Grand Forks
Grand Forks Fire Department, Fire Prevention Division
In short
Grand Forks Fire Department, Fire Prevention Division issues 3 permits we publish for Grand Forks, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire Operational and Construction Permitonly if it applies to you | Grand Forks Fire Department, Fire Prevention Division | Fire permits are $60.00 and construction permits are $60.00. Flammable and combustible liquid tanks are charged on a size schedule: $150.00 for a tank up to 1,000 gallons, $300.00 from 1,001 to 5,000, $400.00 from 5,001 to 12,000, $500.00 from 12,001 to 20,000 and $600.00 above 20,001. Pyrotechnic special effects materials are $120.00 plus $85.00 per hour with a two-hour minimum, and a fireworks display permit is $280.00. Fire protection outside city limits carries a $1,200.00 minimum fee, and a fire response outside city limits or arising from negligence or a violation of law is charged at $100.00 per hour per vehicle plus $50.00 per hour per person, with a $250.00 minimum. | the Fire Marshal issues a permit for a specific period not exceeding one year | 2026-09-14 |
| Auto Repair Shop — Fire Permit and Zoning (Grand Forks)only if it applies to you | Grand Forks Fire Department, Fire Prevention Division | No fee | not applicable to the license itself; the fire permit that does apply runs up to one year | 2026-09-14 |
| Daycare Fire Inspection and Childcare Food License (Grand Forks) | Grand Forks Fire Department, Fire Prevention Division | A home daycare initial inspection is $60.00, charged once. A daycare centre inspection is $60.00 annually. A re-inspection where violations remain uncorrected after sixty days is a further $60.00. Separately, a childcare facility that prepares or serves food pays a $25.00 food license on the Environmental Health schedule. | the home daycare inspection is charged once; the daycare centre inspection is annual | 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
Fire Operational and Construction Permit
The Fire Department describes the instrument in its own words: 'A license issued by the Fire Department grants permission for an operation, process, or activity for which Fire Department approval is required,' and 'The Fire Marshal will issue a permit for a specific period of time, not to exceed one year.' The permit-triggering list includes places of assembly, which reaches a restaurant or fitness studio above the occupancy threshold, and repair garages or motor fuel-dispensing facilities, which reaches an auto repair shop. All seven pages of the 2026 fee list, the Fire Department's permits, scheduling and prevention pages, and Code Chapter XII Articles 1 through 6 price no routine periodic commercial fire inspection fee. Daycare inspections are priced separately at $60.00 and are recorded on the Grand Forks daycare fire inspection record.
Auto Repair Shop — Fire Permit and Zoning (Grand Forks)
The City's Doing Business in Grand Forks page lists each business license type by name and lists no auto repair license, so there is no auto repair license fee; the thirty articles of City Code Chapter XXI likewise include no automotive, garage or vehicle repair licensing article. Auto repair appears only as a zoning use — 18-0216 permits 'Automobile repair shops' in the B-3 district, more narrowly in B-2, and 18-0204 excludes it from home occupations. The real city obligations are the building permit for fit-out, the sign permit, a conditional use permit where the district requires one, and a $60.00 fire permit: the permit-triggering list expressly includes 'Repair Garages or Motor Fuel-Dispensing Facilities.' A shop with fuel tanks pays the tank schedule recorded on the Grand Forks fire permit record, from $150.00 for a tank up to 1,000 gallons.
Daycare Fire Inspection and Childcare Food License (Grand Forks)
Under N.D.C.C. ch. 50-11.1, childcare operating licenses are issued by North Dakota HHS, and the City's Doing Business in Grand Forks page lists no childcare operating license. What the City charges for is a fire inspection at $60.00, and the Fire Department confirms it runs them on a fixed schedule: 'We also do daycare inspections (done every Tuesday). Please call (701) 746-2566.' A local fire code amendment raises the Group E day care threshold from five children to twelve, which changes when the stricter assembly-style requirements bite. Two further city touches apply. A childcare facility with a kitchen needs the $25.00 food license recorded on the Environmental Health schedule. And a child care centre needs a conditional use permit under 18-0208(3)(B), which requires evidence that the operator has applied to the state for its license. One attribution caveat is disclosed: the 2026 fee list prints the daycare inspection fees under 'Special Use Inspection Fees' without naming the collecting department, so the link to the Fire Department rests on the Fire Department's own statement that it performs these inspections rather than on the schedule itself.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Grand Forks
- Phone
- (701) 746-2566
- Website
- www.grandforksgov.com/fire
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.
- Apply for a Business License — the City's own current page stating that Grand Forks requires a license only for specific enumerated business types and that there is no general business license for most businessesCity of Grand Forks · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-14
- City of Grand Forks 2026 List of Fees, published January 7, 2026 (internally titled 'Proposed 2026 Fee List for budget book') — the consolidated license and permit schedule carrying food establishment, mobile food, contractor, sign, zoning, fire, pool, body art and alcohol fees in prior-year and 2026 columnsCity of Grand Forks · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-14
- Fire Department — the Fire Prevention Division's own current page, stating that a Fire Department license grants permission for an operation, process or activity requiring approval and that a permit is issued for a specific period not exceeding one yearCity of Grand Forks Fire Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-14
- Grand Forks City Code, codified through Ordinance No. 4934, adopted December 15, 2025 (Supp. No. 34) — Chapter XXI Article 7 (food and drink establishments), Article 29 (general contractors, including the $2,000 threshold at 21-2902), Article 5 (outdoor advertising and sign permits), 21-0106 (fees set by resolution, one-year term expiring December 31) and 18-0507 (certificate of occupancy)City of Grand Forks · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-14
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