City of Wahpeton, North Dakota - Building Official

City of Wahpeton, North Dakota

city

Wahpeton, ND

Required

Required

Permits are pulled from the Building Official at 1900 4th Street North, PO Box 490, Wahpeton, on 701-642-6565 or 701-642-8448; Todd Johnson is the Building Official. The application is made by the owner or lessee, an agent of either, the person employed or contracted to do the work, or the engineer or architect on the job, and where it is made by someone other than the owner in fee it must be accompanied by a verified affidavit from the owner. Two sets of plans are checked; one approved set is retained by the Building Official for at least 90 days after completion and the other must be kept on the job at all times while work is in progress, and approved plans may not be changed without the Building Official's authorisation. Plans left unactioned for 90 days are returned and need a new plan check fee. The permit is void if work has not commenced within 180 days or is suspended or abandoned for 180 days, and a reinstatement permit costs half the original fee where the plans have not changed. Fees are valuation-banded under the schedule effective 1 June 2018, from $26.00 at the bottom, with plan review at half the permit fee, a $50 charge for a second and later re-inspection at the Building Official's discretion, and inspections outside 8 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday billed at a two-hour minimum at $50 an hour. Electrical inspections are done by the North Dakota State Electrical Board and plumbing and mechanical by the State Board of Plumbing, not by the City; water and sewer connection is booked separately with the City. The application form also asks for the contractor licence number of the builder, electrician, plumber and mechanical contractor, so have both the City and state licence numbers to hand.

THE CITY'S OWN ORDINANCE NAMES ONE EDITION AND THEN FLOATS TO ANOTHER IN THE NEXT SUBSECTION, and the state has since moved again - so confirm the edition with the Building Official before working to a code table. What the ordinance says. Wahpeton Code of Ordinances Section 8-85 (Codes adopted), as amended by Ordinance No. 1016 of 6 April 2020 and effective 1 May 2020, reads at (a): "The City of Wahpeton hereby adopts the North Dakota State Building Code with local amendments consisting of the 2018 International Building Code (IBC), International Residential Code (IRC), International Mechanical Code (IMC), International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC), International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC), and the International Existing Building Code as published by the International Code Council (ICC)." Subsection (b) then reads: "The city hereby adopts the most current version of the aforementioned codes as promulgated by the International Code Council. Any further compilation of any or all of the aforementioned codes, or any amendments, extensions, modifications or additions thereto shall be in full force and effect when received by the city." So the City names the 2018 suite and, in the same section, carries forward to the most current version once received. Note also that Wahpeton adopts the International Property Maintenance Code, which the North Dakota State Building Code does not include and which a jurisdiction must adopt separately. The City's own handout on its Building Official page still describes the position as of 1 January 2020 and names the same 2018 suite. WHAT THE STATE SAYS NOW. 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 that "NO APPENDICES ARE ADOPTED." Under NDCC 54-21.3-03(6) a city that elects to enforce a building code "shall adopt and enforce the state building code," but "may be amended by cities, townships, and counties to conform to local needs." Wahpeton is listed as a code enforcing city by the North Dakota Department of Commerce. FOR ROOF WORK THE EDITION QUESTION IS NARROWER THAN IT LOOKS: Chapter 8 of the Wahpeton Code, read in full, contains no roofing amendment, and neither the North Dakota amendments to the 2024 residential code nor those to the 2018 residential code reach the roofing chapter, so the base residential code roofing provisions govern under either edition.

Required — Wahpeton adopts the North Dakota State Building Code, whose residential half is the International Residential Code with North Dakota amendments, and the two instruments that could change the roofing chapter were both read in full. Chapter 8 of the Wahpeton Code of Ordinances, all five articles, contains no roof-covering provision at all - Section 8-85 adopts the codes rather than restating or amending them. 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 Wahpeton unmodified, with no local softening and no local addition. That section carries the requirement in the 2018 edition the City names and in the 2024 edition the state code now runs on, so the unsettled edition question does not change the answer here. Take the installation extent and the fastener spacing from the edition the Building Official confirms is in force for your permit. About drip edge

Not required — No mid-roof, roof-deck or roof-covering inspection stage exists in Wahpeton, and that is established from two City documents rather than from silence. The City publishes a Required Residential Inspections handout, read in full: footing inspection, called when footing forms and reinforcing are in place but before any concrete; foundation wall inspection, on the same basis; concrete slab inspection; framing inspection, called "when structural components are complete and prior to concealing with insulation or finishes," and only after the required electrical, plumbing and mechanical inspections have been completed and approved; final inspection, called when the project is complete but before occupying a new structure; and a water and sewer connection inspection booked separately. The City's Building Permit Application carries a second, more detailed enumeration on its Inspection Record card, grouped as FOUNDATION (setbacks, footings, reinforcing, foundation wall, weather proofing, underground plumbing), FRAMING (floor joists, sub floor, rafters, wall framing, wind bracing, window openings), BUILDING ROUGH IN, HEATING AND VENTILATION, ELECTRICAL SERVICE and FINAL. Rafters appear on that card, but as a framing item inspected at the framing stage - there is no roof-covering or underlayment hold point. Two practical notes. The City warns that failing to get the required inspections "may result in the withholding of the Certificate of Occupancy for the project," which "could complicate financing, refinancing, or the resale of your property." And the first re-inspection is free, with later ones at $50 at the Building Official's discretion, while an inspection outside 8 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday carries a two-hour minimum at $50 an hour.

Not required — No impact-resistance mandate applies in Wahpeton, at either level of government. City level: Chapter 8 of the Wahpeton Code of Ordinances, Buildings and Building Regulations, is the instrument that creates the building department, requires permits and adopts the building code, and it was read in full - all five articles, Sections 8-20 through 8-422, codified through Ordinance No. 1032 adopted 6 January 2022. It contains no UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473 provision and no roof-covering provision of any kind; its single roof reference is a substandard-structure standard about roofs with improperly distributed or overloaded floors. 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. An impact-rated shingle may still be worth buying in a hail-prone market, and an insurer may discount for one, but nothing in Wahpeton or North Dakota law requires it.

THERE IS NO THRESHOLD AND NO EXEMPTION LIST FOR BUILDING WORK IN WAHPETON - the ordinance requires a permit for repair, full stop. Wahpeton Code of Ordinances Section 8-61(a) reads: "No person shall erect, construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, improve, remove, convert or demolish any building or structure in the city, or cause the same to be done, until a separate building permit is first obtained for each such building or structure from the building official." Chapter 8 was read in full - all five articles, Sections 8-20 through 8-422 - and it contains no dollar threshold, no square-footage threshold and no list of work exempt from a building permit. The only permit exemptions anywhere in the chapter are for other trades: Section 8-128(b) exempts minor electrical repair work and low-voltage installations, and Section 8-250(a) exempts the repair or replacement of faucets, water closet tanks and similar plumbing items. Roofing is named nowhere in the chapter, in either direction. TWO POINTS THAT WIDEN THE REACH. First, the chapter follows the City past its own limits: Section 8-21 provides that "Notwithstanding any contrary language, this chapter shall fully apply to any and all structures and buildings erected, maintained, located, or constructed within the extraterritorial zoned areas adjacent to the city." Second, the City's Building Permit Application asks for a valuation of work and treats repair as permitted work on its face - its inspection record card has a "Nature of Work" line with a Repair box alongside New Const. and Addition. TIMING AND FEES. A permit becomes null and void if the work is not commenced within 180 days of issue, or if it is suspended or abandoned for 180 days after commencing; a new permit then costs half the original. The fee is banded by valuation, starting at $26.00 for work valued at $1.00 to $500.00 and running to $49.00 for the first $2,000.00 plus $9.45 for each additional $1,000.00 in the $2,001 to $25,000 band, with plan review at half the building permit fee.

Wahpeton imposes no layer rule of its own, so the rule is whatever the adopted code says. Chapter 8 of the Wahpeton Code of Ordinances was read in full - all five articles, Sections 8-20 through 8-422 - and contains no roof-covering, shingle, recover or re-roofing provision; its Division 3 adopts the North Dakota State Building Code and does not amend it on roofing. 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 Wahpeton unmodified, with no local cap added and none removed. That base text was not opened for this record, and the City's ordinance names one edition while floating to another, 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 the Building Official on 701-642-6565 before bidding an overlay.

No Wahpeton roof-sheathing rule exists, and that is established by reading rather than assumed. Chapter 8 of the Wahpeton Code of Ordinances, Buildings and Building Regulations, was read in full - all five articles, Sections 8-20 through 8-422, codified through Ordinance No. 1032 adopted 6 January 2022 - and it writes no construction standard for roofs and contains no sheathing provision. Its Division 3 adopts the North Dakota State Building Code instead of restating it, and the rest of the chapter is administrative: the building official and department, permits, inspections, the board of appeals, fees, electrical wiring, plumbing, housemoving, building numbers and substandard structures. The North Dakota amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code were also read in full, thirty numbered section amendments, and none reaches the roof and ceiling construction chapter. So the base residential code roof sheathing and decking provisions apply in Wahpeton unmodified, and there is no local span table, thickness minimum or fastener schedule to reconcile them against. One sequencing point does bear on structural work uncovered during a re-roof: the City's framing inspection covers floor joists, sub floor, rafters, wall framing and wind bracing, and is called when structural components are complete and before they are concealed with insulation or finishes.

8.00% on materials in Wahpeton - North Dakota state sales and use tax of 5%, plus the City of Wahpeton's 3% local sales, use and gross receipts tax. There is NO county component: Richland County does not appear in the county table of the North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner's Local Taxes by Location Guideline, which lists only eight North Dakota counties as imposing a local tax, and Wahpeton carries no county marker in the city table. THIS RATE WENT UP RECENTLY. The guideline, rates effective 1 July 2026, shows Wahpeton's rate history as 1% from 1 July 1991, 0.5% from 1 October 1999, 0.5% from 1 January 2010 and a further 1% from 1 October 2025, giving a current rate of 3%, with a maximum tax (refund cap) of $75.00 per sale from that same date. A quote written to the old 7.00% figure is a point short. 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 WAHPETON SPECIFICS. Wahpeton 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 - which matters here because Wahpeton sits on the state line and its trade area crosses into Minnesota. And do not read the $75.00 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."