Fargo
City of Fargo Auditor's Office, Licensing Department
In short
City of Fargo Auditor's Office, Licensing Department issues 5 permits we publish for Fargo, last verified 2026-09-14. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Contractor License (state-issued; city licenses specific trades only) | City of Fargo Auditor's Office, Licensing Department | The license is issued by the North Dakota Secretary of State, not the City, and is priced by job size: Class A for jobs over $500,000 is $450.00, Class B up to $500,000 is $300.00, Class C up to $300,000 is $225.00, and Class D up to $100,000 is $100.00. Fargo separately licenses specific trades at its own rates: excavator $250.00 per year with a $100,000 bond, sidewalk builder $125.00 with a $25,000 bond, house mover $125.00, re-roofing $125.00, sign hanger $125.00, journeyman heating $100.00 for three years, master heating $125.00 and master plumber $125.00. | annual for the state contractor license and for most Fargo trade licenses; the City's excavator license expires each March 1 and the journeyman heating license runs three years | 2026-09-14 |
| Veterinary Practice — State Practitioner License Applies (Fargo)only if it applies to you | City of Fargo Auditor's Office, Licensing Department | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-14 |
| General Business License — City of Fargo positiononly if it applies to you | City of Fargo Auditor's Office, Licensing Department | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-14 |
| Fitness Studio — Aquatic Facility License Only Where a Pool Is Operated (Fargo)only if it applies to you | City of Fargo Auditor's Office, Licensing Department | No fee | not applicable to the studio itself | 2026-09-14 |
| Salon and Barber Shop — State Board License Applies (Fargo)only if it applies to you | City of Fargo Auditor's Office, Licensing Department | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-14 |
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
General Contractor License (state-issued; city licenses specific trades only)
Per the City's Business & Occupational Licensing page, Fargo licenses specific trades rather than general contractors, and the state licenses general contractors. The Secretary of State's own page sets the threshold plainly: 'When the cost, value, or price of a job exceeds $4,000, the person doing the work must be licensed as a contractor in North Dakota (NDCC ch. 43-07).' What Fargo licenses instead is a short list of specific trades, and those are genuine city obligations layered on top of the state license. The excavator license is the most demanding of them: the City's own excavation guidance states that 'The fee for a City-issued Excavator's License shall be $250 annually due at the time of application. All City-issued Excavator Licenses expire on March 1,' with minimum insurance of $1,000,000 per occurrence and a minimum bond of $100,000. Electrical contractors are licensed and permitted by the North Dakota State Electrical Board rather than by either the City or the Secretary of State.
Veterinary Practice — State Practitioner License Applies (Fargo)
No fee applies. The City's Business & Occupational Licensing page lists no veterinary category, and Chapter 25 of the Municipal Code has no veterinary article. North Dakota licenses the practitioner, not the practice: N.D.C.C. 43-29-06 provides that 'An individual must have a license or temporary license issued by the board to practice veterinary medicine or veterinary technology,' and the statute's license requirement attaches to the individual, with the Board setting standards for premises inspection. One point of interest confirms the boundary from the other direction — Fargo's boarding facility license expressly carves veterinarians out, defining a boarding facility so that it 'does not include the temporary use of kennels by veterinarians, grooming establishments, or municipal pounds.' A veterinary clinic still needs the building permit, sign permit and fire operational permit, each recorded as a separate requirement.
General Business License — City of Fargo position
No fee applies. The City's Business & Occupational Licensing page states the position in its own words: 'The City does not require business licenses for every type of commerce; however, the Fargo Municipal Code does require a City license for the businesses listed below.' The list that follows is closed and trade-specific — excavator ($250.00 per year with a $100,000 bond), sidewalk builder ($125.00 with a $25,000 bond), house mover ($125.00), re-roofing ($125.00), sign hanger ($125.00), journeyman heating ($100.00 for three years), master heating ($125.00), master plumber ($125.00), commercial hauler ($1,000.00), pawnbroker ($250.00 with a $5,000 bond and a $250.00 first-time investigation fee), second-hand dealer ($250.00 with a $5,000 bond) and a handful of others. A restaurant, coffee shop, retail store, fitness studio, childcare centre, auto repair shop, veterinary practice or salon needs no general City license to open — the obligations that do reach them are the food license, building and sign permits, fire operational permits and zoning approvals recorded as separate requirements. Bismarck and Grand Forks follow the same structure, and each states it on its own licensing page.
Fitness Studio — Aquatic Facility License Only Where a Pool Is Operated (Fargo)
No fee applies: the City's Business & Occupational Licensing page lists no fitness business license, and all thirty-eight articles of Chapter 25 and the health articles of Chapter 13 contain no gym, health club, fitness studio or exercise facility category. A studio's real city obligations are the building permit for fit-out, the sign permit, the $70.00 annual fire operational permit — a studio above the occupancy threshold falls under §105.5.41 places of assembly — and a conditional use permit where zoning requires one. One exception adds a license: a studio that operates a pool or spa comes under Fargo Municipal Code 13-1011, which requires an aquatic facility license. That section sets its fee 'by resolution of the board of city commissioners' and no current amount is published, so the requirement is noted here without a price.
Salon and Barber Shop — State Board License Applies (Fargo)
No fee applies at city level, because Fargo formerly licensed barbershops and no longer does: 'Article 25-18 of chapter 25 of the Fargo Municipal Code was repealed by Ord. No. 2309' in 1987. Salon establishment licensing is a state function — N.D.A.C. 32-03-01-01 requires that 'All individuals, firms, associations, corporations, partnerships, and other entities desiring to operate an establishment shall make application to the board for a license prior to commencing business,' with N.D.C.C. 43-11-28 setting maximum fees of $150.00 for an original establishment license and $100.00 per year to renew. Two adjacent personal-care trades are licensed locally by Fargo Cass Public Health rather than by the Auditor, and a salon expanding into them would pick up a city obligation: a massage therapy establishment license, which FCPH prices at $50.00 per year, and body art establishment and technician licenses under Article 25-33. A tanning facility permit exists under §25-3605. The massage figure sits on a page framed around 2024 and the body art and tanning fees are set 'by resolution' without a published amount, so neither is recorded here as a confirmed fee.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Fargo
- Phone
- (701) 241-1304
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.
- Business & Occupational Licensing — the City Auditor's own current page stating that Fargo does not require a business license for every type of commerce, and listing the closed set of trades and activities that do require oneCity of Fargo · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-08
- Contractor licensing — the North Dakota Secretary of State's own page setting the $4,000 job threshold under N.D.C.C. ch. 43-07 and the Class A to Class D license feesNorth Dakota Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-14
Other offices serving Fargo
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
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