Alcona County, Michigan Building Permit Guide

In Alcona County one office handles construction permits everywhere: the Alcona County Building Department at 216 W. Main Street, Harrisville ((989) 724-9440), led by Building Department Director Dan Gauthier. The state’s jurisdiction list marks the county as the enforcing agency for building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing work in all 11 townships, the City of Harrisville and the Village of Lincoln. You apply on the county’s online forms, and the building form prices most new space by the square foot, for example $0.15 per square foot of first-floor area.

What requires a building permit in Alcona County?

The county’s building permit form names the work it expects to see: new buildings, additions, repairs, alterations, demolition, foundation-only work, attached and detached garages, pole barns, storage sheds and carports, plus line items for decks, porches and breezeways, swimming pools, roofs, siding, mobile homes, windmills and water softeners. Its rule is plain: work may not start until the application has been reviewed and the permit issued, and nothing may be covered until it has been inspected and approved.

What Alcona County decides and what the state holds

The county page says Alcona adopted and enforces the Michigan Building Code and the Michigan Residential Code, as state law required in 2004. The technical rules are the state’s and cannot be changed locally; the county sets its own forms, fee lines and procedures. Zoning is a separate local layer: the county directory lists a zoning administrator for each township, and the building form asks for any zoning permit number alongside the trade permits.

Alcona County building department: who handles permitting

Under the Bureau of Construction Codes’ Statewide Jurisdiction List (rev. Nov. 6, 2026), Alcona is one of the counties that runs its own enforcing agency, and every local unit in it is marked COUNTY for all four codes. That makes Alcona simpler than most Michigan counties: whichever township your parcel is in, the building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits all come from the same Harrisville office.

By the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate the county has 10,556 residents. The largest units are Harrisville Township (1,355), Greenbush Township (1,317) and Curtis Township (1,145); the city and the village are both under 500 people.

Alcona County permit types

The county posts six online forms: Building, Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing, Solar Residential and Solar Commercial. Each asks for the township, the owner, a parcel number and two crossroads if the address is hard to find, and the contractor’s business name and license number.

Residential permits

• New homes and additions. The building form records frame type, square footage by floor, and whether water comes from a public system or a private well (well location drawn on the back of the drawing) and sewage from a public system or a septic system with its health department permit number.
• Garages, pole barns and sheds. Attached and detached garages, pole barns, storage sheds and carports are choices on the form; a pole barn or a roof job needs one more form, linked after you submit.
• Homeowner permits. The forms let you pull a permit as the homeowner or as a contractor. Each trade form carries a homeowner affidavit stating the owner will do the work in the home they live in or are about to occupy, and the building form warns that an owner who signs and then pays someone else to do the work can be liable for that person’s mistakes and for workers’ compensation, Social Security and unemployment contributions.
• Mobile homes. Mobile home set-ups are a building-form line, with matching hook-up lines on the mechanical and plumbing forms.

Building or remodeling a home here? Alliance handles residential permit filing, so the crew isn't waiting on the counter.

Commercial permits

Commercial buildings are charged by floor area in bands from under 1,000 square feet to over 2,500. Plans for anything other than a one- or two-family house of 3,500 square feet or less must be prepared and sealed by a licensed architect or engineer, with the short list of exceptions printed on the form, and plans must be in before a permit can be issued. Commercial solar has its own form and a $500 minimum plan review.

For tenant improvements and new commercial builds, Alliance handles commercial permit expediting through issuance. More on this: commercial building permits explained.

What comes before the building permit

• Township zoning. Each township has its own zoning administrator listed in the county directory; the building form has a box for the zoning permit number.
• Septic and well. District Health Department No. 2 issues septic and well construction permits; its Alcona office is at 117 E. Main Street, Harrisville ((989) 724-6757).
• County roads. The Alcona County Road Commission is at 301 Lake Street, Lincoln ((989) 736-8168); ask it about any driveway or work in a county road right-of-way.
• Earth changes near water. Before clearing or grading within 500 feet of a lake or stream, or more than an acre, ask the Building Department which office issues the soil erosion permit.
• Floodplain lots. Where a building sits in a floodplain, the county wants a sealed as-built elevation of the lowest floor before work goes higher. Michigan counties are not National Flood Insurance Program communities; each township, city and village joins the program on its own.

Alcona County permit costs and fees

The county does not post a separate fee schedule; its fee lines are printed on the online forms. Square-foot rates are shown for the area-based lines, while on the building form the flat lines, including the required non-refundable application fee and each inspection, appear without amounts, so the office works out the total when you apply. The residential solar form is the exception: it prints a $65 application fee and a 12-month permit term, extendable in six-month steps.

Other building-form lines priced by the office include the application fee, footing, foundation, backfill, post-hole, insulation, rough and final inspections, re-inspections, renewal, roofing, siding, demolition, swimming pools, mobile homes and residential or commercial plan review.

Example of the area charge. A one-story house with 1,500 square feet on the first floor carries an area charge of 1,500 × $0.15 = $225. The application fee, each inspection line and the separate electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits are added on top, so ask the office for the full figure before you pay.

Trade permits and who may pull them

All three trades are county permits in Alcona; the state list shows no unit where the Bureau of Construction Codes issues them. Each trade form ends with a fee chart that includes the inspection lines, and a homeowner affidavit.

• Electrical. Services in bands from 200 amps or less to over 1,200 amps, 110- and 220-volt circuits, lights and receptacles by the 25, feeders, generators with transfer switches, windmills, outdoor wood burners and commercial fire alarms. The form reminds owners to call Consumers Energy at 800-475-0507 to connect service, and an outdoor wood burner also needs mechanical and plumbing permits.
• Mechanical. Furnaces and boilers, water heaters, solid-fuel and gas fireplaces with factory-built chimneys, gas piping by opening, air conditioning and heat pumps, bath and kitchen exhaust, propane tanks above or below ground, plus commercial hoods, air handlers and refrigeration.
• Plumbing. Fixtures and drains, stacks, sewage ejectors and sumps, building sewer connections, water distribution pipe by size and backflow preventers. A gas water heater’s gas piping needs a separate mechanical license and permit, and the plumbing form says a bathroom fan must be done under a mechanical license.

Contractors give their license number on every form, and the county asks for a copy of a current contractor license with residential applications. A homeowner may sign the trade forms for work in the home they live in or are about to occupy, and takes on the job of calling for inspections.

How to apply for an Alcona County building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

An application stalls when something the forms ask for is missing: a parcel number or directions, no copy of the contractor license, no septic permit number on a new home, plans missing for a building that needs them, or a pole barn or roof filed without its extra form. Solar jobs without full equipment specifications cannot go to plan review. Call (989) 724-9440 if the office has not been in touch.

Inspections and occupancy in Alcona County

Book every inspection through the Building Department office at (989) 724-9440 with 24 to 48 hours’ notice; footings need a call at least 24 hours before the concrete is poured. By applying you agree that inspectors may enter the site between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. or while work is under way.

• Grounding and footing. Rebar of half an inch or more in footings must be tied together and inspected as the grounding electrode before the pour; the footing check covers forms, depth and a flat bottom.
• Walls and foundation. Poured-wall and ICF reinforcing before the pour; crawl spaces and basements again before backfill, with damp-proofing and drainage in place.
• Floodplain. A sealed as-built elevation of the lowest floor, including basements, before further vertical construction.
• Underground and rough-in. Plumbing and mechanical piping before backfill; trade rough-ins before insulation, with a duct leakage test when ducts run outside the thermal envelope; framing after the trades pass, with truss specifications on hand.
• Insulation and final. Insulation before interior finishes; the final occupancy inspection when the job is 100% complete, with blower door test results, all trades approved and whole-house mechanical ventilation installed.

A permit stays valid while work progresses and inspections are requested. It becomes invalid if work does not start within six months of issue or stops for six months, and it is cancelled when no inspection is requested and done within six months of issue or of the last inspection.

Michigan building code in Alcona County

Alcona enforces the state codes itself; its inspection list cites the residential code’s rules on footing rebar and grounding electrodes.

Michigan enforces one statewide construction code under the Stille-DeRossett-Hale Single State Construction Code Act (1972 PA 230); local units cannot amend it, and enforcement sits with the city, village or township, a county program or the state Bureau of Construction Codes, sometimes split by trade. Michigan rules

Alcona County permit search and official resources

Permit and inspection records are kept by the Building Department; call (989) 724-9440 about a permit’s status. For copies of county records, use the county’s Freedom of Information Act procedures and request forms on the commissioners’ FOIA page. Parcel numbers for the forms come from your tax bill or the Equalization Department at (989) 724-9430.

• Michigan Statewide Jurisdiction List (Bureau of Construction Codes)
• Alcona County Building Department
• Alcona County online permit forms
• Alcona County inspection FAQ
• Alcona County building permit form
• Alcona County electrical permit form
• Alcona County directory of offices (2025)
• District Health Department No. 2 septic permits
• District Health Department No. 2 well permits
• Alcona County FOIA procedures and forms

Alcona County building permit FAQs

Does Alcona County issue building permits for the whole county?

Yes. The state jurisdiction list marks every township, the City of Harrisville and the Village of Lincoln as served by the county for building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits, all through the office at 216 W. Main Street, Harrisville.

How much does a building permit cost in Alcona County?

Most new space is priced by the square foot on the county form: $0.15 for first- and second-floor area, $0.18 for additions, decks and remodels, $0.20 for garages. The application fee and inspection lines are added by the office.

Can a homeowner pull a permit in Alcona County?

Yes. The forms offer a homeowner option, and the trade forms carry an affidavit that the owner will do the work in the home they live in or are about to occupy.

Do I need a permit for solar panels in Alcona County?

Yes, both a building and an electrical permit plus plan review, with a $300 minimum review fee for homes and $500 for commercial systems, and $10 or $15 per panel.

How do I schedule an inspection?

Call the Building Department at (989) 724-9440 with 24 to 48 hours’ notice, and at least 24 hours before a footing pour.

Who issues septic and well permits in Alcona County?

District Health Department No. 2, at 117 E. Main Street, Harrisville ((989) 724-6757). A septic permit runs for the rest of the year it is issued plus the next calendar year.

How long is an Alcona County permit good for?

Work must start within six months and not stop for six months, and a permit with no inspection for six months is cancelled without a refund.

Simplify Alcona County permitting with Alliance Permitting

Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and submission company in Michigan. We prepare your paperwork, file it correctly and coordinate with the permitting authority through issuance. We are not a contractor and we do not perform licensed plan review or inspections; that work stays with your licensed team and the jurisdiction.

This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Alcona County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.