City of Tioga, North Dakota - Building Department

City of Tioga, North Dakota

city

16 1st St NE, Tioga, ND 58852

Required

Required

Permits and inspections in Tioga run through the Building Department at City Hall, 16 1st St NE, under Dan Larson, the Community Service Director, who is also the City Building Inspector. The office number is 701-664-2807 option 4 and the cell is 701-641-2461. "Building permit aplications and plans can be sent to [email protected]" - note that the City's website is at tiogand.net while its staff email is on a different domain, so send the application to the address the City publishes rather than to one built from the website name. THE APPLICATION IS A PLANNING AND ZONING FILING AS WELL AS A BUILDING ONE. The Planning and Zoning Committee is appointed by the Tioga City Council and meets on the second Monday of the month at 5:30pm at city hall, with applications due the Wednesday before at 5pm, and the City warns that dates are subject to change. A job that needs to go before the committee therefore has a calendar, not just a queue. WHAT THE PERMIT DOES NOT COVER. The application is headed "BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATION RESIDENTIAL/ ACCESSORY (BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATION DOES NOT INCLUDE PLUMBING, ELECTRICAL OR MECHANICAL)", and the Building Department page adds that "Plumbing and Electrical codes are inspected and enforced by the State of North Dakota Plumbing and Electrical boards." So the City is not the authority for those trades. WHO CARRIES THE RISK, IN THE CITY'S OWN WORDS. The application states that "The city encourages and recommends the permit applicant/holder/owner hire a private, on-site inspector, surveyor, or other professional as the applicant/holder/owner deems necessary in order to ensure that all aspects of the plans and/or construction comply with applicable codes and all other requirements. The City of Tioga will not provide continuous site observation of construction. The permit applicant/holder/owner at all times remains responsible for ensuring that the plans and specifications comply with all requirements of all Tioga City Codes and accepts full responsibility for all workmanship and construction." The applicant also indemnifies the City and certifies that they have located their own property lines, because the City states it does not locate them. FINISHING THE JOB. "Final Inspection shall be made after the permitted work is done and prior to occupancy", and "The City will issue a Certificate of Occupancy once all inspections (City & State) plumbing and electric have been performed, found to be code compliant and all City fees paid." Call for inspections at least 24 hours ahead; the permit holder is responsible for making the call. Fees are calculated from the bid or estimate entered on the application, and a separate gas inspection line is priced at $40.00.

Tioga publishes its adopted codes on its own Building Department page, and it adopts two codes the North Dakota State Building Code does not contain. WHAT THE CITY PUBLISHES. Under the heading "What Are The Current Codes?" the page states "CURRENT CODES ADOPTED BY CITY OF TIOGA AND THE STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA:" and lists the "2024 International Building Code (IBC)", the "2024 International Residential Code (IRC)", the "2024 International Property Maintaince Code (IPMC)" and the "2024 International Fire Code (IFC)". The word Maintenance is printed "Maintaince" on the City's page and is quoted here as printed. A house or a townhouse in Tioga therefore runs on the 2024 International Residential Code. THE TWO THAT ARE PURELY LOCAL. The North Dakota State Building Code Book states that the State Building Code "does not include the International Property Maintenance Code, or the International Fire Code" and that "These codes, to be in effect, must be adopted separately by each city, county, or township." Tioga has adopted both, so the property maintenance and fire codes apply here as a matter of City adoption rather than state law. THE STATE HALF THEY SIT ON. Under North Dakota Century Code Section 54-21.3-03(6), "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." Tioga is named as a code enforcing city on the North Dakota Department of Commerce directory of code enforcing jurisdictions, with Dan Larson as its contact, and the City's own pages name him as the City Building Inspector. 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 it adds "NO APPENDICES ARE ADOPTED". The City's published editions match that state suite. WHAT IS NOT SETTLED. Tioga does not publish a codified code of ordinances online and no adopting ordinance was located, so the City's own amendments to the residential code, if it has made any, could not be read. North Dakota lets a city amend the state code to conform to local needs without any approval or notice, so ask the Building Inspector for the local amendment list before relying on a base code provision. ONE DATED DOCUMENT THAT DOES NOT MATCH. The City's Accessory Structure and Detached Garage handout, dated 1/2023, says it "was developed as an example of a basic submittal under the current North Dakota Building Code" and then cites the 2015 edition by name for wall bracing and for its frost-protected footing figure. It predates the current adoption and should not be read as the City's current edition.

Required — Tioga requires an ice and water barrier on its own published statement, not on any assumption about the North Dakota climate. The City's Building Department page lists the basic required building inspections the City Building Inspector performs, and one of them is "Roof / Ice & Water Barrier". A city does not inspect a component it does not require, and Tioga puts that inspection in the same list as its footing, framing and insulation inspections. Plan the job so the barrier is in and visible when the inspector comes, and remember that inspection appointments must be made at least 24 hours in advance and that it is the permit holder who has to call. WHERE THE DETAIL COMES FROM. The City states that the barrier is inspected; it does not publish how far up the slope it must run, what products satisfy it, or the climatic table its trigger is drawn from. Tioga adopts the 2024 International Residential Code, and the extent and the material come from that edition. The City publishes no table of climatic design criteria of its own and no codified ordinance online, so the local amendments, if any, could not be read. Confirm the required extent with the City Building Inspector when the permit is pulled rather than working to a neighbouring city's figure. WHAT NOT TO ASSUME. The same list also shows a separate "Insulation / Frost-proofing" inspection, so the roof inspection is not a catch-all; and because the City says the nature and scope of the project determines which inspections are required, a small repair may not draw the same sequence as a full tear-off. About ice & water barrier

Required — Tioga inspects the roof before the covering goes over it, and it names the inspection in its own published list. The City's Building Department page sets out "The following is a basic required building inspections performed by the City Building Inspector" and the list runs Footings / Piers; Foundation Walls / Re-Bar / Damp Proofing; Framing; "Roof / Ice & Water Barrier"; Insulation / Frost-proofing; Deck Construction; Floodplain / Elevation documentation; Fire-resistance; Finish Grade / Drainage; and Final Inspection / Certificate of Occupancy. An ice and water barrier inspection can only be made after the barrier is on and before it is covered, so on a job where it is called for the roof is looked at mid-course rather than only at the end. READ THE SCOPE CONDITION WITH IT. The same page states that "The nature and scope of a given project will determine the inspections required for each project", so whether a particular re-roof draws the roof inspection is a decision for the Building Inspector rather than something to be assumed either way from the list. HOW TO SCHEDULE IT. "Inspections are a required part of the permitting process. It is the responsibility of the permit holder: whether applicant, owner, or licensed contractor to notify the City when any such inspections need to be performed. Inspection appointments must be made at least 24 hours in advance." The City directs anyone asking whether a particular inspection is required to contact the City Building Inspector directly. Build the 24 hours into the schedule; on a small crew a missed call costs a day.

TIOGA NAMES A RE-ROOF AS PERMIT WORK IN SO MANY WORDS, WHICH VERY FEW NORTH DAKOTA CITIES DO. The City's Building Department page describes its "Residential Building Permit Application" as an "Application for new construction, alteration, or remodel of a single family, two-family, or townhouse dwelling. This application is to be used for accessory structures, siding replacement, and window replacement, and shingle replacement (re-roof)." The same description continues: "This application is also to be used for all residential decks, attached and unattached." So a shingle replacement is filed on the residential building permit application, on the City's own instruction, and no dollar threshold or square-foot threshold is offered as an alternative to it. COMMERCIAL WORK IS NAMED THE SAME WAY. The "Commercial Building Permit Application" is described as an "Application for new construction, alteration, remodel, or roofing of a commercial structure." WHAT THE FORM ASKS FOR. The residential form has a "TYPE OF WORK" block with a ROOF column offering "Asphalt Shingles", "Built UP" and "Metal", so the covering type is declared on the face of the application. The form also collects the property address and legal description, the zoning, the contractor names, and both a "ND Contractor License #" and a "Tioga Contractor License#", and the fee is calculated from the bid or estimate. Two sets of blueprints appear on the permit checklist. ACCESSORY STRUCTURES. The Planning and Zoning page states that an accessory structure form must be submitted with the residential building permit application, and that "An accessory structure includes yard sheds over 120 sq. ft. and detached garages", with a site plan showing existing structures and their distance from the property lines. So re-roofing a detached garage is on the same application, and the property owner rather than the City is responsible for locating the property lines. WHAT IS NOT ESTABLISHED. Tioga publishes no codified ordinance online, so whether the City's enacted code exempts any small repair from permit could not be read. Do not assume a minor repair exemption exists here; ask the Building Inspector.

No Tioga layer rule could be established, and this record states that plainly rather than supplying a number. WHAT IS SETTLED. Tioga's Building Department page lists the 2024 International Residential Code among the codes adopted by the City, so a one- or two-family dwelling here runs on that edition. 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 running from Section 104.8 to Section 2103.3, and not one of them reaches the roof-assemblies chapter. So nothing at state level adds a layer cap, removes one, or changes the conditions for laying a new covering over an old one. WHAT IS NOT SETTLED, AND WHY. Tioga publishes no codified code of ordinances online and no adopting ordinance for its building code was located, so the City's own amendments could not be read. Under North Dakota Century Code Section 54-21.3-03(6) a city may amend the state building code "to conform to local needs", with no stringency limit and no approval requirement, so a Tioga amendment on overlays is possible and cannot be ruled out from the outside. The base International Residential Code text itself is not restated here. NO LAYER COUNT IS STATED IN THIS RECORD AND NONE SHOULD BE INFERRED FROM IT. Ask the City Building Inspector how many layers Tioga will let you lay over before you bid an overlay, and get the answer before the tear-off decision is priced into the job. TWO LOCAL FACTS THAT BEAR ON IT. A shingle replacement is permit work in Tioga on the City's own instruction, so the question will be asked at the counter rather than left to the contractor. And the City inspects the roof and the ice and water barrier, which constrains what can be left in place at the eave.

Tioga publishes no roof sheathing standard of its own, and what it does publish on sheathing is an example rather than a requirement. WHAT THE CITY PUBLISHES. The City's Accessory Structure and Detached Garage handout gives a fill-in submittal template with a line reading "Roof Sheathing:________________", and the worked example beside it reads "(example: 1/2" OSB) (H-Clips may be Required)". The handout says of itself that it "was developed as an example of a basic submittal under the current North Dakota Building Code" and that "It is not intended to cover all circumstances." So the H-clip note is a warning that the City may call for them, not a published rule that it always does, and the half-inch figure is an example of what an applicant might write on the form. The handout is dated 1/2023 and its code references are to the 2015 edition, while the City's Building Department page now lists the 2024 International Residential Code, so do not size a deck off the handout. THE CITY DOES INSPECT SHEATHING INDIRECTLY. Framing is one of the basic required inspections the City Building Inspector performs, and so is "Roof / Ice & Water Barrier", so an exposed deck can be looked at rather than taken on trust. WHAT IS NOT SETTLED. Tioga publishes no codified ordinance online, so any local amendment to the roof-sheathing provisions could not be read. The North Dakota amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code were read in full, thirty numbered section amendments, and none reaches roof or ceiling construction, so nothing at state level modifies the base provisions. No span table, thickness minimum or fastener schedule is stated in this record. Where a tear-off exposes deteriorated sheathing, agree the replacement with the City Building Inspector before it is covered, because the roof inspection is the point at which it will be seen.

8.50% on materials in Tioga - North Dakota state sales and use tax of 5%, plus the City of Tioga's 2.5% and Williams County's 1% local sales, use and gross receipts tax. THE COUNTY COMPONENT IS REAL HERE, AND IN MOST OF NORTH DAKOTA IT IS NOT. Only eight North Dakota counties impose a local tax at all, and Williams is one of them. The North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner's Local Taxes by Location Guideline, rates effective 1 July 2026, shades Tioga and prints "(Williams)" beside it to mark a city that also owes county tax, and it states the rule in terms: "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 records that "Williams County: Grenora, Ray, Tioga, and Williston have city taxes and are located within Williams County." The City's rate history in the same table runs 1% from 1-1-95, 1% from 1-1-13, 0.5% from 4-1-13, a 1% reduction on 12-31-20 and 1% from 1-1-21, giving the current 2.5%. THERE IS NO CAP ON THE LOCAL TAX ANY MORE, ON EITHER SIDE. Tioga's maximum tax column reads $25 per sale from 1-1-95 and then none from 7-1-17, and Williams County's reads $12.50 per sale from 10-1-06 and then none from 4-1-15. The last dated entry is the one in force, so neither the City nor the County caps the local tax on a transaction here. THAT MATTERS LESS THAN IT SOUNDS ANYWAY, and the Tax Commissioner says why: "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. Accordingly, 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." A cap, where one exists, is per purchase and a roof is many purchases. 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, while selling materials without installing them is a taxable retail sale. A labour-only subcontract is not taxed to the sub. ONE TIOGA SPECIFIC WORTH KNOWING ON OIL-PATCH WORK. Tioga is NOT among the sixty jurisdictions whose local tax ordinance carries the limited exemption for materials bought inside the jurisdiction but installed outside it. Neighbouring Ray and Williston are on that list; Tioga is not. So where a contractor buys on a certificate of exemption in Tioga, the guideline's default applies and "use tax is due to the local jurisdiction where the materials were purchased regardless of where the materials were installed" - buying in Tioga and installing out in the county still carries the Tioga local tax.