City of Kalispell Building Department

City of Kalispell, Montana

city

201 1st Avenue East, Kalispell, MT 59901

Required

Required

2021 International Residential Code, as amended by the Administrative Rules of Montana, adopted by the City of Kalispell via Ordinance No. 1889 (passed and approved August 1, 2022), codified at Kalispell City Code 5-4-2. The codification's own amendment history runs Ord. 1416 (5-6-2002) through Ord. 1839 (3-16-2020, the 2018-cycle codes) to Ord. 1889 and Ord. 1891 (both 8-1-2022, the current 2021-cycle codes). 5-4-2.A adopts the Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM Title 24, chapter 301) "as they may pertain to those portions of the building codes hereby adopted"; 5-4-2.D adopts the IRC 2021 Edition "as amended by the Administrative Rules of Montana, set forth specifically above, except for the penalty portions thereof and except for the fee schedule, which shall be set by resolution of Council." Ordinance No. 1889 itself, read in full (12 sections), amends nothing in the IRC's own text; it adopts editions and states applicability only. THE EXPRESS EXTENSION TO HOUSES, QUOTED. 5-4-2.K: "These codes are applicable to all buildings within the building code enforcement area of the City of Kalispell, including, but not limited to, residential buildings containing less than five dwelling units or their attached-to structures, any farm or ranch building, and any private garage or private storage structure used only for the owner's own use as provided by Section 50-60-102(1)(a) MCA." Montana's own state framework (MCA 50-60-102(1)(a)) removes a house from the state building code entirely unless "the local legislative body by ordinance or resolution makes the state building code applicable to these structures" -- this is that ordinance, and it cites the correct MCA section (contrast Havre's ordinance, which mis-cites 50-6-102). NO LOCAL AMENDMENT TO CHAPTER 9 OR CHAPTER 8 WAS FOUND. 5-4-2 was read in full (subsections A through L) and contains no provision naming a roof-covering, layer, sheathing, drip-edge, ice-barrier, hail or wind-resistance term; it is an adoption-and-applicability section only. The state's own amendment packet, ARM 24.301.154, was likewise read in full and touches roofing exactly once (the statewide ice-barrier substitution at subsection (23), below); it contains zero occurrences of R908, "shingle," "sheathing," "Class 4," or "impact."

Required — Kalispell City Code 5-4-2.K expressly extends the adopted codes to "residential buildings containing less than five dwelling units," so this house-reaching code content applies here, not merely by default. Neither the state's IRC amendment packet (zero occurrences of "drip edge" or "drip-edge") nor 5-4-2 itself amends Chapter 9's drip-edge provision, so the base 2021 IRC drip-edge requirement applies unmodified. About drip edge

Required — Required, on two independent bases. Statewide, ARM 24.301.154(23) amends IRC R905.1.2 by deleting the model code's geographic trigger and inserting the whole state: "Subsection R905.1.2 is amended by deletion of the language 'areas where there has been a history of ice forming along the eaves causing a backup of water as designated in Table R301.2' and insert 'the State of Montana.'" And directly: the City's own Construction Design Criteria table (its filled-in IRC Table R301.2(1)) states "ICE BARRIER UNDERLAYMENT REQUIRED: YES." About ice & water barrier

Not required — No UL 2218 or Class 4 impact-resistant roof covering requirement was found. The state's full IRC amendment packet (ARM 24.301.154, 10,864 characters, 25 subsections) and the companion IBC, IECC and wildland-urban-interface rules were read in full and contain zero occurrences of "UL 2218," "Class 4," "Class IV," "impact," or "hail." The City's own adoption ordinance and codified section 5-4-2 likewise name no impact standard. Montana also bars a stricter local addition: MCA 50-60-301(2)(a) provides that "a county, city, or town may not adopt or enforce a building code that is more stringent than the building code adopted by the department."

No dollar-value exemption for roof repair was found in the City's own instruments. The Building Permit Fee Schedule (effective 09/04/2024) is valuation-based with no floor: its lowest bracket, $1.00 to $500.00 in valuation, still carries a $23.50 permit fee, and its own text states that "any new building construction, system installation, modification, or repair requiring a permit shall have said permit fully paid for, in their possession and properly posted before the commencement of any of the work," per Ordinance No. 1889 and City Resolution 5703. Working without the required permit draws a 200% fee penalty. This record does not assert what the base 2021 IRC's own permit-exemption list (Section R105.2) says, because that section has not been read for this record; the City's own fee schedule and ordinance are the basis stated here.

From the City's own filled-in Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria table (IRC Table R301.2(1), Construction Design Criteria handout): basic wind speed 115 mph, no topographic wind speed-up effects, Seismic Design Category D-1. The same table gives a Ground Snow Load of 60 psf (the R301.2(6) figure) -- but the same document carries a separate, more prominent handwritten notation above the table reading "**ROOF SNOW LOAD = 46 PSF." Both figures are stated as the City publishes them; this record does not reconcile the ground-snow-load table entry against the roof-snow-load annotation, and a design professional should confirm which figure the Building Department currently applies to a given roof structure. The table also states Weathering "Severe," frost line depth 36", no termite hazard, winter design temperature -10 F, air freezing index 3000, and mean annual temperature 43 F.

Two layers maximum, on the base 2021 IRC rule, which applies unmodified here. Both the governing state instrument and the City's own building instrument were read in full and amend nothing in the reroofing section: ARM 24.301.154 (10,864 characters, 25 subsections) contains zero occurrences of R908 or "shingle," and Kalispell City Code 5-4-2 (read in full, subsections A through L) contains none either. The 2021 IRC's own reroofing section, R908.3.1.1 Roof recover not allowed, reads: "A roof recover shall not be permitted where any of the following conditions occur: 1. Where the existing roof or roof covering is water soaked or has deteriorated to the point that the existing roof or roof covering is not adequate as a base for additional roofing. 2. Where the existing roof covering is slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile. 3. Where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." One existing layer of any covering may be recovered; a second existing layer forces tear-off.

Not amended locally or by the state, and this code reaches Kalispell houses by the City's own express extension: 5-4-2.K makes the adopted codes applicable to "residential buildings containing less than five dwelling units." The state's IRC amendment packet, ARM 24.301.154, was read in full and contains zero occurrences of "sheathing," zero of any R8xx section number, and zero occurrences of "Chapter 8." The City's own code section 5-4-2 was likewise read in full and amends nothing in IRC Chapter 8. Base 2021 IRC Chapter 8 roof-sheathing provisions apply unmodified.

Montana has no general sales tax, and this is an affirmative statement from the Montana Department of Revenue: "Montana does not have a general-use sales tax." A residential reroof performed in Kalispell carries no state or local sales tax on materials or labor under that general rule. Two narrow taxes exist and neither reaches an ordinary residential roofing job: (1) a local resort tax, capped at 3% (statutorily up to 4% since 2025) and levied only in ten named Montana resort communities on lodging, restaurant, alcohol-by-the-drink and destination recreational sales, and on "luxuries" -- a term that by MCA 7-6-1501(3) specifically excludes "hardware supplies and tools" and "necessities of life." Kalispell is not one of the ten resort communities (Red Lodge, Virginia City, West Yellowstone, Whitefish, Big Sky, Cooke City, Craig, Gardiner, St Regis, Wolf Creek), so this does not apply here at all. (2) A 1% Contractor's Gross Receipts tax under MCA 15-50-205(1) applies only to a "public contractor" on public construction contracts exceeding $80,000 (MCA 15-50-101(3)(a)); it does not reach a private residential reroof.