Burleigh County, North Dakota - Building/Planning/Zoning Department

Burleigh County, North Dakota

county

Bismarck, ND

Required

Permits are handled by the Building/Planning/Zoning Department at 221 N. 5th Street, Bismarck, on 701-221-3727, and can be filed either through the County's online Permit and Inspection Portal or on paper - the County says applications may be dropped off in person, mailed to PO Box 5518, faxed to 701-221-3726 or emailed. There are separate forms rather than one: a New Residential Permit Application for a new house, and a Building Permit Application covering accessory buildings, basement finishes, additions, remodels and decks. The County publishes its own review times: commercial projects 7 to 10 business days, residential new construction 3 to 5 business days, drainfield permits 2 to 3 business days, and "All other permits can be issued within 1 business day." Inspections run in two-hour blocks from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., are booked by the contractor or owner, and can be requested by texting 701-220-4319 as well as by calling; a request made after 4:00 p.m. is scheduled for the next day. A permit is cancelled if construction has not begun within six months of issuance unless the Board of County Commissioners grants an extension. Two limits worth knowing before quoting. A certificate of occupancy "is not required for new construction, additions, alterations and replacements" pulled on the Building Permit Application, and the County does not issue temporary certificates of occupancy at all. And the County states its permit reach on a published Building Permit Jurisdiction Map, which is the document to check when a property sits near a city line.

THREE DIFFERENT EDITIONS APPEAR ACROSS THE COUNTY'S OWN CURRENT DOCUMENTS AND THE STATE'S, so confirm the edition with the Building Official before relying on any of them; all three are set out here rather than one being chosen. The adoption mechanism first. North Dakota imposes no building code on a local government automatically: NDCC 54-21.3-03(6) provides that "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." Burleigh County is such an electing county and is listed as a code enforcing jurisdiction by the North Dakota Department of Commerce. Its instrument is the Burleigh County Zoning Ordinance, including all amendments through 1 January 2026, whose Article 23, Section 5 reads: "There is hereby adopted by the County of Burleigh and incorporated by reference herein the North Dakota State Building Code except those portions hereinafter deleted, modified or amended." THE ADOPTION IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY FLOATING. The same section continues: "Subsequent editions or revisions of the code adopted by the provisions of this Article shall be considered adopted and in full force and effect within the County upon the approval thereof by the Board and the filing of one copy thereof in the office of the County Building/Planning/Zoning Department." So a new state edition reaches Burleigh County on a Board approval, not on the state's effective date. The three editions on the table. (1) The County's own Applicable Codes sheet lists the 2021 International Building Code, 2021 International Residential Code, 2018 North Dakota Plumbing Code, 2021 International Mechanical Code, 2017 National Electrical Code, 2021 International Fire Code, 2021 International Fuel Gas Code, 2009 ANSI A 117 and 2021 International Energy Conservation Code, and footnotes its design-criteria table to Table R301.2(1) of the 2021 IRC. (2) The County's current permit application forms carry a footer reading "Code Cycle: 2018 IRC, IMC, IECC, IEBC, UPC". (3) On the state side, the 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 (IBC), International Residential Code (IRC), International Mechanical Code (IMC), International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC), International Energy Conservation Code, and the International Existing Building Code as published by the International Code Council (ICC)." ONE LOCAL DEPARTURE WORTH KNOWING: the state code book says "NO APPENDICES ARE ADOPTED," while Burleigh County's Article 23, Section 4 requires work to be done "in accordance with standards contained in the North Dakota State Building Code including the appendices contained therein except such portions as may be deleted, modified or amended by the Board of County Commissioners." Burleigh County's own amendments to the adopted code, at Article 23, Section 8, are a permit fee schedule plus four construction items - detached residential garage foundations, support for open porches, steps, terraces and decks, screens and storm glazing on exterior openings, and plumbing in exterior walls. None of them touches roofing.

Required — Burleigh County adopts the North Dakota State Building Code, whose residential half is the International Residential Code with North Dakota amendments. The two instruments that could change the roofing chapter were both read in full and neither does. The Burleigh County Zoning Ordinance, amendments through 1 January 2026, contains no roof-covering provision at all, and its own amendment list at Article 23, Section 8 reaches garage foundations, deck supports, exterior openings and plumbing rather than roofs. The North Dakota amendment set for the 2024 International Residential Code amends thirty sections, none of them in the roof-assemblies chapter. The base residential code drip-edge requirement for asphalt-shingle roofs, at Section R905.2.8.5, therefore applies in Burleigh County unmodified, with no local softening and no local addition. Because the County publishes more than one code edition, take the installation extent and the fastener spacing from the edition the Building Official confirms is in force for your permit. About drip edge

Required — Sourced from Burleigh County's own published design criteria rather than inferred from the climate, and confirmed twice. The County's Applicable Codes sheet prints a CLIMATIC AND GEOGRAPHIC DESIGN CRITERIA table whose ICE BARRIER UNDERLAYMENT REQUIRED column reads Yes. The County's Frequently Asked Questions page answers the same question directly - "Is Ice Protection Required? Yes." - and adds the history: it states that the requirement "was adopted May 25, 2004." So an ice barrier is required on a Burleigh County re-roof and has been for over twenty years. The County does not restate how far up the slope the barrier must run in either document. Burleigh County's own amendments to the adopted building code, at Article 23, Section 8 of the Zoning Ordinance, do not reach the roofing chapter, and neither do the North Dakota state amendments, so the extent of the barrier is governed by the unamended base residential code - take it from the edition the Building Official confirms is in force for your permit. About ice & water barrier

Not required — No mid-roof, roof-deck or roof-covering inspection stage exists in Burleigh County. The County publishes its own enumeration, "Required Inspections in Burleigh County Jurisdictional Areas," and it was read in full: temporary construction power, foundation, septic, draintile, underground plumbing, gas line air test, above ground plumbing for waste and vent, electrical permanent service and electrical rough in, fireplace, framing, insulation, final inspection and certificate of occupancy. No roof, underlayment or mid-roof stage appears anywhere on it. The one place the roof enters the sequence is as a CONDITION on the framing inspection rather than as an inspection of its own: that inspection is "To be completed after all walls, floors, windows, doors and other framing members are in place and all exterior sheathing has been installed. The roof must be completed to the point where the building interior is considered weather protected." So on new construction the roof has to be on and weather-tight before framing can be signed off, which affects sequencing even though nobody inspects the roof covering itself. Booking is on the contractor or owner - the County states that "Requesting the required inspections is the sole responsibility of the contractor or home owner" - and inspections can be scheduled by text to 701-220-4319 as well as by phone.

Not required — No impact-resistance mandate applies in Burleigh County, at either level of government. County level: the Burleigh County Zoning Ordinance including all amendments through 1 January 2026 is the instrument that adopts and amends the building code here, and it was read in full - all thirty-four articles across 273 pages. It contains no UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473 roofing provision and no roof-covering provision of any kind; the County's own amendment list at Article 23, Section 8 runs to permit fees, detached garage foundations, deck and porch supports, screens and storm glazing, and plumbing insulation. State level: the North Dakota amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code, published in the 2026 North Dakota State Building Code Book, were also read in full - thirty numbered section amendments - and none addresses roofing or impact rating. Two near-misses in the ordinance are worth naming so a reader does not mistake them: its only "Class 4" reference is to a dry-cleaning fire-prevention system class in the commercial use groups, and its only "sheathing" reference is a minimum housing standard about exterior walls. Neither is a roofing rule. An impact-rated shingle may still be worth buying in a hail-prone market, and an insurer may discount for one, but nothing in Burleigh County or North Dakota law requires it.

THE ORDINANCE CARVES OUT REPAIRS, BUT THE DEFINITION SECTION PULLS ROOF WORK BACK IN, and neither text names roofing outright - so settle a re-roof with the Building Official rather than assuming either answer. The permit rule is Burleigh County Zoning Ordinance Article 22, Section 1: "No structure of any kind used for residential, commercial or industrial purposes, including accessories thereto, shall hereafter be built, altered, or moved within the zoned area of the unincorporated part of Burleigh County until a building, alteration, or moving permit has been obtained from the office of the County Building Official." The same section then carves out repairs: "No permit is required for maintenance or repair of existing residences, commercial structures, or accessory structures which does not alter the strength or plan of said structure or its mechanical installations, but such maintenance or repair shall comply with all the requirements of this regulation." WHAT MAKES THIS DIFFERENT FROM AN ORDINARY REPAIR CARVE-OUT is the Ordinance's own definition of Structural Alterations, in Article 3: "Any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls or partitions, columns, beams or girders, or any substantial change in the roof or in the exterior walls." A substantial change in the roof is by that definition a structural alteration, which sits on the permitted side of the line rather than the carve-out side. The department's own Buildings page states the practical test the same way: "Permits are needed for new buildings and structures, remodels where the structure of a building is involved, basement finish work, septic systems, and mechanical work. If you are not sure if the work you are doing requires a permit, please call 701-221-3727." TWO FURTHER POINTS A ROOFER SHOULD CARRY. Storm work is expressly protected: Article 23, Section 3 provides that nothing in the building article "shall be construed to prohibit emergency work or repair to structures when it is not practicable or possible to obtain a permit before commencing such work," but a permit application must then be submitted "no later than twenty-four (24) hours following completion of the work, exclusive of weekdays and holidays." And separately from the County ordinance, NDCC 54-21.3-04 exempts from the state building code chapter buildings "which are neither heated nor cooled" and any building "used for agricultural purposes, unless a place of human habitation or for use by the public." Permit fees are banded by project value rather than charged per roof, starting at $40.00 for work valued from $1.00 to $2,000.00 and $60.00 from $2,000.01 to $10,000.00.

THE COUNTY PUBLISHES TWO DIFFERENT WIND FIGURES AND THEY ARE NOT THE SAME NUMBER - take the higher, newer one and confirm it. The controlling document is the County's Applicable Codes sheet, which prints a full CLIMATIC AND GEOGRAPHIC DESIGN CRITERIA table footnoted to Table R301.2(1) of the 2021 IRC. Read from the rendered page, each figure aligned to its printed column: Ground snow load 35 lbs./ft.; Wind Design Speed (mph) 115; Topographic effects No; Special wind region No; Windborne debris zone No; Seismic Design Category A; Weathering Severe; Frost line depth 4 ft.; Termite None; Winter Design Temp -18; Ice Barrier Underlayment Required Yes; Flood Hazards 8-4-2014; Air Freezing Index 4,000; Mean Annual Temp 41.5. Separately, the County's Frequently Asked Questions page answers "What is the wind load? 90 mph" and "What is the ground snow load? 36 pounds per sq. ft.", and it dates itself by citing the 2006 International Residential Code for the ice-protection requirement. So the FAQ is the older statement and the Applicable Codes sheet is the newer one, but the County has not withdrawn either. TWO CAUTIONS FOR A FASTENING SCHEDULE. Neither document states whether its wind speed is a nominal, an ultimate or a fastest-mile figure, and those bases are not interchangeable - do not convert between them, and confirm the basis with the Building Official before designing to either number. Second, the difference between 90 and 115 mph is large enough to change a fastening pattern on its own, quite apart from the basis question.

Burleigh County imposes no layer rule of its own, so the rule is whatever the adopted code says. The Burleigh County Zoning Ordinance including all amendments through 1 January 2026 was read in full - all thirty-four articles across 273 pages - and contains no roof-covering, shingle, recover or re-roofing provision; Article 23 adopts the North Dakota State Building Code and its Section 8 amendment list does not touch the roofing chapter. The North Dakota amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code were read in full, thirty numbered section amendments, and none reaches the roof-assemblies chapter either. So the base International Residential Code provisions on installing a new roof covering over an existing one apply in Burleigh County unmodified, with no local cap added and none removed. That base text was not opened for this record, and Burleigh County publishes more than one code edition, so no layer count is stated here and none should be inferred: confirm the permitted number of layers, and which edition your permit is written to, with the Building Official on 701-221-3727 before bidding an overlay.

No Burleigh County roof-sheathing rule exists, and that is established by reading rather than assumed. The Burleigh County Zoning Ordinance including all amendments through 1 January 2026 was read in full - all thirty-four articles across 273 pages - and it writes no construction standard for roofs. Article 23 adopts the North Dakota State Building Code rather than restating it, and the County's own amendments to that code, at Article 23, Section 8, are a fee schedule plus four items: detached residential garage foundations, support for open porches, steps, terraces and decks, screens and storm glazing on exterior openings into habitable areas, and plumbing in exterior walls. None is a roof-deck rule. The only occurrence of the word sheathing in the entire ordinance is a minimum housing standard about exterior walls not being "covered with an approved type of sheathing, stucco, brick or other recognized material in good repair," which is a wall condition and not a roof-deck rule. The North Dakota amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code were also read in full and none reaches the roof and ceiling construction chapter. So the base residential code roof sheathing and decking provisions apply here unmodified. One sequencing point that does bear on sheathing work: the County's framing inspection is called only after "all exterior sheathing has been installed" and the roof is complete to the point where the interior is weather protected.

6.00% on materials in the unincorporated parts of Burleigh County - North Dakota state sales and use tax of 5%, plus Burleigh County's 1% local sales, use and gross receipts tax. The North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner's Local Taxes by Location Guideline, rates effective 1 July 2026, lists Burleigh County at a current rate of 1% with a maximum tax (refund cap) of $25.00 per sale, and states the stacking rule plainly: "The county sales, use, and gross receipts tax is in addition to state and city sales, use, and gross receipts tax." The guideline's own footnote for this county names the municipalities that sit inside it - Bismarck, Lincoln, and the southern portion of the city of Wilton - and a job inside a city that levies its own tax carries the city rate on top, so it is not at 6.00%. 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 for 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; selling materials without installing them is a taxable retail sale instead. TWO BURLEIGH COUNTY SPECIFICS. First, Burleigh County is one of the sixty jurisdictions whose ordinance carries the limited exemption for "materials that are purchased within the jurisdiction, but later installed outside of the jurisdiction where the sale took place," so a contractor who gives the supplier a certificate of exemption owes local use tax where the goods are installed rather than where they were bought. Second, do not read the $25.00 maximum tax as a cap on a roof: the Tax Commissioner states that "the maximum tax (refund cap) is calculated on each material purchase a contractor makes to fulfill a construction contract, not on purchase orders or the entire construction contract itself," and that "most construction activity which is subject to local sales or use tax will include more than the specified maximum tax in total local tax costs."