polson Standards for Design & Construction page; also cited directly on the City's Mechanical Permit Application ('Title 50, Chapter 60, Section 104, MCA and ARM 24.301.172'); 2021 International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC), as amended by ARM 24.301.173 — per City of Polson Standards for Design & Construction page; 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC), as amended by ARM 24.301.175 — per City of Polson Standards for Design & Construction page. Note: this code is listed among Montana's statewide-adopted codes referenced by the City's own Standards page, but Polson is NOT DLI-certified for Swimming Pool (SP) permitting — see codesAdopted certification note above; pool-specific permitting/inspection is understood to route to the state DLI Building Codes Bureau rather than being issued locally by Polson.; 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC), as amended by ARM 24.301.301 — per City of Polson Standards for Design & Construction page; also cited directly on the City's Plumbing Permit Application ('Title 50, Chapter 60, Section 505, MCA and ARM 24.301.301 and ARM 24.301.361'). Montana uses the Uniform Plumbing Code, not the International Plumbing Code.; 2020 National Electrical Code (NEC) — effective statewide June 11, 2022 per Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau Current Codes summary; cited directly on the City of Polson Electrical Permit Application ('Title 50, Chapter 60, Section 604, MCA and ARM 24.301.431'). Not separately listed on the City's own Standards for Design & Construction code list (which enumerates only ICC/UPC family codes), but confirmed via the statewide DLI source and the City's own electrical permit application form citation.; All codes verified directly against the City of Polson 'Standards for Design & Construction' page (Montana Building Codes / International Code Council section), https://www.cityofpolson.com/building/page/standards-design-construction, fetched and read directly during this research pass (2026-07-04).. Local amendments apply — see the Polson overview page for the full list.

No. The Certificate of Occupancy/Change of Use application explicitly notes that a sign application is separate, with its own application and fee.

Sources & verification

Verified against official sources. Last reviewed 2026-07-22.

Fees, timelines, and adopted codes are researched from each jurisdiction's published records — see how we verify. Requirements change and vary by project, so always confirm the current details with the Polson building department before you submit. PermitBase is an independent reference and is not affiliated with any government agency.

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