North Dakota Building Codes

North Dakota is a home rule state, meaning that certain municipalities have been granted the authority to pass their own laws and collect taxes. In North Dakota, if a city chooses to adopt building codes, it must adopt the State Building Code, but can make amendments as needed. Designated home rule cities, on the other hand, may adopt something other than the State Building Code.

Find more information about building codes and home rule at the State Department of Commerce website.

Below is a map showcasing the adopted building codes in cities with larger populations and/or moderate to high permit activity.

Map Details

To use the map, you can click directly into the embedded map below or click here to view the map at its full extent.

Zoom using the + and - buttons or scroll with your mouse. Open and close the legend by clicking the button on the top right. For the legend, you can turn certain layers off and on by deselecting and selecting them. Within the map, you can click on an area to read information on permit activity, population, building codes, and contact information for the building official. You can search up addresses by clicking onto the search button at the top right. You can also measure distances or areas between places using the measuring tool. Click the tool again to exit the function.

The municipalities noted on the map make up approximately 92% of all residential permits and 56% of all commercial permits (on average each year) in North Dakota.

Click to view the map at its full extent

Data to build this map was sourced from various government websites across the state. Population data was sourced from the US Census 2020. Residential permit data was sourced from the US Census as well. Commercial permit data was sourced from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. QGIS and OpenStreetMap was used to build this map.

For questions, contact the author at ipuchkova@nd.gov