Blackman Charter Township, Michigan Building Permit Guide

Blackman Charter Township in Jackson County runs its own Building Department for building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits, in line with the state’s Statewide Jurisdiction List. Applications are printed forms that you bring to the township office at 1990 W. Parnall Road, fax to 517-788-4689 marked for the building department, or mail. A new house is valued at $75 per square foot of floor area and charged $3.50 per $1,000 of that value, plus a $25 administration fee and a $40 zoning fee.

What requires a building permit in Blackman Charter Township?

The township’s fee sheet, printed with its building permit application, is the clearest list of what it permits. Each line is a job that needs a permit, from new houses to roof tear-offs.

The building application tells applicants to check for deed restrictions on the lot before applying, and the township’s part of the form records whether all personal and property taxes on the parcel are current.

What the township decides and what the state holds

The construction code is the state’s and Blackman cannot amend it, but the township sets its own fee sheet, enforces Zoning Ordinance 04-2006 with its sign, parking and solar energy ordinances, runs a Planning Commission and a Zoning Board of Appeals, and provides sanitary sewer. The state list leaves all four codes with the township; Jackson County runs no building program.

Blackman Charter Township building department: who handles permitting

The Bureau of Construction Codes’ Statewide Jurisdiction List (rev. Nov. 6, 2026) marks Blackman Township LOCAL for building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing. The Building Department has its own inspector for each of those four fields, and the building inspector’s number, 517-990-8225, is also the one listed for the Planning/Zoning Administrator, so building and zoning questions start at the same desk.

Water usage bills come from the City of Jackson Water Department, while the township’s utility billing office handles questions about water and sewer connections. The township also posts a contractor complaint form for residents. Fire inspections are handled by the Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety, a consolidated police and fire agency serving Blackman and Leoni townships whose 2025 annual report, posted on the township site, lists fire inspection services among its duties; fire review is one of the approvals on the building application.

Blackman Charter Township permit types

The building application, titled an application for building permit and plan examination, covers new buildings, additions, alterations, repairs, wrecking, mobile home set-ups, foundation-only work, premanufactured units, relocation, roof replacement and window replacement. It asks for the owner, any architect or engineer, and the contractor’s builder license number, its expiry date and an email address, and the applicant certifies that the work is authorized by the owner of record.

Residential permits

• Houses and additions are valued at $75 per square foot and remodels at $55; garages, breezeways, carports and pole buildings at $45 per square foot.
• Flat-fee jobs: decks $150 (footing and final inspections), sheds over 200 square feet $50, pools $25 above ground or $100 in ground, shingle tear-off $50, replacement windows $50, roof-mounted solar $50.
• Multiple-family buildings need a separate permit for each building.
• Large homes: new residential structures over 3,500 square feet carry a $60 plan review on the trade permits.

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

Commercial permits

Commercial and industrial buildings are priced in the township’s BS&A software by building type and square footage, with plan review at one-tenth of 1% of the value. The township posts a site plan checklist, and site plan review ($450, or $175 for an administrative review), conditional use ($400) and rezoning ($400) go through the Planning Commission. Commercial electrical, mechanical and plumbing work uses the commercial versions of the trade applications, and the electrical form adds a $60 plan review for projects valued up to $250,000.

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

What comes before the building permit

• Zoning. Every building permit carries a $40 zoning fee, and the township’s zoning application covers uses and structures under Zoning Ordinance 04-2006; variances go to the ZBA for $350.
• Stormwater. The Jackson County Drain Commissioner’s stormwater permitting requirements, posted on the township’s zoning page, apply to all new development and redevelopment except a single-family house more than 500 feet from waters of the state, to conversions into stormwater hotspots such as fueling or vehicle service sites, and to sites that drain into county drains. The minimum standard is to hold and treat the runoff from the first inch of rain over the whole site for 24 hours.
• Soil erosion. The Jackson County Department of Transportation (JCDOT) issues soil erosion permits for earth changes of one acre or more, or within 500 feet of waters of the state or a county drain; a new house is $125 plus a $300 cash bond and a plan review fee. JCDOT’s packet says new homes, large additions and agricultural or accessory buildings need one, while decks, porches, pools, small additions and small accessory buildings generally do not.
• Driveways and roads. JCDOT driveway permits for county roads are applied for through OxCart; a residential driveway is $75.
• Well and septic. Where township sewer or public water is not available, the Jackson County Health Department’s Environmental Health Division issues the permits after a sanitarian evaluates the site; the application needs the 10-digit parcel number and a grid drawing of the test area, and a licensed installer must put in the septic system, which is inspected before it is finished.

Blackman Charter Township permit costs and fees

The fee sheet printed as the last page of the building permit application sets a value per square foot for each type of residential work and charges $3.50 per $1,000 of that value. Every permit adds a $25 administration fee, every building permit a $40 zoning fee, and contractors pay a $15 registration fee. The sheet is not dated; the forms page lists inspection fees of $70, labeled as the 2023 rate.

Worked example: a 2,000-square-foot new house is valued at 2,000 × $75, or $150,000, so the building permit is 150 × $3.50, or $525; with the $25 administration fee and $40 zoning fee the township charges $590, before the separate electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits. A homeowner replacing a furnace under a residential mechanical permit with one final inspection pays $95 ($25 + $70). Permanent commercial signs are priced from the sign company’s estimate at the commercial rate, without the plan review charge.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Blackman issues its own electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits, each on a residential or commercial application. The residential forms carry the same core charges: a $25 administration fee, $70 for each inspection (rough, service, underground, final or extra) and a $15 contractor registration fee; trade permits for apartments, hotels and other multiple-family buildings are charged at half the building permit fee.

• Homeowners may take out a residential electrical, mechanical or plumbing permit by signing the homeowner affidavit, which certifies that the owner will install the work personally in the home they live in or are about to occupy, and that nothing will be covered or put into use before the township inspector approves it.
• Contractors give their license number and expiry, federal ID, MESC number and workers’ compensation carrier, and sign the warning about conspiring to evade state licensing rules.
• Commercial electrical adds a $70 re-inspection fee, $60 for signs and a $60 plan review for jobs valued up to $250,000.

Trade permits lapse if work does not start within six months (180 days) or stops for six months, and the township cancels any permit with no inspection requested within six months of issue or of the last inspection; cancelled permits cannot be reinstated.

How to apply for a Blackman Charter Township building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

The township’s own section of the form lists the approvals it checks before validating a permit: zoning, site plan, variance, fire, pollution control, flood zone, soil erosion and county drain, township water and sewer, county health, county road commission and assessing. Applicants must complete every shaded item and fill in all the measurements between property lines and buildings on the zoning diagram, so leave none of them blank.

Inspections in Blackman Charter Township

The Building Department page lists a separate phone number for the building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing inspectors; call the one for the work that is ready. Residential trade inspections cost $70 each and are added to the permit, while decks include their footing and final inspections in the $150 fee and a ground-mounted solar permit includes two inspections.

No occupancy permit is issued, and no one may move in, until final approval has been given for all building, mechanical, plumbing and electrical work on the property, along with zoning and Department of Public Works approval. Keep work uncovered until it has been inspected; the trade forms state that work may not be enclosed, covered or put into operation before the inspector approves it.

Michigan building code in Blackman Charter Township

FEMA’s Community Status Book lists Blackman Township (community 260714) as a participating National Flood Insurance Program community, with flood maps effective May 3, 2010, and flood zone review is one of the approvals on the township’s building application.

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

Blackman Charter Township permit search and official resources

The township has no public online permit search. Building files are public records: send a Freedom of Information Act request by email with “FOIA” in the subject line, by fax to 517-788-4689 with “FOIA” on the cover page, or in person or by mail to the FOIA Coordinator at 1990 W. Parnall Road. The township posts its FOIA form, public summary and procedures on the same page. A new building also needs a street address, requested on the township’s address application for residential and commercial parcels.

• Blackman Township Building Department
• Building forms and applications
• Building permit application with fee sheet
• Residential electrical permit application
• Residential mechanical permit application
• Residential plumbing permit application
• Commercial electrical permit application
• Planning and zoning department
• Jackson County Drain Commissioner stormwater requirements
• Township FOIA requests
• JCDOT soil erosion permit
• JCDOT driveway permit
• Jackson County well and septic permits
• Statewide Jurisdiction List, Bureau of Construction Codes
• FEMA Community Status Book, Michigan

Blackman Charter Township building permit FAQs

Who issues permits in Blackman Township?

The township Building Department, for building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing work; Jackson County has no building program.

How much is a permit for a new house?

$3.50 per $1,000 of value at $75 per square foot, plus $25 administration and $40 zoning; a 2,000-square-foot house comes to $590.

Do I need a permit for a shed?

Sheds over 200 square feet need a building permit, which costs $50.

Can I pull my own electrical or plumbing permit?

Yes, for the home you live in or are about to occupy, by signing the homeowner affidavit on the residential application.

Can I apply online?

No online filing is posted; bring the forms in, fax them to 517-788-4689 or mail them to 1990 W. Parnall Road.

Do I need a permit for a new roof or windows?

Yes. A shingle tear-off and replacement is $50, and replacement windows are $50.

What happens if no inspection is requested?

The township cancels a permit with no inspection within six months, and a cancelled permit cannot be reinstated.

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