Bismarck contractor license lookup: the state license class, City mechanical licenses and the permits

Which license each job needs in Bismarck

The Secretary of State's contractor page: "When the cost, value, or price of a job exceeds $4,000, the person doing the work must be licensed as a contractor in North Dakota (NDCC ch. 43-07). This includes subcontractors, general contractors, public contractors, and nonresident contractors." The same page lists the classes: Class D up to $100,000 per job, C up to $300,000, B up to $500,000 and A over $500,000, matching NDCC 43-07-07 (read 23 October 2026). A contractor that misses the March 1 renewal "is not in good standing and the contractor is deemed to be unlicensed" (NDCC 43-07).

The City licenses one trade itself. Bismarck's Licenses page says Community Development "issues licenses for the following: Mechanical / HVAC Installers", and its Mechanical Installers page says the exam is based on the 2021 International Mechanical Code and Fuel Gas Code and "will allow reciprocity with the municipalities of Grand Forks, Fargo, and Minot". Installers who tested before 1 July 2017 hold a "Mechanical Legacy license" valid only within the City.

How to run the lookup in five minutes

1. Ask for the state contractor license number and its class, and for HVAC work the City mechanical license.
2. Search FirstStop. Check the license is in good standing and that the class covers your contract price.
3. HVAC: call Building Inspections on 701-355-1465 to confirm the City mechanical license.
4. Electrician: search the State Electrical Board lookup.
5. Track record: open the firm on our Bismarck furnace and AC list, HVAC install list or home builder list.

How to search Bismarck permit records

Bismarck's permits run on the City's eTRAKiT portal, which has public and contractor log-ins (read 23 October 2026). For the permit history of an address, or to confirm a contractor pulled the permit, call Building Inspections at 221 N. 5th St., 701-355-1465 (City of Bismarck).

The portal is organised by permit. Ours is organised by firm: each firm's Bismarck permits, share finaled and days to final, on the Bismarck permit statistics page and the compare lists.

What 6,867 Bismarck permits show

"Finaled" uses permits a year or more old. The City finals only about a quarter of replacement permits (24.5%), so read that row as how Bismarck closes those permits, not as abandoned work; HVAC install permits finaled 90.2%. Replacements are also the most concentrated market here: one firm filed 45.1% of them. Among the 30 electricians with 10 or more permits, the finaled share runs from 68.4% at the 10th percentile to 95.0% at the 90th.

See every Bismarck furnace and AC installer by permits filed →

Red flags in Bismarck

• A contract over the license class, such as a Class D contractor quoting a $150,000 addition.
• No state license on a job over $4,000, or a license not renewed by March 1.
• An HVAC installer with no City mechanical license, or a Legacy license holder taking work outside the City.
• An electrician who is not on the State Electrical Board lookup.
• A firm that has gone quiet: 1 HVAC installers and 1 remodelers with 5+ permits filed none in the last 12 months of our data.

What this lookup does not tell you

North Dakota's contractor licenses are a one-record-at-a-time search with no bulk file, so our Bismarck pages show no license status; a blank there says nothing about the firm. Bismarck's permit system starts in September 2022, so no firm has an older record here. Electrical permits carry no job value. Remodel & Addition is a catch-all that includes basement finishes and waterproofing, and some firms appear under two spellings. Our data stops at September 2026. Penalties and construction-fraud rules are in How to check a contractor's license in North Dakota.