Commercial Building Permit in Sidney, Montana

Sidney requires a commercial building permit for: Complete the 'Application For A Commercial Building Permit Within The City Limits Of The City Of Sidney' form (two-part: Part 1, and Parts 2-3); Site Plan showing property lines, street & alley right-of-ways, exterior building dimensions, and setbacks; Contractor documentation: proof of Montana Contractor License, proof of Liability Insurance, proof of Worker's Compensation Coverage; State Plumber Permit and State Electrical Permit are separately required (checkbox items on the City's own application) — Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau permits, not issued by the City; New construction or expansion of commercial property must provide a storm runoff plan; List all plumbing fixtures included, or provide architectural drawings, for the water/sewer connection section; Indicate whether the site is in a flood zone; if yes, the local floodplain administrator must review the plans; Commercial and high-density housing properties must provide an accessible, wind-protected area for solid waste containers and a separate area for confining cardboard if necessary, shown on the site plan; If any demolition (wall/ceiling demolition, flooring removal, etc.) is part of the project, a Certificate of Asbestos Inspection and abatement is required (contact DEQ, 406-444-5286, with questions); Sidney Public Works Department will review all commercial applications for new construction or additions; A minimum of two complete sets of plans per the 'Sidney/Richland' Application/Building Plan Proposal submittal checklist; complex or commercial projects may require a design professional; fire suppression systems require engineer-prepared drawings and specifications; prefabricated steel buildings require engineered drawings. If your project isn't listed, confirm with City of Sidney Fire Marshal / Building Inspector — Kale Rasmussen; city-certified for Building (B), ALL project types (residential and commercial), within Sidney city limits ONLY. Electrical and Plumbing permits of ANY project type within Sidney city limits are issued directly by the Montana Department of Labor & Industry Building Codes Bureau (Sidney holds no state certification in those trades), as is Mechanical/HVAC. at 406.433.1122 before starting work.

In Sidney, the published Building Permit Fee — valuation-based (same table as residential) is: $23.50 minimum up to $5,608.75 for the first $1,000,000 plus $3 per additional $1,000 over $1,000,000. Additional published fees: Plan Review Fee — 35% of the calculated building permit fee; Additional Plan Review — $85.00 per hour in addition to regular fee (minimum 1/2-hour charge). These are the jurisdiction's own published figures — see the fee schedule table and source citations on this page.

Sidney's published plan-review target for a commercial building permit is 0–60 business days.

You'll need: Application For A Commercial Building Permit (Part 1); Application For A Commercial Building Permit (Parts 2-3); Building Permit Submittal Documents Checklist. Depending on your project, Sidney may also ask for: Certificate of Asbestos Inspection and Abatement. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Apply through City of Sidney Fire Marshal / Building Inspector — Kale Rasmussen; city-certified for Building (B), ALL project types (residential and commercial), within Sidney city limits ONLY. Electrical and Plumbing permits of ANY project type within Sidney city limits are issued directly by the Montana Department of Labor & Industry Building Codes Bureau (Sidney holds no state certification in those trades), as is Mechanical/HVAC. at 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.. Official information: https://cityofsidneymt.com/fire-building.

Sidney, 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 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. Local amendments apply — see the Sidney overview page for the full list.

Only if the project involves demolition (wall/ceiling demolition, flooring removal, etc.) — the Commercial Building Permit Application requires a Certificate of Asbestos Inspection and Abatement in that case. Contact Montana DEQ at 406-444-5286 with questions.

The City of Sidney issues commercial building permits locally, under its Montana DLI Building (B) certification covering all project types within city limits. Electrical, Plumbing, and Mechanical permits for the same project are separate State permits.