City of Horace, North Dakota - Building Permits and Inspections

City of Horace, North Dakota

city

Horace, ND

Required

EVERYTHING GOES THROUGH THE ONLINE PORTAL. The City states that "The City of Horace currently processes all our permitting applications and inspections through the online permit page," which is a SmartGov portal at https://ci-horace-nd.smartgovcommunity.com/Public/Home; an applicant signs up, works through My Portal, picks a permit category and type, enters the address or parcel number - using the blue autofill rather than the browser's, or the address will not validate - completes the project details, adds submittals such as a site plan, floor plans, truss layout or FEMA map, reads the permit conditions, fees, inspections and approval steps, and submits. The City warns that "Depending on the scope of your project, you may need to complete more than one permit application." Inspections are requested by telephone: "To request and inspection please call the City Hall at (701) 492-2972," and the City asks for reasonable notice. Questions before a project can go to the Building Inspectors on the same number. The four permit families the department names are Building Permits, Land Use Building Permits (Fences and Signs), Right-of-Way Permits and Boulevard Tree Permits, so a job that touches the boulevard or the right of way is a second application. APPEALS AND COPIES. Under Section 5-0105 an order, decision or determination of the Building Administrator may be appealed to the Horace City Council, in writing to the City Auditor, within thirty days. Under Section 5-0104 a permit applicant is charged a fee for a copy of the relevant code provisions - but "if a contractor shows the Building Administrator, or designated building official, his/her copy of the appropriate building code," the copy fee is not charged. OTHER AUTHORITIES THE CITY POINTS AT: the North Dakota State Plumbing Board, the North Dakota State Electrical Board, the Horace Rural Fire Protection District, Cass County Public Health for on-site sewage systems, and the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality. The City also publishes a cold weather concrete policy, which is worth knowing if a re-roof turns into work involving concrete late in the season.

HORACE ADOPTS THE STATE CODE BY NAME AND NOT BY EDITION, then amends it in seven numbered places. City of Horace Ordinances Title V, Chapter 5-01, Section 5-0101 (source Ordinance 2020-07, section 1) reads: "The erection, construction, enlargement, alteration, repair, moving, removal, demolition, conversion, occupancy, equipment, use, height, area, and maintenance of buildings or structures in the City of Horace, North Dakota, shall meet with the provisions of the rules and regulations of the North Dakota State Building Code (NDSBC) a copy of which is on file in the office of the building inspector for the City of Horace, with the exception of the sections hereinafter set forth affecting local conditions in the City of Horace," and it applies the code "as well as for any area within the extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction of the City." No edition year appears in the chapter. WHAT THE STATE BUILDING CODE CURRENTLY IS. 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 (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)," and adds "NO APPENDICES ARE ADOPTED." Under NDCC 54-21.3-03(6) a city that elects to administer and enforce a building code "shall adopt and enforce the state building code," but the state code "may be amended by cities, townships, and counties to conform to local needs." Horace is listed as a code enforcing city by the North Dakota Department of Commerce. WHAT HORACE HAS AMENDED. Section 5-0102 opens "The provisions of the North Dakota State Building Code, which encompass the International Code, in order to conform to local needs, is hereby changed and amended as follows" and then makes seven numbered changes, read in full: fees and plan review fees under Chapter 1 of each International Code; four amendments to the residential code, being a note substituting the Wiring Standards of North Dakota and the City's own plumbing and utility titles for the International Electrical and Plumbing Codes, a note added to Section R105.2 that work exempt from a building permit may still require a permit under the Land Use Ordinance, a rewritten Section R112 Board of Appeals, and a REVISED Table R301.2(1); three amendments to the building code (plumbing cross-reference, an exempt-work note and the Board of Appeals); the mechanical and fuel gas codes referred to the City's Title VII; a Board of Appeals amendment to the energy code; and an exempt-work note and Board of Appeals amendment to the existing building code. THE ONE THAT MATTERS TO A ROOFER IS THE REVISED TABLE R301.2(1), which is where the City sets its own snow, wind and ice-barrier values - see the wind design criteria and ice barrier fields. Nothing in Chapter 5-01 amends the roof-assemblies chapter. Violating the adopted code is an infraction under Section 5-0103, and "Each day such violation continues shall be considered a separate offense." Horace separately adopts a Property Maintenance Code at Chapter 5-05, which the State Building Code does not include.

Required — Horace adopts the North Dakota State Building Code, whose residential half is the International Residential Code with North Dakota amendments, and both instruments that could change the roofing chapter were read in full. Title V, Chapter 5-01 of the City of Horace Ordinances, Sections 5-0101 through 5-0105, contains no roof-covering provision at all - Section 5-0101 adopts the state code and Section 5-0102 amends it in seven places, none of them in the roof-assemblies chapter. The North Dakota amendment set for the 2024 International Residential Code amends thirty sections, none of them there either. The base residential code drip-edge requirement for asphalt-shingle roofs, at Section R905.2.8.5, therefore applies in Horace unmodified, with no local softening and no local addition. Because Section 5-0101 adopts the State Building Code without naming an edition, take the installation extent, the overlap and the fastener spacing from the edition in force for your permit, which the Building Administrator can confirm. Note that Horace also requires an ice barrier by its own Table R301.2(1), so the eave detail has to satisfy both. About drip edge

Required — Horace has answered this itself rather than leaving it to the base code. City of Horace Ordinances Section 5-0102(2) revises "IRC - Table R301.2(1) Climactic and Geographic Design Criteria" and prints a completed table in which the column headed "Iced Barrier Underlayment Required" carries the entry Yes. That column is the switch the residential code uses to turn its ice-barrier provision on for a jurisdiction, so an ice barrier is required in Horace by the City's own determination and not by inference from the climate. WHAT THE CITY DOES NOT SPELL OUT. The extent of the barrier - how far up the slope from the eave it must run, and how it is lapped and sealed - comes from the adopted residential code rather than from the ordinance, and that text was not opened for this record. Chapter 5-01 was read in full, Sections 5-0101 through 5-0105, and it makes no other amendment touching roof coverings, so there is no local variation on the extent to reconcile. Because Section 5-0101 adopts the North Dakota State Building Code without naming an edition, confirm with the Building Administrator which edition your permit is written to before setting the run-up dimension, and note that the same table gives the winter design temperature as -18 degrees and the air freezing index as 4000 - this is a jurisdiction where an ice-dam detail earns its keep. About ice & water barrier

Not required — No impact-resistance mandate applies in Horace, at either level of government. City level: Title V of the City of Horace Ordinances, Buildings, is the instrument that adopts the building code and sets the City's own design criteria, and it was read in full - all five chapters, 5-01 Building Code, 5-02 Dangerous Buildings, 5-03 Moving Buildings, 5-04 Flood Damage Prevention and 5-05 Property Maintenance Code, in the compilation the City publishes dated 27 April 2026. It contains no UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473 provision, and its revised Table R301.2(1) sets snow, wind, seismic, frost, ice-barrier, flood and temperature criteria without any impact or hail column. 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 - thirty numbered section amendments - and none addresses roofing or impact rating. Note that the City's table does record a windborne debris zone entry of No, which is a wind question and not a hail one; the two are different standards and neither answers the other. An impact-rated shingle may still be worth buying in a hail-prone market, and an insurer may discount for one, but nothing in Horace or North Dakota law requires it.

HORACE PUBLISHES NO DOLLAR OR SQUARE-FOOTAGE THRESHOLD FOR A BUILDING PERMIT, AND ROOFING IS NAMED NOWHERE - in either direction. Title V, Chapter 5-01 of the City of Horace Ordinances was read in full, Sections 5-0101 through 5-0105, and it writes no exemption list of its own. What it does instead is add a warning to the code's exempt list, at Section 5-0102(2): "IRC - Section R105.2: Work Exempt from Permit. Add as follows: Exemption: Work exempt from a building permit may still require a permit under Title IV - Land Use Ordinance." The same note is added to the building code and to the existing building code. So even work the building code exempts can still need a land use permit here. WHAT THE CITY PUBLISHES AS NEEDING A PERMIT. The Building Permits and Inspections department's residential page states "Below is a list of residential projects that will require a permit prior to work starting:" and lists New Residential Construction (Single and Multifamily), Accessory Building Construction, Residential Building Additions, Residential Remodels, Lower Level Finishing, Emergency Escape and Rescue Opening Addition, Deck Construction, Residential Re-Siding, Building Demolition, Building Moves and Fences. Re-roofing is not on that list and neither is roof repair, while re-siding is - and the City's fee schedule carries a flat $50 line for "Install Siding (Replacement Only)" with no roofing equivalent. TREAT THE LIST AS INCOMPLETE RATHER THAN AS AN EXEMPTION, and ask the Building Inspections department whether your re-roof needs a permit before you start. FEES, IF ONE IS NEEDED. The residential building permit rate schedule approved 6 April 2021 is valuation-based: $45 up to and including $1,000, then "$45 for the first $1,000 plus $5 for each additional $1,000 or fraction thereof, up to and including $100,000." Plan review is 35% of the building permit fee and a resubmittal review is 50%. Inspections outside normal business hours are $125 per hour with a two-hour minimum, and reinspections are $125 per hour. STARTING WITHOUT ONE IS EXPENSIVE. The same schedule provides that "Should work begin prior to the issuance of necessary permits, the following fees will apply," and for work valued at $0 to $50,000 the "Permit fee is doubled," with a "Second offence within 180 days - $200 minimum" and "$100 for each additional violation thereafter."

HORACE PUBLISHES ITS OWN FILLED-IN TABLE R301.2(1), which is unusual in North Dakota and removes most of the guesswork from a structural check. City of Horace Ordinances Section 5-0102(2) revises "IRC - Table R301.2(1) Climactic and Geographic Design Criteria" and prints a completed table headed "Table 301.2(1) Climactic and Geographic Design Criteria." Its entries are: ground snow load 50; wind design speed 115 mph, with No entered for topographic effects, special wind region and windborne debris zone; seismic design category Zone A; weathering entered as "Sever"; frost line depth 4.5'; termite None; winter design temperature -18 degrees; an affirmative Yes in the column headed "Iced Barrier Underlayment Required"; flood hazards 1978; air freezing index 4000; and mean annual temperature 41.5 degrees. A second block of Manual J design criteria gives an elevation of 912, latitude 46, winter heating -17 degrees, summer cooling 88 degrees, indoor design temperature 70 degrees, wind velocity heating 15 mph and wind velocity cooling 7.5 mph. TWO CAUTIONS ON THE NUMBERS. The City's table gives the wind speed only as "Speed (mph)" and does NOT state the basis on the face of the table - it does not say whether 115 mph is an ultimate design wind speed, a nominal three-second gust or a fastest-mile figure. Ask the Building Administrator which basis applies before designing to it, and never convert one basis into another. The weathering entry is printed "Sever" and the table heading is printed "Climactic" in the City's document; both are quoted here as printed. PRACTICAL EFFECT ON A ROOF. The ground snow load of 50 and the 4.5-foot frost line are the numbers a truss or rafter repair uncovered during a re-roof will be checked against, and the affirmative ice-barrier entry is the City's own determination, not an inference from the climate.

Horace imposes no layer rule of its own, so the rule is whatever the adopted code says. Title V, Chapter 5-01 of the City of Horace Ordinances, Building Code, was read in full - Sections 5-0101 through 5-0105, in the Title V compilation the City publishes dated 27 April 2026 - and it contains no roof-covering, shingle, recover or re-roofing provision. Its seven numbered amendments to the North Dakota State Building Code reach fees, plan review, the electrical and plumbing cross-references, the exempt-work notes, the boards of appeal and Table R301.2(1), and nothing else; the only roof references in the whole of Title V are the dangerous-buildings definition of a building with "improperly distributed loads upon the floors or roofs" and the floodplain chapter's definition of a structure. 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 reaches the roof-assemblies chapter. So the base International Residential Code provisions on installing a new roof covering over an existing one apply in Horace unmodified, with no local cap added and none removed. That base text was not opened for this record, so no layer count is stated here and none should be inferred. Confirm the permitted number of layers, and the edition your permit is written to, with Building Inspections on 701-492-2972 before bidding an overlay.

No Horace roof-sheathing rule exists, and that is established by reading rather than assumed - but the City does set the structural design numbers a roof must meet, which is the practical equivalent for a re-roof that uncovers framing. WHAT THE CITY WROTE. Section 5-0102(2) of the City of Horace Ordinances revises the residential code's Table R301.2(1) and enters a ground snow load of 50, a frost line depth of 4.5', a seismic design category of Zone A and a wind design speed of 115 mph, with no topographic effects, no special wind region and no windborne debris zone. Structural repair uncovered during a re-roof is checked against those figures. WHAT THE CITY DID NOT WRITE. Title V, Chapter 5-01 was read in full, Sections 5-0101 through 5-0105, and contains no sheathing or decking provision - no thickness minimum, no span table and no fastener schedule. Its seven amendments to the North Dakota State Building Code are administrative and cross-referential apart from the design-criteria table. The North Dakota amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code were read in full, thirty numbered section amendments, and none reaches the roof and ceiling construction chapter either. So the base residential code roof sheathing and decking provisions apply in Horace unmodified, and there is no local span table or thickness minimum to reconcile them against. ONE SEQUENCING POINT. Horace takes permit applications and submittals through an online portal, and its own guidance lists truss layouts among the submittals a permit may require, so have the truss documentation ready if a re-roof turns into structural work.

7.50% on materials in Horace - North Dakota state sales and use tax of 5%, plus the City of Horace's 2% and Cass County's 0.5% local sales, use and gross receipts tax. The county component is real here and is easy to miss: the North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner's Local Taxes by Location Guideline shades Horace in its city table and marks it "(Cass)" under the note "Shaded cities also have county tax obligations," and the guideline states that "The county sales, use, and gross receipts tax is in addition to state and city sales, use, and gross receipts tax." Only eight North Dakota counties impose a local tax at all, and Cass is one of them. The City's 2% has been in force since 1 April 2017 and the guideline, rates effective 1 July 2026, records no maximum tax for the City; Cass County's 0.5% carries a maximum tax of $12.50 per sale from 1 April 2011. 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 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 HORACE SPECIFICS. Horace is NOT among the sixty jurisdictions whose ordinances carry the limited exemption for materials bought inside the jurisdiction and installed outside it, so if a certificate of exemption is used here, "use tax is due to the local jurisdiction where the materials were purchased regardless of where the materials were installed" - which matters constantly on the Fargo fringe, where a Horace job is very often supplied from a yard in another jurisdiction and vice versa. The guideline also notes that reciprocity applies, so local tax due is reduced by local tax legally due and paid to another city or county. And do not read Cass County's $12.50 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."