West Fargo building department

The City of West Fargo’s Building Inspection Division issues building permits and inspects construction for property inside West Fargo city limits. It handles residential and commercial building permits, mechanical (HVAC and gas) permits, demolition permits, and plan routing for commercial projects. Electrical and plumbing permits are not issued by the City. The North Dakota State Electrical Board and State Plumbing Board issue those permits and do those inspections. The division is at West Fargo City Hall and is open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. West Fargo borders Fargo in Cass County, and Fargo runs its own inspections department, so confirm which city your address is in.

What needs a permit in West Fargo

The City’s building FAQ says permits are required for:

• Additions, decks, porches, and finishing a basement
• Replacing doors and windows with ones of a different size
• Interior renovation or repair that includes structural changes
• Demolition, accessory structures, swimming pools, and re-siding
• All HVAC systems, including gas appliances and equipment and wood stoves. Gas piping also needs a permit.

A building permit, a zoning permit, or both may be needed when a building’s use changes.

You do not need a permit to:

• Paint (inside or out), hang wallpaper, replace cabinets, or do similar finish work
• Build an accessory building of 120 square feet or less
• Pour concrete sidewalks and patios entirely on your own property
• Insulate an existing building when no structural changes are made

Detached garages, sheds, playhouses, and gazebos over 120 square feet need a permit. Questions about residential outdoor swimming pools go to the Planning Department at (701) 515-5370. See also do I need a permit for a shed.

Electrical and plumbing go through the state

New, altered, or replaced wiring and plumbing need separate permits. The City’s FAQ says the North Dakota State Electrical Board, (701) 499-1549, issues electrical permits and inspects the work, and the North Dakota State Plumbing Board, (701) 799-1555, does the same for plumbing. The Electrical Board requires contractors and self-wirers to report work for inspection when it costs more than $500, involves a new or altered service entrance, or is about to be concealed. Both boards offer online license lookups.

Contractor licensing

The North Dakota Secretary of State licenses general contractors. Anyone doing a job that costs more than $4,000 must hold a North Dakota contractor license. Class A covers jobs over $500,000; Classes B, C, and D cap jobs at $500,000, $300,000, and $100,000. You can check a contractor’s license on the Secretary of State’s FirstStop portal. Homeowners may install and replace their own HVAC equipment. The work must follow the manufacturer’s installation instructions, and gas appliances and piping still need a permit and inspection before use.

How to apply

Apply online through the City’s iWorQ portal or in person at City Hall. The City publishes guidelines for accessory structures, additions, decks, and remodeling, plus framing and final inspection checklists. An application needs the address, the full scope of work, the project value (materials and labor), and the names of the contractor, designer, and subcontractors. A detached garage or shed also needs truss specs, a site plan showing distances to property lines, and dimensioned foundation, floor, elevation, and section drawings.

Homeowners may draw their own plans if they are to scale and legible. Free-hand drawings are not accepted. The City may require engineered plans, which must carry the designer’s original wet stamp.

How long it takes

Mechanical, re-siding, and re-roofing permits can often be issued while you wait. Most other permits take up to four business days, though the accessory structure, addition, and remodeling guidelines allow 3 to 5 business days for plan review.

Commercial projects

The Inspections Department routes commercial plans to the Fire, Planning, Engineering, Public Works, and Health departments and needs every approval before it issues a permit. Submit two bound hard-copy plan sets plus a PDF. For a plan review only, use the Commercial Plan Routing Application, not the online system. Professional design is required for new commercial buildings over two stories, with Group A, E, I, or H occupancies, or of 10,000 square feet or more (other than Group S or U). Commercial remodels valued at $250,000 or more, or over 50% of the Assessor’s market value, also need professional design.

Permit fees

Residential building permit fees are based on total project value, counting materials and labor:

Total valuation	Fee
Up to $1,000	$37.00
$1,001 to $100,000	$37.00 for the first $1,000, plus $5.00 for each additional $1,000
$100,001 to $500,000	$532.00 for the first $100,000, plus $3.00 for each additional $1,000
$500,001 and up	$1,732.00 for the first $500,000, plus $2.00 for each additional $1,000

Other residential fees:

• Plan review: $37 on all residential permits
• Demolition: $150, or $50 for buildings under 400 square feet with no utility services
• Above-ground swimming pool: $125
• After-hours inspections, reinspections, and extra plan review for revisions: $110 per hour, one-hour minimum

Mechanical permit fees depend on the type, size, and number of appliances. The commercial fee schedule took effect August 1, 2025. It sets a $50 minimum fee and a $75 hourly rate for reinspections and other added inspections.

Inspections

Request inspections through the iWorQ portal or by contacting the Building department. Inspectors typically check footings, framing, insulation, rough-ins, mechanical work, and the final. No work may continue, or be covered, until the requested inspection is signed off. Keep the inspection card posted on site until the final.

A detached garage or shed needs a footing or slab inspection before the pour, a framing inspection after electrical, HVAC, and plumbing are inspected, and a final before use. Decks need a framing inspection before the decking goes on, plus a final. Decks designed for a future enclosure also need a foundation inspection. Under the City’s deck handout, footings for uncovered decks attached to the house don’t have to go below frost depth. Footings for freestanding decks should go at least 12 inches below grade. House additions need frost-protected footings, and the addition guideline sets frost depth at 52 inches. Call 811 at least two business days before you dig. See also building inspection stages.

Zoning, fences, and lot coverage

Most residential lots allow at most 30% of the lot to be covered by roofed structures. Some lots allow 35%. Detached accessory structures can be up to 1,000 square feet and 15 feet tall, unless the zoning ordinance says otherwise. Setbacks vary by lot, so get them from the Building or Planning Department.

Fence heights are set by Section 4-441 of the zoning code:

Location (residential districts)	Maximum height
Sides or front edge of a required front yard	2½ feet
Same, for open fences (at least 50% see-through)	4 feet
Buildable area, side and rear lot lines	6 feet

Fences may not block vision between 2½ and 10 feet high within 30 feet of an intersection’s curb lines. Fence posts must face inward toward the property being fenced. No fence may use electrified barbed wire or other spiked materials.

Where landscaping is required, no building permit is issued until the City Planner approves a landscape plan. No certificate of occupancy is issued until the planting is installed. The City Planner may defer installation for up to eight months for bad weather, and a temporary certificate of occupancy can be issued during an approved deferral.