City of Bottineau, North Dakota - Building Inspector

City of Bottineau, North Dakota

city

115 W. 6th St., Bottineau, ND 58318

Not required

Required

Bottineau City Hall is at 115 W. 6th St., Bottineau, ND 58318, on 701-228-3232. The Building Inspector is Larry Lord, reached through City Hall, with office hours Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or by appointment. The City's Licenses & Permits page states: "Building Permits: Building permits are required for all new construction, even additions, fencing and decks. Costs range is $50.00 & up depending on construction type. Building permits are approved by the Planning Commission, Mayor and City Auditor & Building Inspector. Please allow 10 working days to get approval for any building permit. Strict guidelines are required for set-backs, distances from lot lines and types of construction, zoning, etc. Codes must be followed!" It directs applicants to "submit blue prints or sketches of your plans, including how structures will sit on the lot site," warns "Do not start your project until you have your approved building permit in your hand," and notes that a "voided" building permit template is posted under the City's documents section as a guideline for what information an application needs. Permits are also required for demolition and for moving a structure into or out of the City. Per Bottineau Municipal Code Section 15.0207, an application goes to the City Auditor and must include blueprints or drawings, the estimated cost of construction, a property-layout diagram with setbacks, the type of construction and materials, and the names and licence numbers of all contractors (general, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing); the application is then reviewed by the Mayor, City Auditor, Building Inspector, and Planning Commission, and an issued permit is valid for one year from the date of issue. FEES are set by the City Council after consulting the Planning Commission and are on file with the City Auditor rather than fixed in the ordinance, so ask for the current schedule. Penalty for building without a required permit is a fine of not less than $100.00 and not more than $500.00 under Section 15.0206. WHERE THE CODE LIVES. Bottineau publishes its whole Municipal Code Revised as per-chapter files on its Ordinances page, including Chapter Fifteen (Building Code) and Chapter Six (Zoning & Planning).

Bottineau adopts the North Dakota State Building Code on a FLOATING basis and then amends it only in small ways. Bottineau Municipal Code Revised, Chapter Fifteen, Article 1, Section 15.0101, Adoption of Building Code, provides: "The City of Bottineau hereby adopts the 'INTERNATIONAL BUILDING CODES, INCLUDING THE INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTIAL CODE, MECHANICAL CODE, FIRE CODE, and GAS & FUEL CODE, year 2009 edition as adopted by the State of North Dakota and any future updates and amendments to that code, a copy of which is on file with the City Auditor." The words "and any future updates and amendments to that code" make the adoption floating, so a state update reaches Bottineau without a new City ordinance - the same structure North Dakota's own Department of Commerce publishes as its Sample Model Ordinance for cities that elect to administer a building code. WHAT THAT MEANS TODAY. The 2026 North Dakota State Building Code Book states that, effective January 1, 2026, the North Dakota State Building Code consists of the 2024 International Building Code, International Residential Code, International Mechanical Code, International Fuel Gas Code, International Energy Conservation Code, and International Existing Building Code, with no appendix chapters adopted. A house in Bottineau therefore runs on the 2024 International Residential Code. THE LOCAL AMENDMENTS, READ IN FULL, TOUCH NO ROOFING PROVISION. Chapter Fifteen was read in full - Article 1, General Building Code, Sections 15.0101 to 15.0102; and Article 2, Building Inspector and Building Permits, Sections 15.0201 to 15.0219. Its only substantive clarification, at Section 15.0102, is that "Municipality" or "City" means the City of Bottineau and that a reference to fire limits means the fire limits set out in Chapter Four. Section 15.0213, Exterior Coverings, separately bars flammable roof and wall coverings within the City's fire limits (with an exception for wooden porches, balconies or ornamental work no higher than the second story). Neither section reaches a roof-covering material choice, a layer count, or a sheathing standard outside the fire-limits rule. THE STATE FRAMEWORK. North Dakota Century Code 54-21.3-03(6), read directly rather than carried from another record: "The governing body of a city, township, or county that elects to administer and enforce a building code shall adopt and enforce the state building code. However, the state building code may be amended by cities, townships, and counties to conform to local needs." Section 54-21.3-04 exempts buildings that are neither heated nor cooled, certain low-energy-use and historic buildings, and any building used for agricultural purposes unless it is a place of human habitation or used by the public - background on the state scheme, not a Bottineau-specific fact. THE SEPARATE ZONING INSTRUMENT. Bottineau's Zoning Ordinance is Chapter Six of the same Municipal Code and carries its own permit trigger and its own building-permit application requirements, both covered below. ONE THING WORTH NOTING RATHER THAN RESOLVING: the North Dakota Department of Commerce's own 2026 State Building Code Book lists "Code Enforcing Jurisdictions" current only "as of 2022," and Bottineau does not appear in that printed list even though its own ordinance plainly elects to administer and enforce a building code and appoints a Building Inspector to do it. This record rests on Bottineau's own enacted ordinance, not on the state's directory, which this record does not treat as authoritative over the City's own text.

Required — The International Residential Code drip-edge requirement for asphalt-shingle roof coverings applies in Bottineau unamended, and both instruments that could have changed it were opened and read in full. THE CHAIN. Bottineau Municipal Code Section 15.0101 adopts the State Building Code "and any future updates and amendments to that code," which since January 1, 2026 has been the 2024 International Residential Code for one- and two-family dwellings, per the 2026 North Dakota State Building Code Book. Chapter Fifteen was then read in full, Sections 15.0101 through 15.0219: its only substantive local content is a definitional clarification, a fire-limits exterior-covering rule, and the building-inspector, permit, and demolition/moving provisions - none amends the roof-assemblies chapter. The Zoning Ordinance, Chapter Six, was read in full and amends no building code provision at all. The North Dakota amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code were also read in full, the numbered section amendments running from Section 104.8 to Section 2103.3, and none reaches that chapter either. So there is no local softening and no local addition, and the requirement stands as the adopted code writes it. WHAT THIS RECORD DOES NOT DO. The operative International Code Council text of the drip-edge section sits behind the ICC paywall; this record does not restate it and does not rely on any third-party republication of it. What is recorded is the sourced fact that the requirement is in force in Bottineau unamended. Take the material, the extent, and the fastener spacing from the 2024 International Residential Code itself, or from the Building Inspector on 701-228-3232. AND THE POINT THAT MATTERS MOST HERE. Because a plain re-roof is not on Bottineau's permit trigger, no City inspection will pick this up - the permit exemption removes the inspection, not the requirement. About drip edge

Not required — No mid-roof, roof-deck, or roof-covering inspection stage exists in Bottineau. The City publishes its own inspection duties in its enacted ordinance rather than on a web page, and it was read in full. Section 15.0202(4), Duties of the Building Inspector, sets out a "5-point inspection system which includes: A. Permit application; B. Structure/Foundation; C. Mechanical; D. Plumbing; and E. Electrical." No roof, underlayment, sheathing, or mid-roof stage appears on that list, and no other section of Chapter Fifteen or the Zoning Ordinance adds one. THE INSPECTOR'S BROADER DUTY IS GENERAL, NOT STAGE-SPECIFIC. Section 15.0202(1) directs the Building Inspector to inspect "general building, mechanical and housing activities, and/or in the process of construction, alteration, or repair for compliance with building and zoning code requirements," which covers a permitted job generally without naming a roof-specific checkpoint. IN PRACTICE THIS RARELY ARISES ON A RE-ROOF AT ALL, because a plain re-roof is not on Bottineau's permit trigger to begin with.

Not required — No impact-resistance mandate applies in Bottineau, at either level of government, and that is established by reading the instruments rather than by failing to find one. CITY LEVEL. Two Bottineau instruments could carry one and both were read in full: Chapter Fifteen, Building and Electrical Codes, Sections 15.0101 through 15.0219; and the Zoning Ordinance, Chapter Six. Neither contains a UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV, or FM 4473 provision, and neither imposes an impact, hail, or roof-covering rating requirement of any kind. Chapter Eight, Business Regulations and Licenses, was also read and creates no construction standard. STATE LEVEL. The North Dakota amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code, published in the 2026 North Dakota State Building Code Book, were read in full - the numbered section amendments running from Section 104.8 to Section 2103.3 - and none addresses roofing at all, let alone impact rating. AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION. Impact resistance under UL 2218 is a hail rating. It is not the same thing as a fire classification, which is graded under ASTM E108 or UL 790, or a wind rating, which is graded under ASTM D3161 or D7158. Bottineau does have fire limits, carried in Chapter Four and referenced by Section 15.0102(2) and Section 15.0213's exterior-coverings rule, but that is a fire provision and says nothing about impact. An impact-rated shingle may well be worth buying in Bottineau County hail country, and an insurer may discount for one, but nothing in Bottineau or North Dakota law requires it.

BOTTINEAU'S BUILDING-PERMIT TRIGGER NAMES TWO THINGS, AND AN ORDINARY TEAR-OFF-AND-RECOVER IS NEITHER OF THEM - BUT WORK THAT ENLARGES THE ROOF OR CHANGES ITS STRUCTURE IS CAUGHT. THE OPERATIVE TEXT, IN FULL. Bottineau Municipal Code Section 15.0205, Building Permits Required, reads: "Building permits will also be required for moving structures in or out of the City jurisdiction and the demolition of any structures in the City jurisdiction. It shall be unlawful to construct or alter any building or structure in the City, where the effect of such construction or alteration is to enlarge the capacity of any building or the roof thereof, without having first secured a permit prior. It shall be unlawful for any person to commence excavation for or construction of any building or structure or structural changes in any existing building or structure without obtaining a building permit." That is the whole of the section, and the whole of Article 2 (Sections 15.0201 to 15.0219) was read alongside it; no other section adds a roofing-specific trigger. THE TWO TRIGGERS, NEITHER OF WHICH AN ORDINARY RE-ROOF MEETS. First, work that enlarges the capacity of a building or "the roof thereof" - a dormer, a raised roofline, or an addition that adds usable space under the roof. Second, "structural changes in any existing building or structure" - new rafters or trusses, a changed load path, or comparable framing work. A plain removal of the existing roof covering and installation of new covering onto the same deck and framing does neither: it does not enlarge the building's or the roof's capacity, and it is not a structural change. THE ZONING ORDINANCE USES THE SAME LANGUAGE FROM THE OTHER DIRECTION. Chapter Six, Section 6.0702(1), Permits, provides: "No building or structure shall hereafter be erected or structurally altered until a building permit shall be issued by the planning commission of the City Council stating that the building or structure, and use of land comply with the regulations of this title and all building and health laws and ordinances." "Erected or structurally altered" tracks Section 15.0205's "structural changes" and does not reach a covering-only re-roof either. TWO THINGS TRUE WHICHEVER SIDE OF THE LINE A JOB FALLS ON. A permit exemption is not a code exemption - the adopted State Building Code still governs the work even where no City permit is required. And the City's own licenses-and-permits page states in general terms that "Building permits are required for all new construction, even additions, fencing and decks," with costs from $50.00 depending on construction type and roughly 10 working days for approval by the Planning Commission, Mayor, and City Auditor & Building Inspector - that page names no roofing item and does not contradict the ordinance's two named triggers. DEMOLITION AND MOVING ARE SEPARATE PERMITS. Section 15.0208 covers moving a building through City streets (application to the City Auditor, stating the route and duration); Section 15.0209 covers demolition (a Building Permit with a clean-up and future-use plan filed alongside it, no fee).

BOTTINEAU PUBLISHES NO DESIGN WIND SPEED, GROUND SNOW LOAD, OR OTHER CLIMATIC AND GEOGRAPHIC DESIGN CRITERIA FOR A DWELLING IN EITHER OF ITS OWN INSTRUMENTS. Chapter Fifteen of the Bottineau Municipal Code, Sections 15.0101 to 15.0219, and the Zoning Ordinance, Chapter Six, were both read in full. Neither contains a climatic and geographic design criteria table, a ground snow load, a seismic design category, a frost depth, a winter design temperature, or an ice-barrier determination. WHERE THE NUMBERS ACTUALLY COME FROM. Section 15.0101 adopts the North Dakota State Building Code on a floating basis, so the wind, snow, and ice design criteria for a dwelling in Bottineau are those of the 2024 International Residential Code as adopted by the state, which the City does not restate and this record does not either. If a fastening schedule or a product approval is written to a design wind speed, get that figure from the Building Inspector on 701-228-3232 rather than assuming a number not published in any Bottineau instrument.

Bottineau imposes no layer or recover rule of its own, so the question falls back to the adopted code. WHAT WAS READ. Chapter Fifteen of the Bottineau Municipal Code, Building and Electrical Codes, was read in full - Article 1, Sections 15.0101 to 15.0102, and Article 2, Sections 15.0201 to 15.0219 - and it contains no roof-covering, shingle, recover, or re-roofing provision and no limit on the number of layers; its one roof-related rule, Section 15.0213, is a fire-limits material restriction, not a layer count. The Zoning Ordinance, Chapter Six, was read in full for any roof-covering, layer, overlay, or recover provision and contains none - its roofing content is architectural or accessory-use, not a technical layer rule. The North Dakota amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code, published in the 2026 North Dakota State Building Code Book, were read in full - the numbered section amendments running from Section 104.8 through Section 2103.3 - and none of them reaches the roof-assemblies chapter. SO THE BASE CODE APPLIES, UNMODIFIED. How many roof-covering layers a house in Bottineau may carry is whatever the 2024 International Residential Code itself provides in its roof-assemblies chapter, with no City and no state variation on top. Base-code rule, read at 2024 International Residential Code Section R908.4, Roof recover, Exceptions, and quoted here rather than left behind the ICC paywall: a roof recover "shall not be permitted" where "the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." One existing layer may be recovered; a second existing layer means a tear-off to the deck. THE PRACTICAL POINT IN BOTTINEAU. Because a plain re-roof needs no City permit here, nobody at the City will check the layer count before the work starts - the code obligation survives the permit exemption.

Bottineau publishes no roof sheathing or decking standard for an ordinary dwelling, and that is established by reading its instruments in full rather than by failing to find one. Chapter Fifteen, Building and Electrical Codes, was read from Section 15.0101 to Section 15.0219 and contains no sheathing provision, no span table, no panel thickness minimum, and no roof fastener schedule. The Zoning Ordinance, Chapter Six, was read in full and contains none either - its building-permit section (6.0702) and its structural-alteration language govern the permit process, not sheathing material. The North Dakota amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code, read in full from Section 104.8 to Section 2103.3, contain no roof-assemblies amendment. SO THE DECK REQUIREMENT IS THE BASE CODE'S, UNMODIFIED - the 2024 International Residential Code, taken through Section 15.0101's floating adoption of the State Building Code. That operative text sits behind the International Code Council paywall, is not restated here, and no third-party republication of it is relied on. THE ONE BOTTINEAU RULE THAT REACHES A ROOF AT ALL is Section 15.0213, Exterior Coverings, which bars flammable exterior wall and roof coverings within the City's fire limits (Chapter Four), with an exception for wooden porches, balconies, or ornamental work no higher than the second story - a material-flammability rule, not a sheathing or fastening standard.

7% on materials in Bottineau - North Dakota state sales and use tax of 5%, plus the City of Bottineau's 2% local sales, use and gross receipts tax. VERIFIED AGAINST THE STATE'S OWN CURRENT TABLE, RENDERED RATHER THAN TEXT-EXTRACTED, BECAUSE THE FIRST TEXT EXTRACTION MISASSIGNED THE ROW. A first pdftotext pass of the North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner's Local Taxes by Location Guideline (rates effective July 1, 2026) put "Bottineau" on the row carrying Bismarck's figures (local code 102, 2% current rate, a 4-1-86 origin date) - a column-alignment defect, not Bottineau's real row. The page was rendered as an image and read directly: Bottineau's own row carries local code 122, a rate history of 1% effective 10-1-93, 1% effective 10-1-99, a decrease of 1% effective 9-30-11, and 1% effective 10-1-11, landing on a CURRENT RATE OF 2%, with new farm machinery not subject to the local tax. THERE IS A PER-TRANSACTION CAP ON THE LOCAL TAX. The same table gives a maximum local tax of $25/sale effective 10-1-93, then $50/sale effective 10-1-99, with no later change shown - so the current cap on Bottineau's local tax is $50 per sale, reached at 2% on a $2,500 purchase; most shingle orders will run past it. THERE IS NO COUNTY COMPONENT. Bottineau County does not appear among the eight North Dakota counties the same guideline lists as imposing a county sales, use, and gross receipts tax - Burleigh, Cass, Hettinger, Morton, Steele, Walsh, Ward, and Williams. Bottineau County is not one of them. PERMIT HOLDER COMPENSATION on the local tax is 3%, capped at $50.00 a month or $150.00 a quarter, per the same table. WHO PAYS IT ON A ROOF. North Dakota treats a roofing contractor as the final consumer of the materials installed into real property: a contractor or subcontractor entering into any contract, except a labor-only contract, is regarded as the final user or consumer of all tangible personal property installed into real property. So the contractor pays the tax on its material purchases and does not charge the homeowner sales tax on an install-plus-materials re-roof. A POINT THAT HELPS BUYING MATERIALS IN TOWN FOR AN OUT-OF-TOWN JOB. Bottineau IS among the sixty local jurisdictions the guideline names as carrying the limited exemption for "materials that are purchased within the jurisdiction, but later installed outside of the jurisdiction where the sale took place" - to use it, the contractor must give the supplier a certificate of exemption at the time of purchase and ask to be exempt from both state and local sales tax, then pay state and local USE tax to the jurisdiction where the materials were installed instead.