Olmsted County, Minnesota - Planning Department, Inspections Division

Building code administration for four cities - Byron, Chatfield, Eyota and Stewartville - and three townships - Eyota, Marion and Quincy - within Olmsted County, Minnesota. This is not a county-wide authority and not an unincorporated-area authority. Olmsted County contains eight cities and eighteen townships; the County Planning Department's Inspections Division administers the Minnesota State Building Code for only the seven jurisdictions named above. Rochester is NOT among them - the County directs building and permitting questions inside Rochester city limits to the Rochester Building Safety department at 507-328-2600. The County states the scope itself: "The Olmsted County Planning department Inspections Division provides building code and permit administration for the cities of Byron, Chatfield, Eyota, and Stewartville as well as the townships of Eyota, Marion, and Quincy." Three other County boundaries deliberately differ and must not be conflated with this one: the Inspections Division administers the Septic System Ordinance for the townships of Eyota, Marion, Oronoco and Quincy "and for all of the small cities within Olmsted County," it administers the Water Well Ordinance "for the entire county," and it is the planning and zoning authority for only Eyota, Marion and Quincy Townships. One inconsistency is published on the County's own fees page and is reported rather than resolved: the building-permit section names the unincorporated areas of Marion, Quincy and Eyota Townships, while the manufactured-home, trade and septic sections on the same page each name Marion, Oronoco, Quincy and Eyota. Whether Oronoco Township is inside the building-permit jurisdiction is therefore stated both ways by the County. Because the County publishes an address-level Jurisdiction Checker, confirm a specific parcel there before assuming which desk holds a job.

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Apply to the Olmsted County Planning Department, Inspections Division, 2122 Campus Drive SE, Suite 100, Rochester MN 55904, 507-328-7100, or online through the Accela Citizen Access portal. Because the County administers for only seven of the county's twenty-six jurisdictions, the first step on any job is confirming which desk holds it: the County publishes an address-level Jurisdiction Checker and says "If you are unsure of your project jurisdiction, please use our Jurisdiction Checker to search the project address and contact the appropriate authority." The County asks that electronic copies of plans also be emailed to [email protected]. On timing it states: "We require contractors and homeowners to allow 15 working days for the city to review your site drawings and plans, as well as compliance to MN State Building Code. ... No work shall be started without prior approval by the Building Official." (The handout says "the city" although the reviewer is the County; that is a copy artifact in the County's own document and is quoted as written.) Inspections are scheduled on 507-328-7100 and "Prior notice of 24 hours is required to insure an appointment," backed by an $89 fee for less than 24 hours' notice, $89 for a re-inspection, $89 for failure to be ready, and $315 for an inspection outside normal business hours. Building permit fees are valuation-based under the schedule effective July 1, 2025 per Resolution #25-98, whose own table header scopes it to exactly this jurisdiction: $84.00 for valuations of $1.00 to $5,000; "$84.00 for the first $5,000 plus $4.90 per additional $1,000" from $5,001 to $100,000; and "$549.50 for the first $100,000 plus $3.00 per additional $1,000" above that. A plan review fee of 65% of the permit fee applies to permits requiring code analysis, an enumeration that is expressly "not limited to" the items it lists, so do not assume a like-for-like re-roof escapes it. Two further charges a bidder should expect: "City Specific Fees - As determined by the municipality based on scope of work," which the four served cities set and the County does not publish, and a possible double fee where work began before the zoning certificate issued. On the state surcharge the County contradicts itself - its fees web page says 0.05% of valuation and its fee schedule document says 0.0005% - and the 0.05% figure is the one that matches the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry surcharge the County itself links to. Homeowners pulling their own permit must also file the Property Owner Waiver form. Agricultural buildings within the County's jurisdiction require an agricultural use permit rather than a building permit, which matters for farm work in Eyota, Marion and Quincy Townships.

STATE-GOVERNED, NOT COUNTY-SET. Olmsted County enforces the Minnesota State Building Code; its residential chapter is the 2020 Minnesota Residential Code (Minnesota Rules chapter 1309), which incorporates the 2018 International Residential Code by reference and amends it. Minnesota Rules part 1309.0010, subpart 1 provides that "The 2018 edition of the International Residential Code ('IRC') as promulgated by the International Code Council, Inc. ... is incorporated by reference and made part of the Minnesota State Building Code except as qualified by the applicable provisions in Minnesota Rules, chapter 1300, and as amended in this chapter." Minn. Stat. 326B.121, subd. 1 makes the State Building Code "the standard that applies statewide for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, and use of buildings" and provides that it "supersedes the building code of any municipality," and subd. 2(c) bars a municipality from requiring building code provisions regulating components or systems of a structure that differ from the State Building Code. That bar reaches this County directly, and the point is worth stating because every other Minnesota record in this reference is a city: Minn. Stat. 326B.103, subd. 9 defines "'Municipality' means a city, county, or town, the University of Minnesota, or the state for public buildings and state licensed facilities." So a county, and the three townships it serves, sit under the identical bar as a city. Consistent with that, the Olmsted County Code of Ordinances index carries no building code chapter at all - the County writes zoning, subdivision, right-of-way, septic, well, floodplain and stormwater ordinances and no building code.

Not required — STATE-GOVERNED, NOT COUNTY-SET, and this is one of the places Minnesota departs from the base IRC outright. The 2020 Minnesota Residential Code prints Section R905.2.8.5, the drip-edge section, as a single word: "Deleted." Minnesota Rules part 1309.0905, subpart 2 is the instrument that does it - "Section R905.2.8.5 is deleted in its entirety." The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry's guidance sheet states the consequence under its own "Drip edge" heading: "Drip edge is not required unless specifically required by the manufacturer's installation instructions." Olmsted County has no authority to require one beyond that state baseline (Minn. Stat. 326B.121, subd. 1 and subd. 2(c), with "municipality" defined at Minn. Stat. 326B.103, subd. 9 to include a county). The manufacturer's installation instructions remain a live route to a drip-edge requirement on a specific product. About drip edge

Required — STATE-GOVERNED, NOT COUNTY-SET - the requirement applies identically in the jurisdictions Olmsted County serves as everywhere else in Minnesota. Minnesota Rules part 1309.0301, subpart 2 amends IRC Table R301.2(1) ("Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria") to pre-fill "ICE BARRIER UNDERLAYMENT REQUIRED[h] ... Yes" for the entire state. The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry's guidance sheet, "Asphalt Shingle Roofing and the 2020 Minnesota Residential Code," describes what satisfies it: an ice barrier "may be at least two layers of underlayment cemented together or a self-adhering polymer modified bitumen sheet," extending from the eave edge to a point at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line of the building. The County has no authority to opt out (Minn. Stat. 326B.121, subd. 1 and subd. 2(c), with "municipality" defined at Minn. Stat. 326B.103, subd. 9 to include a county). Garage and detached-accessory-structure applicability is worded differently by different Minnesota jurisdictions, so confirm that specific case with the Inspections Division rather than assuming a blanket detached-garage exemption. About ice & water barrier

NO MINIMUM-SIZE THRESHOLD PUBLISHED, and no shingle-over-shingle exemption appears in either the County's material or the state rule it relies on. The County states the general rule and names the state instrument for it: "A Building permit is required for any alteration or addition to any existing building or structure. MN State Building Code Section 1300.0120 Subpart 1. Permit may be applied for at the Olmsted County Planning Department." That cross-reference was followed rather than repeated: Minnesota Rules part 1300.0120, subpart 1 requires a permit of anyone who intends to "construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish, or change the occupancy of a building or structure." Subpart 4 is the closed state list of work exempt from permit; its fourteen building exemptions were read in full and none of them is roofing. The County reproduces substantially that same list on its fees page - sheds up to 200 square feet, fences up to 7 feet, retaining walls up to 4 feet, decks under 30 inches above grade, sidewalks and driveways, small above-ground pools, playground equipment, "Painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets, countertops, and similar finish work" and movable partitions - and roofing is absent from that too. The silence therefore does real work here, because it is a local restatement of a closed STATE exemption list sitting under a STATE rule that affirmatively catches "alter, repair," rather than a purely local enumeration that happens not to mention roofing. Confirm a borderline small repair with the Inspections Division at 507-328-7100.

STATE-GOVERNED, NOT COUNTY-SET, and uniform across Minnesota. Minnesota Rules part 1309.0301, subpart 2 amends IRC Table R301.2(1) (Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria) to a single statewide set of values: ultimate design wind speed 115 mph, topographic effects "YES," and Seismic Design Category "A." The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry's guidance sheet states the shingle consequence: "The 2020 Minnesota Residential Code requires shingles to be designed for a 115 mph maximum ultimate design wind speed (R301.2.1). This wind speed equates to a maximum basic wind speed of 90 mph, the same as required in previous codes. Asphalt shingle product labeling must indicate compliance with ASTM D3161 classifications A, D, F or ASTM D7158 classifications D, G, H and identify a maximum ultimate design wind speed of at least 115 mph (R905.2.4.1)." Ground snow load is the one input that varies geographically, and it is set by county rather than by city: Minnesota Rules part 1303.1700 fixes 60 pounds per square foot in twenty-nine named counties and "50 pounds per square foot in all other counties." Olmsted County is not among the twenty-nine, so ground snow load Pg is 50 pounds per square foot. Unlike a Minnesota city record, this one needs no "check which county you are in" caveat: every city and township this authority serves lies inside Olmsted County, so the snow-load unit and the permitting jurisdiction are the same polygon. Applying Minnesota Rules part 1309.0301's own formula, "p f = 0.7 * p g," the flat-roof design snow load is 35 pounds per square foot.

STATE-GOVERNED, NOT COUNTY-SET. The governing text is the 2020 Minnesota Residential Code, Section R908.3.1.1 (Roof recover not allowed), read in Minnesota's own merged code rather than inferred from the base IRC: "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 may therefore be recovered; a second existing layer forces a tear-off to the deck. Olmsted County has no authority to set a different layer limit - Minn. Stat. 326B.121, subd. 1 makes the State Building Code the standard that applies statewide and provides that it supersedes the building code of any municipality, subd. 2(c) bars a municipality from requiring building code provisions that differ from the State Building Code, and Minn. Stat. 326B.103, subd. 9 defines "municipality" to include a county.

STATE-GOVERNED, NOT COUNTY-SET. The 2020 Minnesota Residential Code, Section R905.2.1 (Sheathing requirements), reads in full: "Asphalt shingles shall be fastened to solidly sheathed decks or 1-inch thick nominal wood boards." Minnesota reaches that wording by amendment - Minnesota Rules part 1309.0905, subpart 1 amends the base IRC section to add the 1-inch nominal board alternative. The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry's guidance sheet, "Asphalt Shingle Roofing and the 2020 Minnesota Residential Code," expands on what qualifies: "Solidly sheathed roofs include structural panels such as plywood and oriented strand board (OSB) with 1/8" gaps between panels as required by panel manufacturers. Wood boards are also considered as solidly sheathed, provided the spacing between boards complies with the shingle manufacturer's installation requirements. If the spacing between boards is too large, a structural panel applied over the deck boards is required to be considered a solidly sheathed roof."

7.375% combined rate, and it is the same 7.375% in every one of the seven jurisdictions this authority serves. Read cell-exact from a 300 dpi render of the Minnesota Department of Revenue's own "Local Sales and Use Tax Rate Guide" effective 7/1/2026 to 9/30/2026, Olmsted County table: Byron, Chatfield, Eyota and "Stewertville" (the guide's own spelling of Stewartville) each carry no city rate, County Transit Rate 0.50%, State Rate 6.875% - Combined Sales Tax Rate 7.375%. The eighteen-township row, which names Eyota, Marion and Quincy among others, is the same 7.375%. None of the four served cities levies a city rate. THE DISCLOSURE THAT MATTERS IS ROCHESTER, which is 8.125% because it levies a 0.75% city rate, and which is OUTSIDE this authority's building jurisdiction: a roofer who generalises from a Rochester job to a Byron job under-collects by three quarters of a point. Chatfield straddles the Olmsted and Fillmore county line and carries the guide's asterisk for that reason, but the straddle does not change the rate - Fillmore County's own table was read and Chatfield is 7.375% on that side too, because Fillmore likewise levies a 0.50% transit tax and no city rate applies either way. The county component is corroborated first-hand by the County, which records two separate quarter-point transit taxes summing to the 0.50% in the state table: "On July 23, 2013, with resolution 13-58, the Olmsted County Board imposed a 1/4% transit sales tax ... On March 21, 2017, with resolution 17-18, the Olmsted County Board imposed another 1/4% transit sales tax." Note that the County's fees page still links a Department of Revenue notice titled "Olmsted County 0.25 Percent Transit Sales and Use Tax," which describes only the 2014 quarter point; it is a live URL serving a genuine but superseded document and states half the current county tax. Use the rate guide.