North Dakota Ground Snow Load: What the Adopted Code Carries

North Dakota adopts the national building code without a ground snow load amendment of its own, so the governing figure for a given address is the one the code's own table carries, and the body that applies it is the city, township or county building department, where one enforces a code at all. 17 states are in the same position, which makes it the second commonest arrangement in the country. North Dakota publishes ground snow loads through the city, township or county building department, where one enforces a code at all, and the jurisdictions reached for this had put none into a public document at the time they were read.

The city, township or county building department, where one enforces a code at all: the state adopts the national codes and no snow appendix, and a local jurisdiction may amend what it adopts. In its own words: “Effective August 1, 1994, N.D.C.C. 54-21.3-03 cities, townships, and counties that elect to enforce a building code are responsible for adopting and enforcing the state building code but may amend the code to conform to local needs.”

Division of Community Services, North Dakota Department of Commerce adopts North Dakota State Building Code (Effective January 1, 2026 (2024 International Building Code, International Residential Code, International Mechanical Code, International Fuel Gas Code, International Energy Conservation Code, International Existing Building Code)). North Dakota adopted it as written. The adopting rule reads: “Effective January 1, 2026, the North Dakota State Building Code consists of the 2024 International Building Code (IBC), International Residential Code (IRC), International Mechanical Code (IMC), International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC), International Energy Conservation Code, and the International Existing Building Code as published by the International Code Council (ICC).”

A ground snow load is a weight per unit area and not a depth, and the two are joined only by the density of the snow on the day, which is why the published documents give the load and leave the depth out. Wet spring snow and dry January snow of the same depth are different weights on the same roof. The city, township or county building department, where one enforces a code at all works in loads for that reason, and so does every figure set out below.

The code's figure is applied to a given address by the city, township or county building department, where one enforces a code at all. The document behind it is North Dakota State Building Code, Effective January 1, 2026, published by Division of Community Services, North Dakota Department of Commerce, read on September 23, 2026. It establishes the point this way: “NO APPENDICES ARE ADOPTED”

14 of 50: Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin. The other 36 split into 17 that adopt the national code without a snow amendment and 19 that leave every figure to a county or city building department. That is the single most useful fact about this subject and no one state's own website carries it.