Administrative overview · FIPS 30095
Stillwater County permit authority
The first compliance decision is jurisdictional: identify the office with statutory authority over your parcel, then use its filing and inspection sequence to keep the project moving.
Jurisdictional status
State Fallback
This profile identifies a handoff outside the county’s ordinary structural permitting lane.
Required jurisdiction check
Confirm the controlling local or state authority before filing.
The record is marked State Fallback. That means the county profile should be treated as a routing brief: incorporated municipalities, a state building department, or a state fire marshal may control plan review, permits, and inspections. Contact the named agency below and verify the parcel’s jurisdiction before paying a fee or scheduling field work.
Responsible agency
Montana Department of Labor & Industry, Building Codes Bureau for building-code permits; Stillwater County Planning Office administers county development, zoning, subdivision, floodplain, and conditional-use review
For a project in or near Stillwater County, this office is the identified point of contact for permit intake, statutory code enforcement, plan review coordination, and inspection release conditions. Confirm the parcel’s boundary and project type before relying on the county lane.
Direct contact
(406) 322-8050 (Stillwater County Planning); (406) 322-8064 (Floodplain Administrator); (406) 841-2056 (Montana Building Codes Bureau)
Call before mobilizing if the project has a boundary, occupancy, fire, septic, or utility question.
Permit counter
Stillwater County Planning Office, West Annex, 431 Quarry Road, Columbus, MT 59019; Montana Building Codes Bureau, 301 South Park Avenue, Helena, MT 59620
Operating hours
N/A; Stillwater County publishes the Planning office address and contacts but not regular office hours. State Bureau hours were not published on the reviewed permit page.
Review expectation
The Montana Building Codes Bureau states that plan review averages three weeks. Stillwater County does not publish a general building-permit turnaround time.
Compliance workbench
Choose the next project decision.
Apply online
Open the verified digital gateway, application form, and review timeline.
Open guide →Fees & penalties
Understand fee schedules, enforcement exposure, and stop-work liabilities.
Open guide →Codes & exemptions
Read the code framework, minor-work exemptions, and inspection lane.
Open guide →Agency website
Visit the primary public source for current notices and contact changes.
Open guide →Source trail
Official sources for this profile
Use these direct agency or licensing links to confirm current instructions before you file, pay, or schedule work. External pages control if their information differs from this directory.
Project questions
Frequently asked questions for Stillwater County
Who handles permitting for this jurisdiction?
This record is marked State Fallback. Confirm whether a city, state agency, or other local authority controls the parcel before filing.
How should I begin an application?
Begin with the online permit gateway listed in the application guide. If the portal does not recognize the address or project type, contact (406) 322-8050 (Stillwater County Planning); (406) 322-8064 (Floodplain Administrator); (406) 841-2056 (Montana Building Codes Bureau).
How long might review take?
The Montana Building Codes Bureau states that plan review averages three weeks. Stillwater County does not publish a general building-permit turnaround time.
How are inspections scheduled?
Contact the Montana Building Codes Bureau at (406) 841-2056 for electrical, plumbing, snow-load, building-permit, and inspection questions. Stillwater County routes conditional-use applications through Planning and coordinates comments from the County Sanitarian, Floodplain Administrator, GIS/Rural Addressing, and Road and Bridge departments; floodplain questions go to (406) 322-8064.
Which codes and exemptions should I review?
Montana’s current 2026 code set: 2021 International Building Code, 2021 International Residential Code, 2021 International Existing Building Code, 2021 International Mechanical Code, 2021 International Fuel Gas Code, 2021 International Energy Conservation Code, 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code, 2020 National Electrical Code, 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, and 2021 Wildland-Urban Interface Code, as amended by ARM Title 24, Chapter 301. Stillwater County directs building-code questions to the State Building Code Bureau and is not listed as a certified county building-code program. State exemptions generally include farm or ranch buildings, mine buildings on mining property, petroleum refineries and pulp/paper mills except office/shop buildings, residential buildings with fewer than five dwelling units unless serving transient guests, and owner-used private garages/storage buildings. Stillwater County requires a conditional-use permit for new multi-family, planned-unit-development, commercial, or industrial development and may require floodplain, septic, subdivision, rural-address, road, or other county approvals.