North Dakota Building Code: Which Editions Are Adopted

Direct answer

2024 North Dakota State Building Code, effective 1 January 2026, for cities and counties that choose to enforce a building code in North Dakota. 2024 IBC, IRC, IMC, IFGC, IECC and IEBC with North Dakota amendments, adopted by the Department of Commerce with the State Building Code Advisory Committee and eligible local jurisdictions. Record the permit application date with it: a code change normally applies from an effective date, and an application filed before that date is usually reviewed under the previous edition. Local amendments sit on top of the state adoption and can change a requirement without changing the edition, so read the adopting ordinance for the permit jurisdiction alongside the state text. This was checked on 2026-10-01 against North Dakota Department of Commerce, Division of Community Services, which is the source that controls. The cross-state comparison further down this page comes from the ICC adoption chart dated January 2024, so where the two disagree the record above is the newer one.

Content and cited inputs reviewed by Harth team · Published 2026-09-07 · Updated 2026-10-01.

Which codes has North Dakota adopted now?

2024 North Dakota State Building Code, effective 1 January 2026, for cities and counties that choose to enforce a building code.

2024 IBC, IRC, IMC, IFGC, IECC and IEBC with North Dakota amendments, adopted by the Department of Commerce with the State Building Code Advisory Committee and eligible local jurisdictions.

Local adoption: North Dakota does not require local governments to enforce a building code. A city, township or county that elects to administer and enforce one must adopt the State Building Code, though it may amend it for local needs; fully chartered home rule cities may adopt something else, but none that enforce a code currently do. The Department of Commerce maintains the code but does not enforce it. The state fire code, the 2021 IFC, applies statewide through the State Fire Marshal.

Checked 2026-10-01 against North Dakota Department of Commerce, Division of Community Services. Confirm the edition and effective date for the specific permit jurisdiction before relying on it.

The cross-state record

For comparison across states, every I-Code the ICC Master I-Code Adoption Chart (January 2024) tracks, as it records North Dakota. Where this disagrees with the record above, the record above is newer:

North Dakota has a recorded edition year for 6 of the 17 codes: 2021 for the building, residential, fire, mechanical, fuel gas and residential energy codes. The commercial energy, property maintenance and existing buildings codes appear as adopted by individual state or local agencies rather than as a statewide standard, so whether they apply depends on the permit jurisdiction for the project address. No adoption at all is recorded for the plumbing, private sewage, green construction, swimming pool and spa, performance, wildland-urban interface, zoning and green building standard codes.

Source: ICC Master I-Code Adoption Chart (January 2024).

How North Dakota compares with its neighbours

Statewide editions in force, checked 2026-10-01; “Local” means no state adoption, “(limited)” a state adoption for some buildings only, and * a state-titled code built on that edition.

South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana differ from North Dakota on the building code alone. A practice working across that border is working to two editions, whatever the office standard says.

Where North Dakota sits in the national record

North Dakota is one of 17 jurisdictions with no statewide IBC edition in force. Adoption runs through local programmes or applies only to a subset of buildings, so there is no single answer for the state and the permit jurisdiction for the address decides.

North Dakota is one of 15 jurisdictions with no statewide residential energy code based on an IECC edition in force, so the energy question is answered by the state's own document or by the local jurisdiction.

Across all 17 codes the January 2024 ICC chart tracks, North Dakota has a recorded edition for 6, which ranked it 31st of 51. A low count is not a gap in regulation — it usually means the state legislates through its own documents, or leaves the discipline to local adoption.

What the chart does and does not tell you

The chart's own legend matters more than the numbers:

• An edition year means one or more state or local agencies adopted that edition. It does not mean every building in the state is designed to it.
• “Some jurisdictions only” is the chart's X: the code is in use somewhere in the state but is not the standard for all buildings.
• “Not adopted” is a blank cell — no state or local jurisdiction reported adopting that code.
• “State-written code” means the state publishes its own document in place of the model edition, so the model text is a reference, not the law.

ICC states plainly that not every jurisdiction notifies it of an adoption, and this chart is dated January 2024. Treat it as the starting point for a search, never as the answer.

How to confirm the edition that governs a North Dakota project

1. Open North Dakota Department of Commerce, Division of Community Services and find the currently adopted code list with its effective date.
2. Check whether the permit authority for the project address is the state or a local programme with its own adoption.
3. Read the state amendments alongside the model edition — an amended table or definition changes the requirement even when the edition matches.
4. Record the permit application date. A code change usually applies from an effective date, and applications filed before it are normally reviewed under the previous edition.
5. Get the answer in writing from the authority having jurisdiction before it drives a design decision.

This site also hosts a transcription of the 2009 model code chapters as adopted in North Dakota at /building-codes/us-states/north-dakota. That is a historical reference for the 2009 editions and is not North Dakota's current code basis.

North Dakota code-basis worksheet

Fill this in once per project and keep it with the drawing set. Every row is a question a plan reviewer can ask, and the answer changes with the address and the application date, not with the state.

This worksheet records a determination; it does not make one. The authority having jurisdiction decides which edition and which amendments apply.

Where can you explore related guidance?

• Explore all code adoption guidance
• South Dakota Building Code: Which Editions Are Adopted
• Minnesota Building Code: Which Editions Are Adopted
• Montana Building Code: Which Editions Are Adopted
• Wyoming Building Code: Which Editions Are Adopted

Sources and method

Adopted editions transcribed from the ICC Master I-Code Adoption Chart (January 2024), reproduced with the chart's own legend so an “X” is not mistaken for a statewide adoption. ICC notes that not all jurisdictions report their adoptions and publishes updates at iccsafe.org/adoptions. The current edition, its effective date and the state amendments are published by North Dakota Department of Commerce, Division of Community Services, which controls.

Source links

• iccsafe.org

• iccsafe.org

• commerce.nd.gov