Residential Building Permit (New Construction / Addition / Alteration / Repair / Move) — Colstrip, Montana · Requirements sheet
Verified 2026-07-04 · Source: https://www.cityofcolstrip.com/building-zoning
PermitBase is an independent reference and is not affiliated with any government agency. Requirements change and vary by project — confirm current details with the building department before you submit.
Residential Building Permit (New Construction / Addition / Alteration / Repair / Move) in Colstrip, Montana
Required for new single-family/two-family home construction, additions, alterations, repairs, and moved structures on RESIDENTIAL property within Colstrip city limits. Issued by the City of Colstrip Code Enforcement Office under its DLI certification for Building (B), RESIDENTIAL ONLY, per Colstrip Municipal Code Title 7, Chapter 1. This certification does NOT extend to commercial building work — see the separate commercial-building-permit-state entry.
Verified 2026-07-04 · Source
When you need this permit
- Complete the City of Colstrip Residential Building Permit Application: job site address, owner/contractor/architect-or-designer mailing address and phone, building setbacks (front/side/side/rear from property line), building dimensions (length/width/height), type of work, description of work, valuation of work, and total square footage
- Select Type of Work: New, Addition, Alteration, Repair, or Move
- Per Municipal Code 7-1-4.B: submit a scale drawing showing lot dimensions and locations of existing/proposed structures, the property owner's name and legal description of the lot, the proposed use of the land/building/structure, and any other information the code enforcement officer requires
- Applicant acknowledges on the form that separate plumbing, electrical, and mechanical permits may also be required, and that it is the applicant's sole duty to obtain these (these route to the state DLI Building Codes Bureau — see separate entries)
- Construction may not start until the permit is issued; the building may not be occupied until released for occupancy
Required documents
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Fee schedule
Per Colstrip Municipal Code 7-1-5, the fee schedule for both permitted and nonpermitted construction and inspection is set by resolution of the city council (based on the building inspector's… Show full citationHide
Per Colstrip Municipal Code 7-1-5, the fee schedule for both permitted and nonpermitted construction and inspection is set by resolution of the city council (based on the building inspector's recommendation and comparison to other Eastern Montana communities), NOT fixed in the ordinance text itself. No such council-resolution fee schedule is published on cityofcolstrip.com (Forms page or Building and Zoning page), and the City's own downloadable application form has a blank 'Valuation of Work' field but no printed fee table. This is a genuine publication gap. Applicants must contact the Code Enforcement Office at (406) 748-2300 ext. 2305 for the current fee.Review timeline
Inspection process
- 1
Pre-Construction / During-Construction Inspections
Per Municipal Code 7-1-4.E, the code enforcement officer conducts inspections before and during construction to verify compliance; per the City's own Building and Zoning webpage, allow 2-3 days' advance notice when calling the Code Enforcement Office to schedule a site visit. Inspections are provided at no additional cost per the City's own page.
- 2
Certificate of Occupancy
Per Municipal Code 7-1-4.F, once the code enforcement officer determines completed work complies with the chapter, a certificate of occupancy is issued before the building/structure may be occupied or used, per uniform building code sections 305-307
See the full Colstrip inspection guide — scheduling & re-inspection fees →
Tips
- Colstrip's local Building certification covers RESIDENTIAL construction only — a commercial project of any kind does not qualify for city-issued permitting and must go to the state DLI Building Codes Bureau instead; see the commercial-building-permit-state entry.
- Colstrip's 30-day (or 40-day, if state/consultant assistance is requested) review timeline is codified directly in Municipal Code 7-1-4.C — one of the few small Montana towns with an actual local ordinance-stated turnaround figure rather than an unpublished gap.
- No fixed fee schedule is published online — Municipal Code 7-1-5 states fees are set by city council resolution, not printed in the ordinance itself. Get a current quote from the Code Enforcement Office, (406) 748-2300 ext. 2305, before budgeting a project.
- A building permit is valid for 180 days from issuance and expires if construction hasn't started, or if suspended/abandoned for more than 180 days once started — matching the language printed directly on the City's own application form.
- Separate Electrical, Plumbing, and Mechanical/HVAC permits are required from the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau (not the City) for any of that work — it is explicitly flagged as the applicant's sole responsibility on the City's own application form.
Frequently asked questions
Sources & verification
Verified against official sources. Last reviewed 2026-07-04.
Fee schedules
Applications & forms
Codes & ordinances
Department & other records
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 Colstrip building department before you submit. PermitBase is an independent reference and is not affiliated with any government agency.
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