What do these permits involve in Grand Forks?

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Conditional Use Permit / Board of Adjustments Application

The Code's own zoning fee figures are stale and are not used here. City Code 18-1103, adopted by Ordinance 4252 in 2008, still prints a conventional rezoning at $150.00, a conditional use permit at $163.00, major subdivisions at $650.00, a zoning variance at $80.00 and vacations at $190.00 — every one of them displaced by the current resolution-set schedule recorded above. The current resolution-set figures are the ones shown here. One conditional use provision reaches the industries covered here directly: a child care centre requires a conditional use permit, and 18-0208(3)(B) conditions it on the applicant submitting 'evidence of application to the North Dakota Department of Human Services for license to operate a child care center as required by North Dakota Century Code Section 50-11.1' — so the city approval and the state license are sequenced rather than independent.

Commercial Building Permit

The 2026 fee list's $4.00 per additional $1,000 above $1,000,001 and the cumulative permit fee table's $3.50 apply to different brackets: the table, linked from the City's own Permits & Applications page, shows $4.00 governs from $1,000,001 up to $25,000,000, and a fifth, separate bracket above $25,000,001 drops to $3.50 on a $101,947.00 base. Every bracket below $1,000,001 is identical in both documents. Starting work without a permit is expensive and the Code sets the rule at 19-0101(18): a penalty fee applies where the project is valued at $2,000 or more, or where a formal complaint has been made to Municipal Court, and 'This penalty fee shall be equal to the fee of the building permit' — in effect doubling it. The City exempts itself under 19-0102: 'The City of Grand Forks shall be exempted from the paying of any fee for any building permit.' Electrical permits are not a city charge; the fee list marks them 'Set by State,' reflecting North Dakota State Electrical Board jurisdiction.

Certificate of Occupancy — Fee Not Published (Grand Forks)

The certificate is required, and no fee for it is published in any of the five City documents described here. The Commercial Project Guide's own 'Miscellaneous Fees' section — which separately prices a Board of Adjustments fee at $95.00, a Board of Appeals fee at $55.00, a parabolic antenna permit at $55.00 and a storm water pollution permit at $55.00 — has no certificate-of-occupancy line, and none of that guide's step-by-step processes for additions, new construction, remodels or repairs mentions issuing one. The full seven-page 2026 City Budget Supplemental List of Fees has none either. The Building Permit Fees, Commercial Properties table effective January 1, 2019 — still the City's current document — is a pure valuation schedule with no occupancy line. And the Building Safety FAQ and the dedicated Rental Inspections Program page describe the certificate of occupancy process for rental housing in detail — inspection triggers, egress and heating requirements, the municipal court enforcement path — without stating a fee anywhere, for either the rental or the commercial context. Code 18-0507 requires the application, and §111 of the adopted International Building Code is retained rather than deleted by the City's amendments, so the close-out step exists; a related residential provision at 19-0116 shows the concept is used actively in Grand Forks — 'No dwelling house, apartment or other premises of similar nature shall be occupied… by a renter unless or until a certificate of occupancy has been issued by the city building inspector and approved by the city health officer.' None of these documents states that the certificate is free, so no amount, including zero, is shown here. A business owner should confirm with Building Safety, (701) 746-2631, at final inspection.

General Business License — City of Grand Forks position

The City's Doing Business in Grand Forks page states: 'The City of Grand Forks only requires a business license for the specific types of businesses listed below. There is not a general business license for most businesses.' Because that page names no general license, there is no general license fee. Across the thirty articles of City Code Chapter XXI, the licensed set is alcoholic beverages, taxicabs, handicap transportation, outdoor advertising, residential rentals, food and drink establishments, pawnbrokers, towing, bike sharing, hotels and motels, door-to-door sales, electric scooter rentals, airport limousines, circuses and public exhibitions, commercial pedal cars, franchises, emergency alarm systems, shooting ranges, bed and breakfasts, temporary restaurants, tobacco retailers, general contractors and sexually oriented businesses. None of those articles covers child care, cosmetology, veterinary practice, automotive repair, fitness or retail generally. Of the ten industries covered here, only food businesses and contractors need a city license. Enumerated licenses that could reach a retail operation include a tobacco retail dealer at $100.00 with a vending machine at $50.00, and door-to-door sales at $500.00 annually or $75.00 per day with a $5,000 surety bond.

Permit	Issuing agency	Fee	Renews	Last checked
Conditional Use Permit / Board of Adjustments Applicationonly if it applies to you	City of Grand Forks Planning and Zoning Department	From the current resolution-set schedule: a conditional use permit is $200.00, a Board of Adjustments application $120.00, a Board of Appeals application $150.00, a conventional rezoning $300.00 and a subdivision variance $70.00. Site plan review is $85.00 for improvements of $5,000 or less and $300.00 above that. Planned unit development concept, amendment and detailed development plans are $300.00 each. Major subdivisions are $700.00 and minor subdivisions $400.00. A vacation of street, alley or public ground is $300.00, a zoning letter $75.00, a change of address $30.00 and an outside seating permit $100.00 initially with a $25.00 renewal where nothing changes.	one-time per application	2026-09-14
Commercial Building Permit	City of Grand Forks Department of Building Safety	Commercial construction is priced from valuation on a table effective January 1, 2019 and still the City's live current schedule: nothing is charged from $1 to $1,000; $77.00 covers $1,001 to $2,000; and each additional $1,000 is charged at $15.00 from $2,001 to $25,000, $11.00 from $25,001 to $50,000, $7.00 from $50,001 to $100,000, $6.00 from $100,001 to $500,000, $5.00 from $500,001 to $1,000,000, and $4.00 from $1,000,001 to $25,000,000. Above $25,000,001 the rate steps down to $3.50 per additional $1,000, on a base of $101,947.00. Residential work runs a separate lower table beginning at $36.00 for $501 to $1,000. Related permits: demolition $50.00 with a $1,500.00 cleanup deposit, temporary buildings $50.00, a moving permit at $150.00 application plus a $35.00 initial inspection, plumbing at a $35.00 issuance fee covering the first four fixtures with $9.00 for each additional, and mechanical at a $35.00 issuance fee plus per-appliance charges.	one-time, per project	2026-09-14
Certificate of Occupancy — Fee Not Published (Grand Forks)	City of Grand Forks Department of Building Safety	No fee	one-time — issued once inspection confirms compliance	2026-09-14
General Business License — City of Grand Forks positiononly if it applies to you	City of Grand Forks Finance and Administrative Services (Business Licensing, City Auditor)	No fee	not applicable	2026-09-14

Business licenses and permits in Grand Forks, North Dakota

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Permits that apply to every type of business in Grand Forks