Roofing in Rugby, North Dakota

Required

RUGBY'S CODIFIED BUILDING TITLE IS ITS OWN CODE, NOT AN ADOPTED MODEL CODE, AND THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ON THIS PAGE. Title 17 of the Rugby Municipal Code, Buildings and Construction, was read in full. Its Chapter 17.04, the Building Code chapter, runs from Section 17.04.010 to Section 17.04.560 and derives from Ordinance 70 of 1957, with later amendments including Ordinance 387 of 2014 to the permit section. Across that whole chapter the phrase "International" does not appear once, and neither does "State Building Code": the chapter sets out its own fire limits, its own construction regulations, its own floor and roof loads, its own wind pressure, its own working stresses, masonry and concrete rules, egress and fire escape rules, and its own dangerous buildings procedure. The other chapters of Title 17 cover the plumbing code, the electrical code and areas of special flood hazard. The codified text used here is current through Ordinance No. 461, enacted 3 February 2025. THE STATE FRAMEWORK, STATED AND NOT ADJUDICATED. North Dakota has no building code of general application. Under NDCC 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", though "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 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)." Rugby does not appear on the North Dakota Department of Commerce's directory of code enforcing jurisdictions, and that document says of itself that "Jurisdictions not on this list may have elected to adopt the State Building Code; therefore, we advise contacting the local governing body to confirm building code requirements", so absence from it proves nothing either way. WHAT THIS MEANS IN PRACTICE. This record does not decide whether a modern model code applies in Rugby alongside the City's own title, because that is a legal question rather than a sourceable fact. What it does say is that the City's own codified building code is the one quoted throughout this record, and that a roofer should ask the building inspector, in terms, which code the permit will be written to before pricing a job here. Section 17.04.050 requires all building construction to be "performed in strict compliance with the ordinances of the City of Rugby, and the provisions of this chapter, and any other such rules and regulations as the City shall make from time to time".

Building regulation in Rugby is run by a building inspector created by the City's own code. Section 17.04.010 provides that "There is created the position of building inspector, who shall be appointed by the mayor with the consent of the city council", and Section 17.04.020 makes it that officer's duty "to see to the enforcement of all ordinance provisions relating to buildings and zoning and to inspect all buildings or structures being erected or altered, frequently as may be necessary to ensure compliance with the city ordinance." Applications go to the city auditor or the building inspector, and a permit is valid for six months. THE STOP ORDER POWER IS BROAD AND FAST. Section 17.04.030: "The building inspector shall have the power to order all work stopped on construction or alteration or repair of buildings in the city, when such work is being done in violation of any provision of any ordinance relating thereto, or in violation of Title 19. Work shall not be resumed after the issuance of such an order except on the written permission of the inspector, provided that if the stop order is an oral one, it shall be followed by a written stop order within an hour. Such written stop order may be served by any policeman." Section 17.04.040 gives the inspector a right of entry to any premises where altering, repairing or constructing is going on, at any reasonable hour. THE FIRE LIMITS ARE THE RULE MOST LIKELY TO CATCH A ROOFER OUT. Section 17.04.110 makes it unlawful to construct a building within the fire limits "unless the exterior walls and roof of such building or structure are covered with or constructed of nonflammable material", with a carve-out for wooden porches, balconies or ornamental work no higher than the second story. Section 17.04.100 keeps the fire limits as they stood on 3 June 1957 but provides that once the City enacts a zoning ordinance, everything zoned for other than residential use becomes the fire limits - and Rugby has a zoning title. AND A REPAIR BAR THAT HAS NO MODERN EQUIVALENT. Section 17.04.120: "It shall be unlawful to repair any existing frame building within the fire limits after the same has been damaged by any cause to fifty percent of its value. Any existing frame building in the fire limits may be brick veneered." On a badly storm-damaged frame building inside the fire limits, that provision has to be cleared with the building inspector before a repair is quoted at all. Separately, Chapter 17.04 carries a full dangerous buildings procedure at Sections 17.04.430 to 17.04.550, and a building moving scheme at Sections 17.04.370 to 17.04.390 requiring a permit, route approval and a bond.