Berkley, Michigan Building Permit Guide

In the City of Berkley, the Community Development Department at City Hall, 3338 Coolidge Highway (248-658-3320), issues building permits and the city’s electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits and schedules its inspectors; Kristen Kapelanski is the Community Development Director. Many residential permits can be applied for on BS&A Online, and paper applications go by e-mail to building@berkleymi.gov, by mail, in the City Hall drop box or at the counter. Under the city’s fee schedule a building permit is $50 for the first $1,000 of value and $20 for each further $1,000, and inspections are billed on top.

What requires a building permit in Berkley?

The city’s permit page states that building permits are required for work done by a homeowner, business owner or contractor, and then lists how the most common home projects are handled. Size and location decide several of them.

Accessory buildings of 36 square feet or less and no more than 6 feet high need no permit or certificate. Properties fronting Woodward Avenue need a city permit for Woodward Dream Cruise use on the cruise’s Friday and Saturday; applications are due about a month before the event, and late ones pay a $200 late fee.

What Berkley decides and what the state holds

The Statewide Jurisdiction List of the state Bureau of Construction Codes (revised November 6, 2026) shows Berkley enforcing all four codes — building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing — itself; Oakland County runs no construction code program. Berkley sets its fees, registers contractors, reviews plans and inspects, and its zoning ordinance, master plan and downtown plan govern land use, but the technical code is the single state code. Site plan approval or rezoning is the first step for all non-single-family residential construction and for any change in a property’s use.

Berkley building department: who handles permitting

Community Development combines the city’s planning, building and code enforcement services. Building permits, trade permits and inspection scheduling go through the building e-mail address; planning applications (site plans, special land uses, rezonings, planned unit developments) go to the department’s planning address, and the Zoning Administrator (248-658-3324) books conceptual and pre-application meetings.

Berkley permit types

Berkley takes these permits on BS&A Online, where no separate application form is needed: all trade permits, decks and porches, roofs, driveways and concrete, sheds and fences, garages, signs, utility and sewer work, solar, swimming pools and residential additions, alterations and repairs. For paper filings, attach copies of your state licenses, driver’s license and liability insurance certificate, a letter of authorization if someone is applying for the contractor, and a homeowner’s affidavit if you are the owner.

Residential permits

• Decks and porches need a plot plan showing the side setback (decks) or front setback (porches); a roofed rear deck must show its distance from the garage.
• Garages need a residential site plan, and a topographic survey when 300 square feet or more is added to a footprint or an accessory building grows by 50% or more.
• Additions need a site plan and survey, and a grading plan when the house footprint grows by more than 50%; new houses always need a grading plan under the city’s grading ordinance.
• Roofs: a strip and re-roof is inspected open and at final, and photos usually cannot replace the open-roof inspection; an overlay needs only a final.
• Fences and driveways need a plot plan with the application.

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

Commercial permits

Interior renovations and exterior façade work need sealed architectural plans; if there is no title page, every sheet must be signed and sealed by a registered architect or engineer. Exterior work, additions, parking lot changes and new construction usually need site plan approval, sometimes from the Planning Commission, followed by a site work permit filed with the building office. Commercial signs have their own permit page: a permanent sign is $100 ($50 permit and $50 inspection), a temporary sign $45, and an illuminated sign also needs an electrical permit.

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

• Pre-application meetings. Conceptual and pre-application meetings with the Zoning Administrator are free or low-cost.
• Site plan and land use. Special land uses, rezonings and planned unit developments need Planning Commission and City Council approval; variances go to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
• Grading. Residential grading plans and as-builts cost $1,300, covering two reviews or inspections and the as-built survey.
• Soil erosion. Earth changes over one acre, or over 225 square feet within 500 feet of a lake, stream, wetland or drain, need a Part 91 permit from the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner in communities without a local program (248-858-5389).
• Right-of-way. Work in the street right-of-way uses the city’s concrete certificates: a new or replaced sidewalk or driveway approach is $65, a saw-cut pavement break $40 and a curb cut $8 per foot, with inspections at $50 for the first and $45 for each after. Sidewalk work carries a bond of $500 or $200 per slab, whichever is greater.

Berkley permit costs and fees

Construction fees are in the city’s posted citywide fee schedule. The department calculates value from Class C construction costs in the Tax Assessment Manual used by Oakland County Equalization, times the current Oakland County multiplier set by the State Tax Commission, and staff contact applicants about the fee once a package is received.

Worked example from the schedule: a project valued at $20,000 has a building permit fee of $50 plus 19 × $20, or $430. Inspections are added the way the schedule’s own shed and pool totals show (the $95 for two inspections is the $50 first inspection plus $45), so a job with three inspections adds $140, and if the plans are reviewed, a $20,000 project in the $1,001 to $50,000 range pays the $100 plan examination fee. Trade permits start at a $45 minimum, with $30 re-inspections. Moving a building into or within the city needs a $200 moving permit, a $35 contractor registration, a $100 inspection before the move and a $5,000 bond.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Electrical, mechanical (heating) and plumbing permits are issued and inspected by the city, and all trade permits can be applied for on BS&A Online. Contractors register with the city: $25 for electrical and plumbing contractors, $15 for heating and $25 for fire alarm contractors, while sign contractors are listed at $25 in the electrical section and $35 in the sign permit section; residential builders and maintenance and alteration contractors register for $35. The schedule also lists the liability insurance contractors must carry: $100,000 per person, $300,000 per occurrence and $10,000 for property damage in its construction and electrical sections, and $1,000,000 per person and $2,000,000 per occurrence in its heating, plumbing and utility sections.

• Electrical: $45 minimum, $30 for the first new or extended circuit, $30 re-inspection; pools need an electrical permit as well as a building permit.
• Heating: $45 minimum and $30 re-inspection.
• Plumbing: $45 minimum and $30 re-inspection, plus item fees such as $30 for a backflow preventer. Owners who install a backwater valve may be eligible for reimbursement of the permit fees.
• Homeowners: a homeowner’s affidavit must be completed to obtain a trade permit.

Water, sewer and storm drain work is permitted through the city’s utility/sewer permit: excavation and sewer contractors register for $35, the minimum fee is $45, and lines up to 12 inches in diameter are $40. Paper trade applications need copies of the state license, driver’s license and insurance certificate, or a letter of authorization when someone files for the contractor.

How to apply for a Berkley building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

Packages stall when the plot plan lacks setbacks, when an addition or garage that adds 300 square feet or more has no topographic survey, or when commercial sheets are not individually sealed. Projects that need Planning Commission or City Council action add those meeting cycles before the site work permit. Reinstating a permit costs $50, and revised plans cost $50 to review. The office closes from 1 to 2 p.m. every day, so plan counter visits around it.

Inspections and certificates in Berkley

Inspection requests must be e-mailed to building@berkleymi.gov or made online by 3:00 p.m. to make the next day’s schedule. Give the permit number, address, the day (and timeframe for Wednesday electrical or plumbing visits), the inspection type, an on-site contact and any lockbox code. You get a confirmation e-mail, and inspections are given as time windows only. Building inspections run every weekday, but plumbing inspections happen only on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and electrical and mechanical ones on Mondays and Wednesdays, so plan rough-ins around those days.

A temporary certificate of occupancy requires a $1,000 cash bond under the fee schedule. Rental housing is handled through the city’s landlord licensing program within Community Development: the fee schedule charges $180 every two years for a long-term single-family rental and $180 a year for a short-term one, $180 for the first unit of a multifamily building and $35 for each added unit, plus a $60 registration fee and a $25-a-month late fee. Vacant houses must also be registered and inspected, for $200.

Michigan building code in Berkley

Berkley enforces the single state construction code for all four trades through Community Development. FEMA’s Community Status Book lists the City of Berkley (community 260292) as a participating National Flood Insurance Program community since February 29, 1980, with no special flood hazard area identified on its map.

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

Berkley permit search and official resources

Ask Community Development (248-658-3320 or building@berkleymi.gov) about past permits and inspections at an address, and the City Clerk’s Office (248-658-3310) for public records and older council minutes; council agendas and minutes from 2026 on are posted on the city’s agendas and minutes portal.

• Building permits, applications and inspections
• City fee schedule
• Plan requirements for review
• Building permit application
• Electrical permit application
• Accessory structure permit packet
• Roof permit packet
• Community Development Department
• Planning and zoning approvals
• City Council agendas and minutes
• BS&A Online
• Oakland County soil erosion and sedimentation control
• Statewide Jurisdiction List, Bureau of Construction Codes
• FEMA Community Status Book, Michigan

Berkley building permit FAQs

How much is a building permit in Berkley?

$50 for the first $1,000 of value and $20 for each further $1,000, so $430 at $20,000, plus inspections ($50 first, $45 each after) and plan examination.

Do I need a permit for a shed?

Over 200 square feet, yes; 36 to 200 square feet needs an accessory building certificate; 36 square feet or less and 6 feet high or less needs neither.

Do I need a permit for a fence?

Yes, a $60 fence permit; fences are not allowed in front yards and the finished side must face the neighbor.

Does a pool need a permit?

Every pool, even a storable or inflatable one, needs a building permit and an electrical permit; an above-ground pool totals $125.

How do I schedule an inspection?

E-mail building@berkleymi.gov or request it online by 3:00 p.m. for the next day, with the permit number, address and inspection type.

Can a homeowner pull a trade permit?

Yes, with a completed homeowner’s affidavit.

Who approves a lot split or combination?

The city reviews the request against the zoning ordinance, and Oakland County gives the final approval.

Does a re-roof need a permit?

Yes. A tear-off needs an open-roof and a final inspection; an overlay only a final.

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