Billings
City of Billings, Building Division
In short
City of Billings, Building Division issues 3 permits we publish for Billings, last verified 2026-09-12. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial Building Permit | City of Billings, Building Division | Resolution 26-11315 (adopted February 23, 2026) valuation table, applied to the higher of the total bid price or the valuation in the most recent International Code Council Building Safety Journal table: $1-$2,000: $45.00 flat; $2,001-$25,000: $45.00 for the first $2,000 plus $8.00 per additional $1,000 or fraction; $25,001-$50,000: $229.00 for the first $25,000 plus $5.00 per additional $1,000 or fraction; $50,001-$100,000: $354.00 for the first $50,000 plus $3.50 per additional $1,000 or fraction; $100,001-$500,000: $529.00 for the first $100,000 plus $2.50 per additional $1,000 or fraction; $500,001-$1,000,000: $1,529.00 for the first $500,000 plus $2.00 per additional $1,000 or fraction; $1,000,001-$5,000,000: $2,529.00 for the first $1,000,000 plus $1.75 per additional $1,000 or fraction; over $5,000,000: $9,529.00 for the first $5,000,000 plus $1.50 per additional $1,000 or fraction. Add a Commercial Plan Review Fee of 60% of the permit fee. 'Other Inspections and Fees' are charged at $75.00 per hour (Item 6): inspections outside normal business hours (two-hour minimum), re-inspections (one-hour minimum), inspections for which no fee is specifically indicated (one-hour minimum), and additional plan review required by changes, additions or revisions to approved plans (half-hour minimum). Electrical, Mechanical, and Plumbing permits are priced on their own separate unit-fee schedules set by the same resolution; the Electrical schedule's single-family-dwelling figures ($130.00/$200.00 by amperage) are the same as in the 2006 resolution. | one-time, per project — not stated in the published fee schedule | 2026-09-12 |
| General Contractor Local License (not found beyond state registration)only if it applies to you | City of Billings, Building Division | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-12 |
| Certificate of Occupancy | City of Billings, Building Division | No fee | one-time — issued after required inspections confirm code compliance | 2026-09-12 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Commercial Building Permit
Set by Resolution 26-11315, adopted February 23, 2026 and 'effective immediately upon passage.' The City's own signed and sealed copy is the fee source. It repeals Resolution 11-19068 (June 13, 2011), the resolution that had set the valuation-based fees, and sets new, generally lower Building, Electrical, Plumbing, Mechanical and Fire System permit fees; the Fire System Permit Fee from Item 5 is recorded as a separate Billings record. Item 1 of the signed resolution sets every valuation band above and reads 'COMMERCIAL PLAN REVIEW FEE SHALL BE ASSESSED AT 60% OF THE PERMIT FEE.' 'Other Inspections and Fees' are $75.00 per hour under Item 6, with the minimums shown above. The City's Permit Fees page (DID=5053) still prints the pre-2026 valuation table and a flat $45.00 charge ('Or the total hourly cost to the City, whichever is the greatest'), and the City's electrical fee page (DID=1026) also still prints $45.00. Both pages are out of date against the controlling resolution and are cited only because a reader might otherwise rely on them. The resolution's authenticity is corroborated by the City's own Administrator Weekly Report, which lists it on the Council's draft 2026 agenda. The 60% clause replaces the 2006 resolution's '[ADD 65% PLAN CHECK FOR COMMERCIAL & MULTI-FAMILY]' and no longer names multi-family projects. Electrical, mechanical and plumbing trade permits are billed separately from this Building Permit figure.
General Contractor Local License (not found beyond state registration)
No fee applies at the city level beyond Montana's own state contractor registration. The City's own Public Works Department maintains a Contractor & Permit Services page, but it describes only a Request-for-Qualifications/Statement-of-Qualifications prequalification program for firms bidding on the City's own public-works construction contracts — a government-procurement mechanism, not a general business-licensing requirement — so it is not recorded here as an industry-wide contractor license. A Billings contractor's obligation is instead the same Building, Electrical, Mechanical, and Plumbing permit process recorded elsewhere in this file, pulled per project.
Certificate of Occupancy
The Building Division's Getting a Certificate page, linked from its Certificate of Occupancy page, states that 'Inspections and plan reviews are funded through the purchase of a building permit by the builder or applicant. In turn, this cost is passed on to the consumer.' The City publishes no separate charge for the certificate, so there is no standalone Certificate of Occupancy fee: the cost is folded into the Building Permit fee rather than priced separately — a difference from Bangor and Nampa, both of which price a Certificate of Occupancy as its own line item. The Certificate of Occupancy page adds that all required inspections and a Certificate of Occupancy must be obtained before water service billing information is transferred.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Billings
- Phone
- (406) 657-8270
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Billings City Administrator Weekly Report (January 2, 2026) — its own draft 2026 Council meeting agendas list 'Resolution Setting Building, Electrical, Plumbing, Mechanical, and Fire System Permit Fees' as a consent-agenda item, independently corroborating Resolution 26-11315's legislative processCity of Billings, Montana, City Administrator's Office · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Building Permit Fees (valuation table), linked from the City's Permit Fees page: still prints the pre-2026 valuation table and a $45.00 'Other Inspections and Fees' charge, both superseded by Resolution 26-11315 (re-checked September 18, 2026)City of Billings, Montana, Building Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Certificate of Occupancy — the City's own page confirming inspections and plan review 'are funded through the purchase of a building permit,' with no standalone feeCity of Billings, Montana, Building Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Contractor & Permit Services — the Public Works Department's own page describing its RFQ/SOQ contractor prequalification program for City construction contractsCity of Billings, Montana, Public Works Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Electrical Permit Fees, linked from the City's Permit Fees page: single-family and commercial electrical figures matching Resolution 26-11315 Item 2, but still printing the superseded $45.00 'Other Inspections and Fees' chargeCity of Billings, Montana, Building Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Resolution 26-11315 (adopted February 23, 2026), A Resolution Setting Building, Electrical, Plumbing, Mechanical and Fire Systems Permit Fees: signed and sealed copy, including Item 5, Fire System Permit Fees, per system by project costCity of Billings, Montana, City Council · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Resolution No. 06-18413 (passed April 24, 2006) — the Building, Electrical, Plumbing and Mechanical Permit Fees resolution, including the 65% commercial/multi-family plan-check clauseCity of Billings, Montana, City Council · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
Other offices serving Billings
- City/County Planning Division, City of Billings Planning & Community Services Department
- RiverStone Health (Yellowstone City-County Health Department), Environmental Health Services
- Billings Fire Department, Fire Prevention Bureau
- City of Billings, Department of Finance (Business License Division)
- City of Billings, City Board of Adjustment
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
Montana jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.