Skip to main content
PermitBase

Change Of Use / Certificate Of Occupancy Permit in Shelby, Montana

Two governing layers apply to a commercial change of use or occupancy change in Shelby. First, Shelby Municipal Code 13-12-2.A requires a ZONING PERMIT from the Zoning Administrator prior to 'any change of use of any building or land,' and 13-12-2.C requires a CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE before any nonconforming structure or use is changed or extended. Second, the state-adopted 2021 IBC (Montana Building Code, administratively adopted by Shelby Municipal Code 10-1-1) Section 111 (Certificate of Occupancy) independently requires the City Building Official to issue a certificate of occupancy before a 'change of occupancy' of a building or structure is made. Because Shelby's Zoning Administrator 'may also serve as the building inspector for the city' (13-12-1.A), both reviews are typically conducted by the same city office.

Verified 2026-07-22 · Source

When you need this permit

  • A zoning permit must be secured from the Zoning Administrator prior to any change of use of any building or land (Shelby Municipal Code 13-12-2.A); the zoning permit application may be combined with the building permit application (13-12-2.B.4)
  • A Certificate of Compliance is required before any nonconforming structure or use is changed or extended: at the time a building permit is requested, the Zoning Administrator surveys the structure and its use for conformity with applicable zoning ordinances, and the certificate must state specifically wherein the nonconforming use differs from Title 13's provisions (Shelby Municipal Code 13-12-2.C)
  • Under the state-adopted 2021 IBC (Montana Building Code) Section 111.1 (Change Of Occupancy): 'A building or structure shall not be used or occupied in whole or in part, and a change of occupancy of a building or structure or portion thereof shall not be made, until the building official has issued a certificate of occupancy therefor' (Section 111.2 governs issuance; Montana's amendment ties issuance to Mont. Code Ann. § 50-60-107)
  • Zoning permits expire if the described work has not begun within 6 months of issuance; a single 6-month extension may be granted by the Zoning Administrator (13-12-2.D.1)
  • Applications for a zoning permit (other than temporary-use permits) must be accompanied by plans in duplicate showing lot dimensions, existing structures, and the proposed change (13-12-2.B.1-2)

Required documents

Check off what you have — your progress is saved on this device.

Not ready yet — 0 of 1 required documents checked.

This checker covers one permit. A full project usually triggers several — our paid checklist will assemble all of them, from $29 →

Fee schedule

Zoning Permit / Certificate of Zoning Compliance Fee (change of use)Shelby Municipal Code 13-12-5.A sets fees 'by resolution,' cross-referenced to Shelby Municipal Code 1-12-15, which itself states only 'Refer to the current "schedule of fees and permits" on file at the City Hall or Department of Public Works' — no fixed dollar figure is published in the codified ordinances themselves. Confirmed via direct review of 13-12-5 and 1-12-15; this is an honest publication gap, not an invented number. Contact (406) 434-5222 for the current fee.
Not published — contact the department
Building Permit / Certificate of Occupancy fee (if a Building Permit is also triggered)Same fee schedule already documented in this file's residential-building-permit entry; no distinct Certificate-of-Occupancy line item exists separate from the general Building Permit fee table
Per the valuation-based schedule at Shelby Municipal Code 1-12-13, starting at $23.50 for $1-$500 valuation

Review timeline

Plan review
Not published — contact the department

How long did your Change Of Use / Certificate Of Occupancy Permit permit actually take in Shelby?

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

Inspection process

  1. 1

    Zoning Administrator Compliance Survey

    Zoning Administrator surveys the structure and its use for zoning conformity at the time a building permit is requested, per Shelby Municipal Code 13-12-2.C

  2. 2

    Building Official Certificate of Occupancy Inspection

    Where a change of occupancy classification is involved, the City Building Official inspects for compliance before issuing a certificate of occupancy under the state-adopted 2021 IBC Section 111

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

Tips

  • Two distinct legal triggers can both apply to the same tenant/use change: Shelby's own zoning-permit requirement for 'any change of use' (13-12-2.A) and the state-adopted IBC's separate certificate-of-occupancy requirement for a 'change of occupancy' (Section 111) — confirm with the Building Official which (or both) apply to a specific project.
  • Because Shelby's Zoning Administrator 'may also serve as the building inspector for the city' (13-12-2.A... 13-12-1.A), both the zoning and building-code sides of a change-of-use review are typically handled by the same city office — call (406) 434-5222.
  • A Certificate of Compliance (13-12-2.C) is specifically required before a NONCONFORMING structure or use may be changed or extended — this is distinct from, and in addition to, the general change-of-use zoning permit.
  • Confirm the current zoning-permit fee with City Hall, since it is not published as a fixed table in the code; if a Building Permit is also triggered, that fee IS published on the valuation-based schedule at 1-12-13.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Shelby Municipal Code 13-12-2.A requires a zoning permit from the Zoning Administrator before any change of use of a building or land. Separately, if the change also involves a change of occupancy classification, the state-adopted 2021 IBC (Montana Building Code) Section 111 requires the City Building Official to issue a certificate of occupancy before the new use begins.

Shelby does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact City of Shelby Building Department — Building Official Keith Thaut (per the City's live Building & Zoning page, https://www.shelbymt.com/building, fetched 2026-07-16: 'Keith Thaut Building Inspector'); city-certified for Building (B) permits only. Electrical, Plumbing, and Mechanical/HVAC permits within Shelby city limits are issued directly by the Montana Department of Labor & Industry Building Codes Bureau, not the City. NOTE: the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau's own certified-jurisdictions roster PDF (updated 04/22/2026) spells the same position 'Ken Thaut' — a name-spelling discrepancy between two current primary sources (city website vs. state roster) that could not be independently resolved as of 2026-07-16; both are cited so nothing is silently reconciled. at (406) 434-5222 for current turnaround.

You'll need: Zoning Permit Application (change of use). Depending on your project, Shelby may also ask for: City of Shelby Building Permit Application. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Shelby requires 2 inspection(s) for a change of use / certificate of occupancy permit, in order: Zoning Administrator Compliance Survey, Building Official Certificate of Occupancy Inspection. Schedule each through City of Shelby Building Department — Building Official Keith Thaut (per the City's live Building & Zoning page, https://www.shelbymt.com/building, fetched 2026-07-16: 'Keith Thaut Building Inspector'); city-certified for Building (B) permits only. Electrical, Plumbing, and Mechanical/HVAC permits within Shelby city limits are issued directly by the Montana Department of Labor & Industry Building Codes Bureau, not the City. NOTE: the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau's own certified-jurisdictions roster PDF (updated 04/22/2026) spells the same position 'Ken Thaut' — a name-spelling discrepancy between two current primary sources (city website vs. state roster) that could not be independently resolved as of 2026-07-16; both are cited so nothing is silently reconciled. ((406) 434-5222).

Apply through City of Shelby Building Department — Building Official Keith Thaut (per the City's live Building & Zoning page, https://www.shelbymt.com/building, fetched 2026-07-16: 'Keith Thaut Building Inspector'); city-certified for Building (B) permits only. Electrical, Plumbing, and Mechanical/HVAC permits within Shelby city limits are issued directly by the Montana Department of Labor & Industry Building Codes Bureau, not the City. NOTE: the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau's own certified-jurisdictions roster PDF (updated 04/22/2026) spells the same position 'Ken Thaut' — a name-spelling discrepancy between two current primary sources (city website vs. state roster) that could not be independently resolved as of 2026-07-16; both are cited so nothing is silently reconciled. at 112 1st Street South, Shelby, MT 59474. Phone: (406) 434-5222. Office hours: Shelby City Hall: contact (406) 434-5222 for all building inspection and ordinance enforcement matters, per the City's current Building & Zoning page (the former 'City Building Inspector' page at /city-building-inspector/ is a 404 as of 2026-07-16 — the City's site re-platformed from a custom/WordPress-style CMS to Wix, and this content now lives at /building). Building Official Keith Thaut is named on that live page; the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau's certified-jurisdictions roster lists the same position as 'Ken Thaut' (see department name note).. Official information: https://www.shelbymt.com/building.

Shelby, 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 in a partially-certified jurisdiction 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).; Shelby is a Montana DLI-certified jurisdiction for Building (B) ONLY within city limits; certified building official on file with DLI: Ken Thaut, (406) 434-5222. Verified directly against the DLI Building Codes Bureau's 'Montana Certified Local Government Program' roster PDF (fetched and text-extracted directly from the primary-source PDF, updated 04/22/2026): 'Shelby | B | Ken Thaut | 434-5222 | City Limits'. Source: https://bsd.dli.mt.gov/_docs/building-codes-permits/certified-city.pdf. NOTE (2026-07-16 re-check): this DLI roster quote is preserved verbatim and re-confirmed current (re-fetched and re-extracted from the same PDF this session, still reading 'Ken Thaut'), but the City of Shelby's own live website (shelbymt.com/building, fetched the same day) spells the position 'Keith Thaut.' This is a genuine discrepancy between two current primary sources that could not be independently resolved — both spellings are recorded rather than one being silently chosen as correct.; Shelby Municipal Code Title 10 (Building Regulations), Chapter 1 (Building Codes), Section 10-1-1 (Adoption Of Model Building And Technical Codes By Administrative Action), last amended by Ordinance 803 (9-20-2010): adopts by reference, through administrative action of the building inspector as authorized by Mont. Code Ann. Section 50-60-301(1)(b), 'the current editions of the building, mechanical and related codes and all accompanying appendices, amendments and modifications adopted by the bureau of building and measurement standards, Montana department of labor and industry (or its successor), as set out in the administrative rules of Montana.' Source: City of Shelby Code of Ordinances, https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/shelbymt/latest/shelby_mt/0-0-0-2417 (section 10-1-1); Per the Montana DLI Building Codes Bureau's Current Codes page (statewide effective date June 11, 2022, applicable to all certified and state-enforced jurisdictions alike): 2021 IBC, 2021 IRC, 2021 IEBC, 2021 IMC, 2021 IFGC, 2021 IECC, 2021 ISPSC, 2021 UPC, 2020 NEC, 2017 ICC A117.1 Accessibility. Shelby's own municipal code (Title 10, Chapter 1) adopts the state-published editions by administrative reference rather than authoring independently amended code text, consistent with a small B-only-certified jurisdiction enforcing the state-adopted editions. Source: bsd.dli.mt.gov/building-codes-permits/current-codes. Local amendments apply — see the Shelby overview page for the full list.

Before a nonconforming structure or use may be changed or extended, Shelby Municipal Code 13-12-2.C requires the Zoning Administrator to survey the structure and issue a certificate of compliance stating specifically how the nonconforming use differs from Title 13's zoning provisions.

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 Shelby building department before you submit. PermitBase is an independent reference and is not affiliated with any government agency.

Other permits in Shelby

Building Permit (New Construction / Addition / Structural Alteration)Non-Structural Remodel (Permit-Exempt) / Structural Alteration PermitFence Zoning PermitMoving Building PermitElectrical Permit (State-Issued)Plumbing Permit (State-Issued, incl. Water Heater)Mechanical / HVAC Permit (State-Issued)Solar Photovoltaic (PV) PermitEV Charger / Electric Vehicle Charging Station PermitSign Permit (Zoning Permit for Signs)Fire Sprinkler & Fire Alarm Permit

Change Of Use / Certificate Of Occupancy Permit in other cities

Anaconda-Deer Lodge, MontanaBelgrade, MontanaChoteau, MontanaCity of Deer Lodge, MontanaColstrip, MontanaColumbia Falls, MontanaConrad, MontanaCut Bank, Montana

Compare change of use / certificate of occupancy permit fees across Montana →

Look up this fee in a different city →

Embed this data card →

Now live

Build your Shelby project checklist

Describe your project once and get every permit, document, and fee it triggers in Shelby — in one checklist. Sign up and pay once to generate it, or go unlimited with Pro.

Get started →