Williams County, North Dakota - Building Division

Williams County, North Dakota

county

Williston, ND

Not required

Required

The Building Division is at the Williams County Administration Building, 206 East Broadway, Williston, second floor, on 701-577-4567, with the building inspection line on 701-577-4576 and applications filed online. Sean Cavanaugh is the Building Official. Fees are value-based rather than per-trade: the minimum building permit fee is $75, rising by $4.00 per $1,000 of value up to $5,000,000 and $1.00 per $1,000 above that, with an extra 25% of the permit fee for a commercial plan review on projects over $99,999 and a plan review fee capped at $5,000. A permit "is deemed expired when no inspection has been requested for a period of 6 months," and the County adds that it "does not expire as long as work is done and effort is made to complete the project" - an activity test rather than a fixed calendar life. A permitted job needs a parcel identification number, a project valuation including materials and labour, a legal description, a physical address, a North Dakota licensed contractor and a plan set covering foundation, floor, elevation and site plans plus grading and drainage. Three approvals sit outside the County and are asked for with the application: a septic permit application from the Upper Missouri District Health Unit, an electrical permit application from the Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative, and a water supplier agreement from Williams County Rural Water. A township may also require a separate application of its own. Commercial plans must be signed and sealed by a North Dakota licensed engineer whenever structural work is proposed, and by a licensed architect above 5,000 square feet; residential plans need a seal only where the project goes "beyond the prescriptive measures outlined in the current adopted addition of the International Residential Code." None of this reaches an ordinary re-roof, which the County exempts from the permit.

Williams County enforces the North Dakota State Building Code, and it states the current edition first-hand. Its Building Division page reads: "As of January 1, 2026, Williams County will follow the 2026 North Dakota State Building Code, which consists of the 2024 International Building Code (IBC), International Residential Code (IRC), International Mechanical Code (IMC), and International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC) published by the International Code Council (ICC). Williams County, in addition to the North Dakota State Building Code, has adopted the 2024 International Fire Code (IFC) published by the International Code Council (ICC)." The separate fire-code adoption matters because the state code book states that the State Building Code "does not include the International Property Maintenance Code, or the International Fire Code" and that those "to be in effect, must be adopted separately by each city, county, or township" - so Williams County has taken a step the state code does not take for it. The state framework behind that: NDCC 54-21.3-03(6) provides that "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," and the 2026 North Dakota State Building Code Book confirms the edition and adds that "NO APPENDICES ARE ADOPTED." ONE STALE PAGE TO IGNORE, and it is on the County's own site: a Building Division FAQ entry headed "What are the building codes?" still answers "Effective January 1, 2020, the North Dakota Building Code consists of the 2018 International Building Code (IBC), International Residential Code (IRC), International Mechanical Code (IMC), and International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC)" and puts the County under the 2018 International Fire Code. The Building Division page is the current statement; the FAQ entry describes the position six years ago. AND ONE OPEN QUESTION: the County's Zoning Ordinance repeatedly refers to "the North Dakota State Building Code, as adopted and amended by Williams County," but the County publishes no list of those local amendments on its building pages, so ask the Building Division for the amendment list before assuming the base code applies unmodified to your job.

Not required — No mid-roof, roof-deck or roof-covering inspection stage exists in Williams County. The County publishes its own list of inspection stages on its Building Inspections page, and it was read in full: Footing, called when footing forms and reinforcing are in place but before any concrete; Foundation Wall, called when wall forms are complete and reinforcing is in place but before any concrete; Structural Concrete Slab, on the same basis; Framing, called "when structural components are complete but prior to concealing with insulation or finishes," with all electrical and plumbing rough-in in place; Insulation, called when insulation is complete and all windows, doors and exterior weather barriers are in place; and Final, called when the project is complete and the State Electrical Inspector and State Plumbing Inspector have signed off. No roof, underlayment or mid-roof stage appears on it. The County does note that these "are the most common required inspections" and that "Additional inspections may be required depending on the project," so a hold point specific to a project can be added by the Building Official even though none is published for roofs. In practice this rarely arises on a re-roof at all, because Williams County exempts re-roofing an existing roof from the building permit altogether. Inspections are booked online or on the inspection line, 701-577-4576, and are generally conducted between 8:00 am and 3:00 pm.

RE-ROOFING IS EXEMPT FROM THE WILLIAMS COUNTY BUILDING PERMIT BY NAME - BUT STRUCTURAL WORK IS NOT, AND THE COUNTY PUBLISHES TWO EXEMPTION LISTS THAT DO NOT MATCH. Read both before deciding a job needs no permit. The rule. The County's Building Permits page states the requirement as: "A building permit is required before an individual intends to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish, or change the occupancy of a building or structure. A permit is also required prior to doing any grading or drainage work." It then lists work requiring a permit, "including, but not limited to: Any structural modifications to an existing building; Installation and construction of modular and manufactured homes; Attached or detached garages; Storage buildings; Pole barns; Temporary housing units or temporary office trailers; Exterior fuel or chemical storage tanks; Communications towers; Temporary MET or wind towers." The exemption. The same page then lists "Work exempt from a building permit," and the list includes, word for word, "Re-roofing existing roofs" - alongside "Re-siding existing exterior siding," "Replacement of existing exterior doors and windows that does not require changes to the existing structure," one-story detached accessory structures of 120 square feet or less used as tool and storage sheds and playhouses, "Agricultural buildings that are not used for any personal use," fences under 8.5 feet, retaining walls under 4 feet unless supporting a surcharge, sidewalks and driveways, finish work such as painting, papering, tiling, carpeting and counter tops, and swing sets and other playground equipment. THE LIMIT ON THAT EXEMPTION. It exempts re-roofing an existing roof; it does not exempt structural modification, which the same page puts on the permit-required side. So a tear-off and re-cover is exempt work, while a job that replaces rafters, trusses or structural decking, changes the roof line, or adds a dormer is a structural modification and needs a permit. THE SECOND LIST. The Building Division FAQ answers the same question with a SHORTER list that does NOT mention re-roofing at all - it runs only to small accessory structures, fences, retaining walls, sidewalks and driveways, finish work and playground equipment. The County has not withdrawn either page. The Building Permits page is the department's dedicated permits page and is the more specific statement, but the County itself gives the safest instruction on both pages: "Please contact the Building Division if you are unsure if your project requires a building permit," on 701-577-4567. TWO OTHER LIMITS. A permit exemption is not a code exemption - exempt work still has to comply with the adopted building code. And the Building Division's writ stops at the city line: "If your building is located on property within a city's limits, then you need to contact the city in which it is located."

6.00% on materials in the parts of Williams County that have no city sales tax - North Dakota state sales and use tax of 5%, plus Williams County's 1% local sales, use and gross receipts tax. The North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner's Local Taxes by Location Guideline, rates effective 1 July 2026, lists Williams County at a current rate of 1% and shows its maximum tax (refund cap) as removed - the entry reads "None - 4-1-15," meaning the earlier $12.50 per sale cap ended on 1 April 2015 and no cap applies now. The guideline also states the stacking rule: "The county sales, use, and gross receipts tax is in addition to state and city sales, use, and gross receipts tax." Its footnote for this county names the municipalities inside it that levy their own city tax - Grenora, Ray, Tioga and Williston - so a job inside one of those city limits carries the city rate on top and is not at 6.00%. 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. ONE COUNTY-SPECIFIC POINT THAT CUTS THE OTHER WAY FROM WILLISTON. The guideline names sixty jurisdictions whose ordinances carry a limited exemption for "materials that are purchased within the jurisdiction, but later installed outside of the jurisdiction where the sale took place." The City of Williston is on that list and WILLIAMS COUNTY IS NOT. Without the limited exemption, the guideline states that where a contractor uses a certificate of exemption, "use tax is due to the local jurisdiction where the materials were purchased regardless of where the materials were installed." So buying shingles in Williston for a job out in the county does not move the local tax with the materials the way it would in a limited-exemption county.