City of Bismarck, North Dakota - Building Inspections Department

City of Bismarck, North Dakota

city

Bismarck, ND

Not required

Residential reroofing sits outside Bismarck's building-permit system: the City's amendments to the International Building Code and the International Existing Building Code both add reroofing to the list of work exempt from permit, and the Department publishes no reroofing permit type and no reroofing application form. Work that does need a permit is applied for through eTRAKiT, the City's online permit and licence portal, or by emailing the Building Inspections Department; inspections on issued permits are requested through eTRAKiT one day ahead, or by telephone on 701-355-1465, and the permit must be in ISSUED status before an inspection can be requested. Building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing inspectors are assigned by district across the city and its extra-territorial area, and the Department publishes district maps to identify the inspector for a given address. Two jurisdictional points a roofer working the edge of town should know: the Department administers the codes both inside the City and in the Bismarck extra-territorial area, but the City does NOT hold electrical jurisdiction in the extra-territorial area, where electrical work must be inspected by the North Dakota State Electrical Board. Under Bismarck Code of Ordinances Section 4-02-06, where work requiring a permit is started before the permit is obtained, the permit fee is doubled.

LOCALLY ELECTED AND LOCALLY AMENDED - North Dakota imposes no building code on every municipality. Under NDCC 54-21.3-03(6) a city, township or county "that elects to administer and enforce a building code shall adopt and enforce the state building code", and the same subsection adds that "the state building code may be amended by cities, townships, and counties to conform to local needs" - with no stringency limit, no state approval and no notice requirement attached. Bismarck is an electing city. Bismarck Code of Ordinances Title 4 (Building Regulations), Section 4-02-02, adopts by reference the City of Bismarck Building Code, consisting of the 2021 International Building Code, the 2021 International Residential Code (including appendix AJ), the 2021 International Mechanical Code, the 2021 International Fuel Gas Code, the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code, the 2021 International Existing Building Code, the Wiring Standards of North Dakota and the North Dakota State Plumbing Code, most recently re-adopted by Ordinance 6544 (March 27, 2023). The City's Building Inspections Department publishes the same 2021 list as its adopted codes, adding ICC ANSI A117.1 2017, the National Electrical Code with the North Dakota State Wiring Standards, and the Uniform Plumbing Code with the North Dakota State Plumbing Standards. Section 4-02-06 then carries the City's own amendment list, running to more than thirty pages and organised by code. A 2024-edition update is UNDER WAY AND NOT YET ADOPTED: the Building Inspections Department states it "is in the process of updating the City's current building code regulations to the 2024 edition" of the IBC, IRC, IEBC, IECC, IMC and IFGC, sets an amendment submittal deadline of August 17, 2026, lists an open house as "TBD", and marks its draft code amendments "(Will be posted in August 2026)". The 2021 editions above are what the City publishes as adopted, and the 2024 package is a proposal in progress with no adopting ordinance and no effective date published. One further provision a roofer should know exists: Section 4-02-03 (Subsequent Editions) states that subsequent editions or revisions of the adopted codes "shall be considered adopted and in full force and effect within the city upon the adoption thereof by the State of North Dakota and/or the City of Bismarck and the filing of one copy thereof in the office of the City Administrator." That clause matters because the STATE base has already moved: the North Dakota Department of Commerce, Community Services - the agency the Century Code charges with maintaining the state building code - reports that on September 11, 2025 eligible cities and counties and eligible members of the Building Code Advisory Committee "adopted the 2024 updates to the IBC, IRC, IMC, and IFGC and the proposed amendments," together with the 2024 IECC and IEBC, and states that "The new North Dakota State Building Code will go into effect Jan. 1, 2026." Bismarck nonetheless publishes the 2021 suite as its adopted codes and describes its own move to the 2024 editions as still in progress. Both positions are stated here as published; which edition governs a particular Bismarck permit is a question for the Building Inspections Department, and a roofer should confirm the operative edition with the Building Official before pricing work to a specific edition.

Required — REQUIRED BY THE ADOPTED CODE, NOT BY A LOCAL RULE, AND THE ICC TEXT IS NOT RESTATED HERE. Bismarck adopts the 2021 International Residential Code at Bismarck Code of Ordinances Section 4-02-02, most recently re-adopted by Ordinance 6544 of March 27, 2023, and carries its own amendments at Section 4-02-06. Section 4-02-06 was read in full for this entry - all seven code-by-code amendment blocks, IBC, IRC, IMC, IFGC, IECC and IEBC - and its International Residential Code block amends no section of Chapter 8 (Roof-Ceiling Construction) or Chapter 9 (Roof Assemblies); the highest-numbered residential section it reaches is R611.6. The North Dakota State Building Code amendments to the same edition were read in full as well and amend no section of either chapter. Nothing in either instrument touches the drip-edge provision at Section R905.2.8.5, so it applies in Bismarck exactly as the adopted code publishes it. Its operative wording - the laps, how far the drip edge must extend below the sheathing and back onto the deck, the fastener spacing, and the order of the underlayment at eaves and at rakes, which is the part most often got wrong on site - sits behind the ICC paywall. This record does not restate it and does not rely on any third-party republication of it; read Section R905.2.8.5 in the code itself or ask Bismarck Building Inspections. About drip edge

Required — REQUIRED, AND ON BISMARCK'S OWN AMENDMENT RATHER THAN ON THE STATE DEFAULT OR ON CLIMATE. Bismarck adopts the 2021 International Residential Code at Bismarck Code of Ordinances Section 4-02-02, most recently re-adopted by Ordinance 6544 of March 27, 2023, and carries its own amendments at Section 4-02-06. Under the heading "Table R301.2 CLIMATIC AND GEOGRAPHIC DESIGN CRITERIA (1). Add:", Section 4-02-06 prints a list of the City's own values for Bismarck, and one of its lines reads "Ice Barrier Underlayment Required: YES". That is the City's own enacted text, not an inference from the state's climate. Section 4-02-06 was read in full for this entry - all seven code-by-code amendment blocks, IBC, IRC, IMC, IFGC, IECC and IEBC - and its International Residential Code block amends no section of Chapter 8 (Roof-Ceiling Construction) or Chapter 9 (Roof Assemblies); the highest-numbered residential section it reaches is R611.6. The North Dakota State Building Code amendments to the same edition were read in full as well and amend no section of either chapter. So the extent of the barrier - which roof coverings it applies to, what it must consist of, and how far up the slope it must run - is governed by the adopted code's own provision at Section R905.1.2, unmodified. That ICC text is behind the ICC paywall; it is not restated here and this record does not rely on any third-party republication of it. A roofer needing the exact extent should read Section R905.1.2 in the code itself or ask Bismarck Building Inspections. About ice & water barrier

Not required — The Building Inspections Department publishes its full required-inspection schedule, and it contains no roof-deck, underlayment or in-progress roof stage. The building inspections it lists are Footing, Foundation, Foundation Drainage (Draintile), Framing, Building Thermal Envelope, Fire Resistance-Rated Construction and Final, alongside separate electrical, plumbing, fuel gas and mechanical, and private sewage disposal schedules. The only roofing reference runs the other way: the roof covering must be finished before a framing inspection can be approved, the Department stating that "The roof covering must be completed, windows and doors installed, and the exterior walls protected with a weather resistive-barrier prior to approval." Residential reroofing is in any event exempt from permit in Bismarck, and with no permit there is no inspection to schedule. Inspections on work that is permitted are requested from Building Inspections at 701-355-1465 or through the eTRAKiT portal; requests made before 3:30 p.m. may be scheduled the same day.

Not required — No impact-resistance mandate applies in Bismarck. The City's amendments to the codes it adopts, at Bismarck Code of Ordinances Section 4-02-06 (read in full, all seven code-by-code amendment blocks), contain no amendment to Chapter 9 (Roof Assemblies) of the International Residential Code and no UL 2218, Class 4 or FM 4473 impact-rating requirement anywhere in their text. The North Dakota State Building Code amendments to the 2021 International Residential Code (read in full) likewise amend no section of Chapter 9 and impose no impact rating. Neither the City's nor the state's adopted amendments require impact-resistant roof coverings. An insurance discount for impact-rated shingles, where an insurer offers one, is a matter between the homeowner and the insurer and is not a building-code requirement in Bismarck.

NO DOLLAR OR SQUARE-FOOT THRESHOLD TO CLEAR, BECAUSE REROOFING IS NAMED AS EXEMPT WORK RATHER THAN THRESHOLD-TESTED. Bismarck Code of Ordinances Section 4-02-06 amends the codes it adopts, and two of those amendments name the work directly. Under the City's International Building Code amendments, "Section 105.2 Work exempt from permit. Building: Add item 14: 14. Reroofing." Under the City's International Existing Building Code amendments, "Section 105.2 Work exempt from permit. Building. Add items 7 and 8: 7. Reroofing 8. Window Replacement." The City's published list of projects a permit is required for names New Construction, Change of Occupancy, Additions/Renovations/Remodels, Basement Finish, Decks, Sheds, Garages, Pools, Sunrooms, Gazebo, Electrical Wiring, Plumbing, HVAC, Fireplaces, Furnace, Water Heater, Boiler, Air Conditioner and Unit Heater, and does not name roofing; the Department's permit application library likewise offers no reroofing application. The exemption is written into the City's International Building Code and International Existing Building Code amendments and is not repeated in its International Residential Code amendments, whose exemption list covers one-story detached accessory structures up to 120 square feet, fences not over 8.5 feet, retaining walls, window awnings and small ground-level decks. Two limits a roofer should plan around. First, the exemption is for reroofing - the covering - and does not on its face reach replacing roof decking or structural framing, or any accompanying electrical, mechanical or structural work, each of which is separately permitted. Second, a permit exemption is not a code exemption: the City's own International Residential Code amendment restates the standard caveat that "Exemption from permit requirements of this code shall not be deemed to grant authorization for any work to be done in any manner in violation of the provisions of this code or any other laws or ordinances of this jurisdiction." The roofing rules in the adopted code still bind the job; only the permit is waived. Confirm with Building Inspections at 701-355-1465 before relying on the exemption for a job that disturbs the deck or the framing.

READ FROM BISMARCK'S OWN AMENDMENT, FIGURE BY FIGURE. Bismarck Code of Ordinances Section 4-02-06, under the heading "Table R301.2 CLIMATIC AND GEOGRAPHIC DESIGN CRITERIA (1). Add:", prints the City's own criteria as a list. Each figure below is kept against the label the ordinance prints it under, and the page was rendered and read as an image rather than taken from a text extraction. Ground snow load: 35 psf. Wind Design speed: 115 mph. Wind Design topographic effects: NO. Wind Design special wind region: NO. Wind Design wind-borne debris zone: NO. Seismic Design Criteria: Zone A. Subject to Damage From weathering: Severe. Subject to Damage from frost depth: 4 feet. Subject to Damage from termite: NO. Winter Design Temp: -19. Ice Barrier Underlayment Required: YES. Flood Hazards: first FIRM adopted in 1985, current or revised FIRM adopted 2014. Air Freezing Index: 4000. Mean Annual Temp: 42 degrees (F). One caution on the wind number, because it is the figure most often misapplied: a wind speed stated in a code table and a wind speed stated on a product listing or in a design method are not always on the same basis - ultimate against nominal - and they are not interchangeable. The adopted code's own wind provisions at Section R301.2.1 and its subsections govern which basis applies and how to move between them; that ICC text is behind the ICC paywall and is not restated here. Establish the basis your method or your product listing expects before applying Bismarck's 115 mph to it. Bismarck adopts the 2021 International Residential Code at Bismarck Code of Ordinances Section 4-02-02, most recently re-adopted by Ordinance 6544 of March 27, 2023, and carries its own amendments at Section 4-02-06. Section 4-02-06 was read in full for this entry - all seven code-by-code amendment blocks, IBC, IRC, IMC, IFGC, IECC and IEBC - and its International Residential Code block amends no section of Chapter 8 (Roof-Ceiling Construction) or Chapter 9 (Roof Assemblies); the highest-numbered residential section it reaches is R611.6. The North Dakota State Building Code amendments to the same edition were read in full as well and amend no section of either chapter.

ONE OVERLAY, THEN TEAR OFF - SET BY THE ADOPTED CODE, NOT BY A BISMARCK RULE. Bismarck adopts the 2021 International Residential Code at Bismarck Code of Ordinances Section 4-02-02, most recently re-adopted by Ordinance 6544 of March 27, 2023, and carries its own amendments at Section 4-02-06. Section 4-02-06 was read in full for this entry - all seven code-by-code amendment blocks, IBC, IRC, IMC, IFGC, IECC and IEBC - and its International Residential Code block amends no section of Chapter 8 (Roof-Ceiling Construction) or Chapter 9 (Roof Assemblies); the highest-numbered residential section it reaches is R611.6. The North Dakota State Building Code amendments to the same edition were read in full as well and amend no section of either chapter. So the adopted code's own re-roofing rule applies unmodified. In the 2021 edition that rule sits at Section R908.3.1.1 (Roof recover not allowed), and its third condition bars a roof recover "Where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." One existing layer may therefore be recovered; a second existing layer forces a tear-off to the deck. The 2021 edition carries no hail-exposure condition, so the layer count is the operative test for an asphalt roof, subject to the section's other two conditions. Note that a jurisdiction on the 2024 edition would find the same bar renumbered into an exceptions block under Section R908.4, and one on the 2006 or 2009 editions would find a fourth, hail-exposure condition that can force a tear-off over a single layer; Bismarck is on neither.

NO BISMARCK-SPECIFIC ROOF SHEATHING RULE EXISTS, AND THE ICC TEXT IS NOT RESTATED HERE. Bismarck adopts the 2021 International Residential Code at Bismarck Code of Ordinances Section 4-02-02, most recently re-adopted by Ordinance 6544 of March 27, 2023, and carries its own amendments at Section 4-02-06. Section 4-02-06 was read in full for this entry - all seven code-by-code amendment blocks, IBC, IRC, IMC, IFGC, IECC and IEBC - and its International Residential Code block amends no section of Chapter 8 (Roof-Ceiling Construction) or Chapter 9 (Roof Assemblies); the highest-numbered residential section it reaches is R611.6. The North Dakota State Building Code amendments to the same edition were read in full as well and amend no section of either chapter. The only occurrences of the word sheathing anywhere in Title 4 are a fire-wall termination allowance and a foundation-backfill sequencing rule, neither of which is a roof-sheathing provision. So no local sheathing thickness, span rule, panel grade, fastening schedule or board-gap allowance substitutes for the adopted code's own requirements - the roof sheathing provisions at Section R803 and, for asphalt shingles specifically, the substrate requirement at Section R905.2.1. That ICC text is behind the ICC paywall; it is deliberately not reproduced here from any third-party republication. A roofer replacing decking in Bismarck should read R803 and R905.2.1 in the code itself, or ask Bismarck Building Inspections, before ordering material.