Sidney building permits

Building department

Address

1105 3rd St NW, Sidney, MT 59270

Phone

406.433.1122

Email

buildingofficial@cityofsidneymt.com; firemarshal@cityofsidneymt.com

Office hours

Not published on the City of Sidney Fire Marshal / Building Inspector pages; call 406.433.1122 or email buildingofficial@cityofsidneymt.com. Fax: 406.433.7509.

Website

Official site

Inspection guide

See how inspections work in Sidney — sequence, scheduling & re-inspection fees.

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 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).
• Sidney is a Montana DLI-certified jurisdiction for Building (B), ALL project types, within CITY LIMITS ONLY; certified official on file with DLI: Kale Rasmussen, 480-9113 (city phone format as printed in the roster; the City of Sidney's own published number for the same official is 406.433.1122). Verified directly by fetching and text-extracting the DLI Building Codes Bureau's 'MONTANA CERTIFIED LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAM' roster PDF (updated 04/22/2026): the roster carries TWO SEPARATE line items — 'Richland County | B | Kale Rasmussen | 480-9113 | County except Sidney' and 'Sidney | B | Kale Rasmussen | 480-9113 | City Limits'. This confirms Sidney's own certification is a DISTINCT, SEPARATE entry from Richland County's countywide program, not a subset or duplicate listing — the same certified official (Kale Rasmussen, who is also Richland County's building inspector per richland.org/building.html) administers both programs, but the County's own certification explicitly EXCLUDES Sidney ('County except Sidney'), and Sidney has its own independent 'City Limits' certification. Source: https://bsd.dli.mt.gov/_docs/building-codes-permits/certified-city.pdf
• Unlike several Montana B-only-certified cities (e.g., Hardin, Anaconda-Deer Lodge, Colstrip) whose certification is explicitly 'B (residential only)', Sidney's DLI roster entry lists plainly 'B' with no residential-only qualifier — matching the pattern of Choteau/Conrad/Cutbank/Glasgow/Lewistown/Red Lodge, i.e. Sidney's local Building certification covers BOTH residential and commercial building permitting within city limits. Corroborated directly by the City's own published forms: cityofsidneymt.com/fire-building/page/building-permit-applications lists both a 'Residential Building Permit Application' and a two-part 'Commercial Building Permit Application' as separate City-issued forms, each captioned 'WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS OF THE CITY OF SIDNEY.' Source: DLI roster PDF; https://cityofsidneymt.com/fire-building/page/building-permit-applications
• Electrical and Mechanical/HVAC permitting are NOT locally certified in Sidney — the DLI roster's Sidney line lists only 'B' (no 'E' or 'M' code), meaning Electrical and Mechanical permits of any project type within Sidney city limits route DIRECTLY to the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau for state administration, exactly as in a non-certified jurisdiction. Plumbing is likewise not covered by Sidney's own DLI code letter, and is independently confirmed as state-administered by the City's own Residential and Commercial Building Permit Application forms, both of which include a checklist item 'State Plumber Permit (required)' and 'State Electrical Permit (required)' under the Contractor section — direct documentary evidence, from the City's own application forms, that plumbing and electrical permits for construction within Sidney are STATE permits, not city-issued. Source: DLI roster PDF; City of Sidney Residential Building Permit Application PDF; Commercial Building Permit Application PDF
• 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. Source: bsd.dli.mt.gov/building-codes-permits/current-codes

Permit types & fees

• Residential Building Permit

  Required for new residential structures larger than eighty (80) square feet, and additions to existing residential structures, within Sidney city limits. Issued and reviewed LOCALLY by the City of Sidney Fire Marshal / Building Inspector (Kale Rasmussen) under Sidney's Montana DLI certification for Building (B), all project types, city limits only. Reviewed against the state-adopted 2021 IBC/IRC/IECC editions (ARM Title 24, chapter 301). Electrical and Plumbing work associated with the project require SEPARATE State permits (see the state-enforced permit entries below); Mechanical/HVAC work likewise requires a separate State Mechanical Permit.

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• Commercial Building Permit

  Required for new commercial structures larger than eighty (80) square feet, and additions to existing commercial structures, within Sidney city limits. Issued and reviewed LOCALLY by the City of Sidney Fire Marshal / Building Inspector (Kale Rasmussen) under Sidney's Montana DLI certification for Building (B), all project types, city limits only. Electrical and Plumbing work associated with the project require SEPARATE State permits; Mechanical/HVAC work likewise requires a separate State Mechanical Permit.

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• Electrical Permit

  Required for electrical installations, alterations, service changes, and panel upgrades within Sidney city limits. Electrical permitting is NOT locally certified in Sidney (the DLI roster's Sidney line lists only 'B', no 'E') — it is issued and inspected DIRECTLY by the Montana Department of Labor & Industry, Building Codes Bureau, under the 2020 National Electrical Code (NEC), effective June 11, 2022. Corroborated by the City's own Building Permit Application forms, which list 'State Electrical Permit (required)' as a checklist item.

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• Plumbing Permit

  Required for plumbing installations, alterations, and repairs within Sidney city limits. Plumbing is NOT locally certified in Sidney (the DLI roster's Sidney line lists only 'B', no 'P') — it is issued and inspected DIRECTLY by the Montana Department of Labor & Industry, Building Codes Bureau, under the 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC), effective June 11, 2022. Corroborated by the City's own Building Permit Application forms, which list 'State Plumber Permit (required)' as a checklist item.

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• Mechanical / HVAC Permit

  Required for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and fuel-gas installations within Sidney city limits. Mechanical is NOT locally certified in Sidney (the DLI roster's Sidney line lists only 'B', no 'M') — it is issued and inspected DIRECTLY by the Montana Department of Labor & Industry, Building Codes Bureau, under the 2021 International Mechanical Code (IMC) and 2021 International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC), both effective June 11, 2022.

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• Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Permit

  Required for installing a rooftop or ground-mount photovoltaic system within Sidney city limits. Because Sidney is not electrical-certified, TWO permits and TWO authorities apply: a City of Sidney Building Permit for the structural/roof-mount work (valuation-based, no dedicated solar line item) and a State of Montana Electrical Permit for the PV electrical installation, issued directly by the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau, which now uses a flat 'Alternative Energy' fee line (current form revision 11/25).

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• EV Charger / EVSE Permit

  Required for installing an electric vehicle charging station (Level 2 or DC fast charger) within Sidney city limits. Because Sidney is not electrical-certified, the electrical installation is a State of Montana Electrical Permit, issued directly by the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau (Sidney's own line on the DLI certified-jurisdiction roster shows 'B' only, no 'E'), not a City permit. The Building Codes Bureau's BCP-1 fee schedule has no dedicated EV-charger/EVSE line item; a dedicated EV charger circuit is billed under the same 'Interior/Exterior Wire or Rewire' per-circuit fee tiers documented in this file's electrical-permit entry (the closest matching category for adding one or more new circuits/pieces of equipment to an existing service), or under the applicable panel/service-upgrade tier if the installation requires a service change.

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• Sign Permit

  Required for the erection, construction, relocation or alteration of any non-exempt commercial/business sign or other outdoor advertising device within Sidney city limits. Per the City of Sidney Zoning Ordinance (Ord. 593, 03-21-2022), Article 11.19 'Outdoor Advertising', Section 11.19.50 ('Permit Required'): such work 'requires a Building Permit,' plus a separate Electrical Permit if the sign is illuminated. Because sign permits are issued as a Building Permit, they are administered LOCALLY by the City of Sidney Fire Marshal / Building Inspector (Kale Rasmussen) under Sidney's Montana DLI Building (B) certification, all project types, city limits only — the same authority and fee schedule documented in this file's commercial-building-permit entry. No dedicated 'Sign Permit' application form or sign-specific fee line item was found on the City's website or its (visually-inspected) Building Code Enforcement Fee Schedule; signs are billed under the same general valuation-based Building Permit Fee table.

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• Fire Sprinkler / Fire Alarm Permit

  Sidney has NO distinct, standalone 'fire sprinkler permit' or 'fire alarm permit' product or fee schedule of its own — the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau does not certify a separate 'Fire' trade (its certified-jurisdictions roster only lists B/P/E/M/SP/W codes, and Sidney's own roster line shows only 'B', no 'SP'). Instead, TWO existing, already-documented permit pathways in this file cover fire-protection systems: (1) an automatic fire SPRINKLER (suppression) system is reviewed as part of the standard City of Sidney Building Permit — the City's own 'Sidney/Richland' Building Permit Submittal Documents checklist states 'Fire Suppression Systems. Any building in which an automatic fire suppression system is installed must have construction drawings and specifications prepared by a licensed engineer,' and this review is administered by the City's Fire Marshal / Building Inspector (Kale Rasmussen holds BOTH titles) under Sidney's Montana DLI Building (B) certification; and (2) fire ALARM system wiring, being electrical work, is not locally certified in Sidney (DLI roster shows 'B' only, no 'E') and is issued as a State of Montana Electrical Permit by the DLI Building Codes Bureau, billed under the standard Residential/Commercial Electrical Permit fee schedule documented in this file's electrical-permit entry (no dedicated fire-alarm fee line item exists on the state BCP-1 form). Separately, the City of Sidney has locally adopted the International Fire Code by reference (Sidney Municipal Code Title 7, Chapter 4, Sec. 7-4-1: 'The city hereby adopts as part of this code the international fire code standards which are the current standards adopted from time to time by the International Fire Code Commission and set forth in the Montana administrative rules (ARMs)... (Ord. 554, 5-5-2014)'), enforced by the same Fire Marshal/Building Inspector. Contractors who sell, install, or service fire protection (sprinkler/alarm) systems anywhere in Montana, including Sidney, must separately hold a state Fire Protection License (Business Entity and Individual Endorsement) from the DLI's Montana Fire Protection License Program — a professional licensing requirement, not a per-project permit.

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• Change of Use / Certificate of Occupancy

  Sidney has NO standalone, separately-published 'Change of Use Permit' or Certificate of Occupancy application/fee distinct from its existing Building Permit process. The Sidney Municipal Code, Title 4 ('Building Regulations'), Chapter 1, Sec. 4-1-3 ('Activities Regulated') establishes that the City's building code 'shall regulate the erection, construction, enlargement, alteration, repair, moving, removal, demolition, conversion, occupancy, equipment, use, height, area and maintenance' of buildings/structures, 'and shall provide for the issuance of permits and collection of fees' (Ord. 473, 5-20-2002) — meaning a change of occupancy or use IS a regulated activity, but it is folded into the same Residential or Commercial Building Permit process (documented elsewhere in this file) rather than issued as its own product, whenever construction/alteration work accompanies the change. Separately, Sidney's Zoning Ordinance (Ord. 593) independently triggers requirements specifically keyed to 'change of use' even with no construction: off-street parking must be provided for the new use per the parking-requirements article, and a Landscape Plan is required for 'changes of use' per the landscaping standards. No dedicated Change-of-Use application form, and no distinct Certificate-of-Occupancy fee, were found on the City of Sidney's own website, its Building Permit Applications, or its (visually-inspected) Fee Schedule PDF, despite an exhaustive search of the City's Fire Marshal/Building Inspector pages, both Building Permit Application forms, the Building Permit Submittal Documents checklist, the full Zoning Code PDF, and the City's Municipal Code Titles 4, 5, 7, and 11 hosted on American Legal Publishing's code library. Richland County — a companion but legally SEPARATE Montana DLI certification sharing the same building official (Kale Rasmussen) and office — publishes its own 'Occupancy Permits' page describing a standard practice of issuing a Certificate of Occupancy after required inspections, or a Certificate of Final Inspection for remodels/small additions in lieu of a full CO; this is documented County practice, not confirmed by any City-of-Sidney-specific source as identically applied inside Sidney city limits. Confidence is marked 'partial' for this reason — this is a genuine, chased-out finding of an unpublished process, not an assumption.

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