Roofing in Grand Forks, North Dakota

Required

Grand Forks adopts the 2021 International Residential Code and the 2021 International Building Code by named edition, with its own amendments, and NOT by a floating reference to the state code - which matters because North Dakota moved to the 2024 suite on 1 January 2026. What the City Code says. Grand Forks City Code Section 19-0121 reads: "The International Residential Code, 2021 edition, Chapters 1 through 11 and 44 promulgated, approved and published by the International Code Council shall be and the same is hereby adopted, as hereinafter amended, and incorporated herein by reference." Section 19-0101 does the same for the commercial track: "The International Building Code, 2021 edition, Chapters 1 through 26 and 29 through 35, promulgated, approved and published by the International Code Council shall be and the same is hereby adopted, as hereinafter amended." Each adoption is followed by a long, numbered list of City amendments, and a printed copy of each code is filed in the office of the Department of Building Safety. The chapter also carries a separate electrical code, plumbing code, mechanical and fuel gas code, floodproofing code and dangerous buildings article. The codified text used here is current through Ordinance No. 4934, adopted 15 December 2025. THE STATE POSITION, FOR CONTEXT. Under NDCC 54-21.3-03(6) a city that elects to administer and enforce a building code "shall adopt and enforce the state building code," but "the state building code may be amended by cities, townships, and counties to conform to local needs," and Grand Forks is listed as a code enforcing city by the North Dakota Department of Commerce. 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." So the City's codified edition and the state's current edition are not the same, and the City's own code is what its permits are written to unless the Department of Building Safety says otherwise. FOR ROOF WORK THE GAP IS NARROWER THAN IT LOOKS: the City's amendment list to the residential code does not touch the roof-assemblies chapter at all, and neither do the North Dakota amendments to the 2024 residential code, so the base residential code roofing provisions govern under either edition.

Permits are administered by the Grand Forks Department of Building Safety, which the City created by amending the model code: City Code Section 19-0101, amendment (3), changes "CODE COMPLIANCE AGENCY" in the code's title to "DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING SAFETY," and the adopted codes are filed in that department's office. Four things about the process are set in the code itself rather than in a fee schedule. First, building permit fees are set by City Council resolution, under an amendment adding to Section R108.2 that "The City Council shall establish by resolution fees for building permits." Second, starting work without a permit costs double where the project is valued at $2,000 or more or where a formal complaint has reached Municipal Court - the penalty fee equals the permit fee and both must be paid before work restarts. Third, plan submittal requirements are what the building official asks for: an amendment to Section R106.1 adds that they "shall include information as per plan review form or such reasonable requirements as determined by the building official." Fourth, a demolition permit carries a $1,000 cash deposit, held against site restoration and damage to public property, with an exception at the building official's discretion for minor demolition work. Separately, a contractor licensed by both the city and the state and carrying a $5,000 performance bond is a precondition of the work, and the bond stays partly in place for a year after the certificate of occupancy. Electrical, plumbing and mechanical work is licensed and inspected under separate articles of the same chapter, each with its own city board.