Antrim County, Michigan Building Permit Guide

Every building permit in Antrim County comes from the Antrim County Construction Code Department, 203 E. Cayuga Street, Bellaire (231-533-8373), where Frank Hersha is the Building Official. The state’s jurisdiction list marks the county as the enforcing agency for building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing work in all five villages and 15 townships, and the same department runs the county’s soil erosion program. Electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits can be filed online; building permits use the county’s PDF application with a plan examination form. Zoning is not the county’s: the villages and seven townships have their own ordinances.

What requires a building permit in Antrim County?

The department quotes the code’s permit rule on its pages: anyone who intends to build, enlarge, alter, repair, move or demolish a building, change its occupancy, or install or change an electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system regulated by the code must first apply to the building official and get the permit. Its building application lists the usual projects:

The department also posts an agricultural exemption form and a re-roofing and siding policy; ask for them if your project is a farm building or exterior re-cover.

What Antrim County decides and what the state holds

The construction code is the state’s. What the county sets for its whole area are design criteria and procedures: a ground snow load of 60 pounds per square foot everywhere except Banks, Central Lake, Echo, Jordan and Warner townships, where it is 70, a 90 mph wind speed, elevations for every waterfront property and a blower door test before a certificate of occupancy on new homes. Zoning is decided locally, not by the county.

Antrim County building department: who handles permitting

Under the Bureau of Construction Codes’ Statewide Jurisdiction List (rev. Nov. 6, 2026) Antrim is a full county program: every village and township is marked COUNTY for all four codes, so there is one office to deal with wherever the parcel is.

The county has 24,698 residents (Census 2025 estimate). Mancelona Township is the largest unit at 4,559, followed by Elk Rapids (2,647), Milton (2,485) and Central Lake (2,276) townships; Elk Rapids is the largest village at 1,610.

Antrim County permit types

The department’s document center pairs each application with plan aids: required information on submitted plans, a one-story cross-section, deck and porch plans and a deck construction guide (both 2025), one-story garage plans, a post-frame handout for buildings under 12 feet (July 2026), truss bracing, a roof loading data sheet, and mobile home and anchorage handouts.

Residential permits

• Houses and additions. File the building application (revised March 23, 2026) with plans; plans go in with an Application for Plan Examination and its fee before a permit can be issued. Mark the foundation type and give the service amps, heating fuel, number of bedrooms for a septic lot and the plumbing fixture count.
• Large homes. A house over 3,500 square feet needs the residential plan review application, filled in by the architect or engineer, with two complete sets of signed and sealed plans.
• Homeowners. The application has a homeowner box beside the contractor box; a contractor gives the builder’s license number and expiry.
• Post-frame and garages. Use the county’s post-frame and garage handouts; post-frame buildings need a partial rough inspection of connections before wall coverings go on.

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

Commercial permits

Non-residential buildings and anything outside the residential exceptions need plans prepared and sealed by a Michigan-licensed architect or engineer, filed with the 2026 commercial plan review application. The department posts a list of architects and engineers (updated October 2026) and a temporary occupancy application with its requirements for buildings that need partial use before completion.

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

What comes before the building permit

• Zoning. The county has no countywide zoning ordinance. The five villages and seven townships (Banks, Elk Rapids, Forest Home, Helena, Kearney, Milton and Torch Lake) have their own ordinances and zoning administrators; the county’s page lists no ordinance for the other eight townships.
• Soil erosion. A county permit from the same department for earth changes within 500 feet of a lake or stream or of one acre or more, unless exempt.
• Septic and well. From the Health Department of Northwest Michigan, with copies attached to the building application.
• Floodplain and EGLE. The application asks for any flood elevation and state environmental permit; waterfront lots need a flood certification before the backfill inspection. Michigan counties are not National Flood Insurance Program communities; each township and village joins on its own.
• Variances. A copy of any variance granted goes with the application.

Antrim County permit costs and fees

The department’s pages say they hold fee schedules for permits and inspections, but no construction fee schedule is among the posted documents, so call 231-533-8373 for the current building, plan examination and trade fees before you file. Fees are due with the plan examination application, and trade permits filed online can be paid through the county’s BS&A online payment service.

The one fee the county posts for construction-related permits is on the soil erosion page: $125 extends a soil erosion permit for one year if paid before the permit expires. Soil erosion permits otherwise expire automatically one year after issue and must stay active until the site is fully stabilized.

Health department fees come from the Health Department of Northwest Michigan’s schedule for Antrim, Charlevoix and Emmet counties, effective January 7, 2026; each application must be filed with the correct fee.

Example. A new house on a private lot with a new septic system and well pays $378 + $287 = $665 to the health department, before the county’s building, plan examination and trade fees.

Budget for these items on a new home on a private lot: the county building permit and plan examination, separate electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits, a soil erosion permit if the site is within 500 feet of water or over an acre, the health department’s septic and well permits, and any village or township zoning fee.

Trade permits and who may pull them

The county issues and inspects all three trades everywhere in Antrim. Electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits are the only ones the department takes online, through its BS&A sub-trade application.

• Electrical. The electrical inspector takes questions on weekdays from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m.; the page posts the electrical application, code requirements, overhead and underground service details and the commercial plan review form.
• Mechanical. Forms include the mechanical application, commercial plan review, residential plan review for homes over 3,500 square feet, a combustion air sheet, a gas test affidavit and a fire department affidavit.
• Plumbing. Plumbing inspections are done on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only; the page posts the application and a pressure test report.

Contractors give their state license on each application. The building application lets an owner apply as the homeowner; for trade work, check the homeowner terms on the county’s trade application before signing as the installer.

How to apply for an Antrim County building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

A permit cannot be issued until plans and the plan examination fee are in. The application has a section for copies of zoning, soil erosion, flood elevation, state environmental, septic and variance approvals, so have those in hand when you file. For questions about a plan, call between 8:00 and 9:30 a.m., when inspectors are at their desks. Any permit’s total life is capped at five years.

Inspections and occupancy in Antrim County

Call the inspection request line at (231) 533-3510 at least 24 hours ahead; under normal circumstances inspections are done within 24 hours. Call again whenever a report says “please call for reinspection.”

• Footing. Forms and reinforcing in place, before concrete or pea stone; footing rebar of half an inch, at least 20 feet long, serves the electrical ground.
• Service and underground. Meter base and panel set and grounded; underground ducts, radiant tubing and plumbing before covering.
• Walls and backfill. Pre-pour wall check, then the foundation with waterproofing and drainage before backfill; waterfront lots need their flood certification first.
• Rough and insulation. Trade roughs, then the building rough after trades pass; insulation before covering (blown attic insulation is checked at final).
• Finals. Trade finals, then the building final; the blower door test must be in before the final on a new home.

No building may be used or occupied until a certificate of use and occupancy is issued. Soil erosion follow-up and final inspections are requested by email to the soil erosion office.

Michigan building code in Antrim County

Antrim’s handouts are built on the state residential code; the county’s own additions are the design criteria above, which apply countywide.

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

Antrim County permit search and official resources

Permit records are held by the Construction Code Department; ask at 231-533-8373 or through the department’s Freedom of Information Act form, which it posts with its permit forms. Parcel maps are on the county’s GIS map, and new addresses go through the Equalization property address form.

Other county offices. The Drain Commissioner (P.O. Box 217, Bellaire; 231-533-6265) has very limited duties: Antrim has one legal drainage district, around Birch Lake. Roadside ditches and culverts belong to the Antrim County Road Commission, established watercourses to the state, and flooding or water diversion caused by construction should be reported to the county’s soil erosion officer. The Health Department of Northwest Michigan has Antrim offices at 209 Portage Drive, Bellaire, and 205 Grove Street, Mancelona (800-432-4121).

• Michigan Statewide Jurisdiction List (Bureau of Construction Codes)
• Antrim County Construction Code Department
• Antrim County building information and documents
• Antrim County building permit application (2026)
• Antrim County required inspections
• Antrim County residential plan review application
• Antrim County online trade permits (BS&A)
• Antrim County soil erosion permits
• Antrim County zoning: which units have ordinances
• Antrim County Drain Commissioner
• Health Department of Northwest Michigan septic permits
• Health Department of Northwest Michigan fee schedule (Antrim, 2026)

Antrim County building permit FAQs

Does Antrim County issue building permits everywhere in the county?

Yes. The state list marks every village and township as served by the county for building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits, all issued in Bellaire.

Can I apply online?

For electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits, yes, through BS&A. Building permits use the county’s PDF application with a plan examination form.

What snow load applies to my house in Antrim County?

60 pounds per square foot, except 70 in Banks, Central Lake, Echo, Jordan and Warner townships.

Does Antrim County have zoning?

Not countywide. The five villages and the townships of Banks, Elk Rapids, Forest Home, Helena, Kearney, Milton and Torch Lake run their own zoning.

When are plumbing inspections done?

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only. Book through the inspection line, (231) 533-3510, a day ahead.

Do I need a septic inspection to sell a house in Antrim County?

In Milton and Torch Lake townships, the Village of Elk Rapids and Elk Rapids Township, yes: the health department’s time-of-transfer evaluation must be done before the sale, and it is good for five years.

How much are septic and well permits in Antrim County?

Under the Health Department of Northwest Michigan’s schedule effective January 7, 2026, a residential septic permit is $378 and a residential well permit $287, including the water analysis. Plan an extra four business days for MISS DIG flagging.

How long does a soil erosion permit last?

One year; $125 extends it a year if paid before it expires.

Simplify Antrim 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 Antrim County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.