Building permits, zoning and septic rules across North Dakota

At a glance

Residential building permits

6 counties require none; 13 require one only in some cases; 32 require one. 2 are unconfirmed.¹⁵⁶⁷

Statewide building code

In effect since January 1, 2026; each city, township or county chooses whether to enforce it.⁸

Countywide zoning

5 counties have none; 47 have county zoning.²⁹

No building permit and no countywide zoning

3 counties: Ramsey, Sioux and Sargent.¹⁰

Septic installation

Permit from the local public health unit before work; DEQ licenses installers.¹¹¹²

RV living

10 counties have an answer: 1 allowed, 2 temporary-only, 7 limited; 43 have none yet.⁴

Tiny homes

5 counties have limited-use answers; 48 have none yet.¹³

Owner-builder

A discretionary property-tax exemption for qualifying unoccupied homes, not a building-permit exemption.¹⁴

Domestic wells

No appropriation permit below 12.5 acre-feet per year; report the works to DWR.¹⁵

Who to call

Contact details are copied from each office’s official page and were checked against it on October 13, 2026.

Which North Dakota counties don't require a building permit?

North Dakota has 6 counties with no residential building-permit requirement in unincorporated areas: Rolette County, Griggs County, Pembina County, Ramsey County, Sioux County and Sargent County.¹ Another 13 counties require a permit only in some cases, and 32 require one.⁵⁶ The answer for Richland County and Ransom County is unconfirmed; ask the county before you buy.⁷ The no-building-codes county list has the full set.

North Dakota's state building code (IBC, IRC, IMC and IFGC) took effect on January 1, 2026, but Commerce does not enforce it; each city, township or county elects whether to enforce it, and one that does must enforce the state code.⁸ A county may enforce it only where a city or township does not.¹⁶ There is no single statewide fee schedule; the enforcing jurisdiction sets permit and plan-review fees.¹⁷ Commerce Community Services keeps a local code enforcement directory.¹⁸

What inspections apply to manufactured and modular homes in North Dakota?

New manufactured homes installed in North Dakota for residential purposes must be installed by an installer licensed by Community Services and inspected by a licensed inspector, with at least 2 inspections on a double-wide and 1 on a single-wide.¹⁹ Factory-built modular homes are inspected during manufacture by a third-party inspector approved by Community Services, where the manufacturer produces 2 or more modular structures per year.²⁰ These are state rules, so they apply on a parcel in a county with no residential building permit as well.

Which North Dakota counties have no zoning?

North Dakota has 5 counties with no countywide zoning: Traill County, Ramsey County, Sioux County, Sargent County and Steele County.² Only 3 of them also have no residential building permit: Ramsey County, Sioux County and Sargent County.¹⁰ Traill County and Steele County require building permits despite having no countywide zoning.⁶ See the no-zoning list and the no-codes, no-zoning list.

County commissioners may zone by district the location and use of buildings and the occupancy of land, following a comprehensive plan.²¹ Setbacks, minimum dwelling size, lot coverage and building height are set in each local zoning ordinance, not statewide.²²²³ Counties may also regulate subdivision, but not inside city limits, and no county subdivision rule may prevent farming.²⁴ Ask the county planning office which city or township rules reach a parcel.

Who issues septic permits in North Dakota?

A septic permit comes from the applicable local public health unit before work begins, and the installer must hold a Department of Environmental Quality license.³ Health districts serve 43 counties, and First District Health Unit is the agency named most often.²⁵ Regular maintenance needs no permit, and the permitting authority must inspect a new installation within 1 business day of the request.¹²

Household wastewater must pass through a septic tank or better treatment before reaching the soil, a new system needs a lot of at least 1 acre unless a variance is granted, and alternative disposal methods are reviewed case by case with no automatic approval.²⁶ For an off-grid build, ask the local public health unit what it will accept before you buy. DEQ's installer license is free; the local permit fee is separate.²⁷

Can you live in an RV or tiny home on your land in North Dakota?

North Dakota has a reviewed RV answer for 10 counties: 1 allowed, 2 temporary-only and 7 limited, with 43 counties unanswered.⁴ Bowman County permits RV parking in its Agricultural District, which does not establish permanent residence.⁴ Dunn County and Billings County give temporary-only answers, with district conditions.⁴ Adams County allows a temporary RV residence during construction.⁴ The RV-living list is the starting point.

Tiny-home answers exist for 5 counties, all limited, and 48 are unanswered.¹³ Wells County, Dunn County and Renville County treat a tiny home as a dwelling only when it meets their zoning definitions; Barnes County and Hettinger County treat trailer-type tiny homes as temporary occupancy.¹³ Statewide, we could not confirm a rule for living in a single RV on private land; the state-park camping limits do not answer it.²⁸

Where are the best counties in North Dakota for a bolthole?

Rolette County leads the Bolthole Index at 68, with no residential building-permit requirement and county zoning.²⁹¹⁹ Cass County follows at 60 with limited permit requirements, and Griggs County scores 58 with none.²⁹⁵¹ Richland County scores 59, though its building-permit answer is unconfirmed.²⁹⁷

The median county farmland value is $1,885 per acre, and Billings County is lowest at $1,167.³⁰ Those are farmland figures, not residential parcel prices. The median county effective property-tax rate is 0.9%, with a median bill of $1,251 a year.³¹

What water, well and driveway rules apply in North Dakota?

Domestic, livestock and recreational water use below 12.5 acre-feet per year needs no appropriation permit, but the location and capacity of the works must be reported to the Department of Water Resources.¹⁵³² Anyone hired to build, install or repair a well must be licensed; owners may work on their own property without that license.¹⁵ A DWR construction permit is required for a dike or low-hazard dam able to hold more than 50 acre-feet, which is separate from any local floodplain permit.³³

A driveway on state highway right-of-way needs an NDDOT driveway permit before work starts, and altering or relocating it needs the District Engineer's permission.³⁴

Watch-outs

• Countywide zoning and building-permit answers are separate: Traill and Steele have no countywide zoning but require building permits.²
• No residential building-permit requirement does not waive local public health approval for a septic system.³
• Agricultural buildings are exempt from the state building code chapter unless used for human habitation or by the public, so a house cannot be called a farm building.³⁵
• The builder property-tax exemption needs local authorization and an unoccupied, builder-owned home; it does not waive building permits.¹⁴
• A cabin rented to guests may need a state lodging license; it does not apply to a single structure with 5 or fewer guest rooms and 10 or fewer occupants.³⁶

Sources

1. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 53 North Dakota counties, as of October 7, 2026: North Dakota counties that do not require a residential building permit in unincorporated areas
2. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 53 North Dakota counties, as of October 7, 2026: North Dakota counties with no county-wide zoning
3. North Dakota: On-Site Wastewater Treatment Systems, quoted and re-checked
4. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 53 North Dakota counties, as of October 7, 2026: North Dakota counties' answers on living in an RV on your own land
5. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 53 North Dakota counties, as of October 7, 2026: North Dakota counties that require a residential building permit only in some cases (for example floodplain or certain structures)
6. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 53 North Dakota counties, as of October 7, 2026: North Dakota counties that require a residential building permit in unincorporated areas
7. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 53 North Dakota counties, as of October 7, 2026: North Dakota counties whose building-permit or zoning answer we could not confirm
8. North Dakota: Building Codes | Commerce | North Dakota, quoted and re-checked
9. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 53 North Dakota counties, as of October 7, 2026: North Dakota counties with county zoning
10. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 53 North Dakota counties, as of October 7, 2026: North Dakota counties with neither a residential building permit nor county-wide zoning
11. North Dakota: On-Site Wastewater Treatment Systems, quoted and re-checked
12. North Dakota: North Dakota Administrative Code, Chapter 33.1-21-01: Onsite Wastewater Treatment System Installers Licensing Systems, quoted and re-checked
13. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 53 North Dakota counties, as of October 7, 2026: North Dakota counties' answers on living in a tiny home on your own land
14. North Dakota: Property Tax Exemption for Builders of Certain New Single Family Residential Properties, quoted and re-checked
15. North Dakota: Water Appropriation Permits, quoted and re-checked
16. North Dakota: Building Codes, quoted and re-checked
17. North Dakota: 2026 North Dakota State Building Code Book, quoted and re-checked
18. North Dakota Department of Commerce — Community Services (commerce.nd.gov)
19. North Dakota: Manufactured Home Installation Program, quoted and re-checked
20. North Dakota: 2026 North Dakota State Building Code Book, quoted and re-checked
21. North Dakota: North Dakota Century Code, Chapter 11-33, County Zoning, quoted and re-checked
22. North Dakota: North Dakota Century Code Chapter 40-47, City Zoning, quoted and re-checked
23. North Dakota: North Dakota Century Code Chapter 40-47, City Zoning, quoted and re-checked
24. North Dakota: North Dakota Century Code Chapter 11-33.2, Subdivision Regulation, quoted and re-checked
25. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 53 North Dakota counties, as of October 7, 2026: Who issues septic permits across North Dakota's counties: a state agency, a multi-county health district, or the county
26. North Dakota: North Dakota Administrative Code, Section 33.1-21-01-07: General requirements, quoted and re-checked
27. North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality — Division of Water Quality (deq.nd.gov)
28. North Dakota: Parks and Recreation FAQ, quoted and re-checked
29. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 53 North Dakota counties, as of October 7, 2026: The 8 highest-scoring North Dakota counties on the Bolthole Index (off-grid and homestead land score out of 100), with each one's building-permit, zoning and septic answers
30. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 53 North Dakota counties, as of October 7, 2026: Median farmland value per acre across North Dakota's counties (USDA census, the middle county's value; USD/acre), with the five least expensive counties
31. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 53 North Dakota counties, as of October 7, 2026: Median of North Dakota's county effective property tax rates and median county property tax bills
32. North Dakota water rights and groundwater management: National Agricultural Law Center and Bolthole Index groundwater review
33. North Dakota: Construction Permits, quoted and re-checked
34. North Dakota: North Dakota Century Code Chapter 24-01, State Highway System, quoted and re-checked
35. North Dakota: North Dakota Century Code Chapter 54-21.3, State Building Code, quoted and re-checked
36. North Dakota: Lodging Establishments, quoted and re-checked

Written October 13, 2026 from the rules quoted below, each taken from an official source and re-checked by an independent reviewer. This is research, not legal advice: rules change, so confirm with the office before you buy or build.