Fargo
Fargo Fire Department
In short
Fargo Fire Department issues 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto Repair Shop — Fire Operational Permit Applies (Fargo)only if it applies to you | Fargo Fire Department | No fee | not applicable to the license itself; the fire operational permit that does apply runs annually | 2026-09-14 |
| Annual Fire Operational Permitonly if it applies to you | Fargo Fire Department | $70 per year, per operational permit type | annual | 2026-09-14 |
| Day Care Inspection (city permit repealed in 2020; inspection retained) | Fargo Fire Department | An initial inspection is $50.00. The first re-inspection is free of charge, and the second, third, fourth and each subsequent re-inspection is $30.00 apiece. A Board of Appeals filing fee of $150.00 applies if an inspection result is challenged. | per inspection; the schedule sets no annual renewal cycle | 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
Auto Repair Shop — Fire Operational Permit Applies (Fargo)
There is no fee to pay: the City's Business & Occupational Licensing page lists no auto repair license, and the Municipal Code shows this is deliberate: the City formerly licensed used car dealers under Fargo Municipal Code Article 25-14, 'repealed in its entirety by Ord. No. 2307' in 1987, and fuel dealers under Article 25-17, repealed by Ord. No. 2308 the same year, with nothing substituted. What a repair shop does owe is recorded as separate requirements — the $70.00 annual fire operational permit under §105.5.47 for repair garages, plus §105.5.49 for spraying or dipping if it runs a paint booth, the building permit for any fit-out, and the sign permit. One narrow license survives for fuel dispensing: an automotive service station or bulk oil plant pays $25.00 for the first nozzle and $10.00 per additional nozzle, expiring each June 30. Vehicle dealers are licensed by the North Dakota Department of Transportation at the state level.
Annual Fire Operational Permit
Forty-one of the forty-four annual operational permits on the Fire Department's own published schedule are priced at a flat $70.00, which is why this record carries that figure rather than a range. Which permit a business needs depends on what it does: §105.5.41 places of assembly reaches a restaurant or fitness studio above the occupancy threshold, §105.5.47 repair garages reaches an auto repair shop, §105.5.25 hot work and §105.5.49 spraying or dipping reach body shops and similar operations. Three permits cost more: hazardous materials (§105.5.22) and HPM facilities (§105.5.23) are $140.00 each, and pyrotechnic special effects are $140.00 plus $100.00 per hour with a two-hour minimum. Construction permits are separate and formula-based — automatic fire-extinguishing systems, sprinkler systems and fire alarm and detection systems are each $100.00 plus 0.1 percent of the total fire flow calculation area, while flammable and combustible liquids and LP-gas permits are $100.00 plus a tank fee running from $160.00 for a tank up to 1,000 gallons to $650.00 above 20,001 gallons, with each dispenser with a sump at $220.00. Inspections outside normal business hours carry a two-hour minimum at $100.00 per hour, and fees double for work started without a permit. The Fire Department's current fire-permits-codes page lists no separate periodic commercial fire inspection fee distinct from the operational permits above — inspection is bundled into whichever operational permit type the occupancy requires, rather than charged as its own recurring line.
Day Care Inspection (city permit repealed in 2020; inspection retained)
Fargo no longer permits childcare facilities — it inspects them. Fargo Municipal Code §§13-1102, 13-1103 and 13-1104 are all now 'Reserved,' the annotation recording that 'Ord. No. 5261, § 2, adopted July 27, 2020, repealed § 13-1104, which pertained to a required permit for operation of a child care facility.' What survives in Article 13-11 are substantive operating rules on physical activity, electronic media and beverages rather than a license. Licensing itself sits with North Dakota HHS Early Childhood Licensing. Two City sources point in different directions: the Day Care Inspection Fees schedule is a current City document effective January 1, 2025 and carries Inspections Department letterhead, but the Inspections Department's own page now states that 'The Inspections Department no longer conducts daycare inspections. All questions or requests related to daycare inspections should now be directed to the Fargo Fire Department at 701-241-1540.' This record is filed against the Fire Department because that is where the City directs applicants. The Fire Department's own Fire Permits & Codes page — its Annual Operational Permits table and its Construction Permits table — lists no day care or childcare line, so the fee amounts above are recorded as published by Inspections; ask the Fire Department at 701-241-1540 whether it charges those same amounts. A childcare centre with a kitchen separately needs the Fargo Cass Public Health food license recorded above.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Fargo
- Phone
- (701) 241-1540
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
- Day Care Inspection Fees, effective January 1, 2025 — initial inspection $50.00, first re-inspection no charge, subsequent re-inspections $30.00, Board of Appeals $150.00 filing feeCity of Fargo Inspections Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-14
- Fargo Municipal Code Chapter 13 (Health, Sanitation and Welfare), Article 13-03 (Control and Regulation of Food Establishments) — §13-0302, requiring a food establishment license, as repealed and re-enacted in full by Ord. No. 5473, § 1, adopted April 28, 2025: 'No person shall operate a food establishment without first applying for and obtaining a license issued by the public health department. A license shall be issued when a pre-operational inspection has determined that the proposed food establishment and its method of operation will conform to the requirements of this chapter. A license, once issued, is nontransferable. The initial application for a license shall extend from the date of issuance until year-end. Thereafter, the food establishment license may be renewed annually on January 1. All food establishments shall pay an annual license fee in an amount to be established by resolution of the board of city commissioners, said fee payable prior to January 1st of each year.' As re-enacted in 2025, the ordinance leaves the fee to a resolution of the Board of City Commissioners rather than fixing it in the ordinance. Also carries the repeal annotation at §13-1104 recording that Ord. No. 5261 removed the childcare permit in 2020.City of Fargo · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Fire Permits and Codes — the annual operational permit schedule (forty-one of forty-four permit types at $70.00, hazardous materials and HPM facilities at $140.00), construction permit formulas and the tank fee scheduleFargo Fire Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-14
Other offices serving Fargo
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
North Dakota jurisdictions
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