Cadillac, Michigan Building Permit Guide

Inside the City of Cadillac, building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits are city permits, not Wexford County permits. You file with the Community Development Department at City Hall, 200 North Lake Street (231-775-0181, permits@cadillac-mi.net), and the city’s contractor, Associated Government Services (AGS), reviews the plans, sets the fee, issues the permit and inspects (269-629-0600). Residential building permits take up to 7 to 10 business days and trade permits up to 3; the city’s own fee guide prices a new 2,000-square-foot house at about $563.

What requires a building permit in Cadillac?

Cadillac’s building application covers residential and commercial new buildings, additions, alterations, attached garages, accessory buildings, decks, re-roofing, foundations, demolition, manufactured homes and fences over 7 feet tall, and its checklists add signs and solar panels. The city’s 2026 guide for homeowners and builders says a residential building permit is needed for a new home, an addition or major changes such as moving walls or replacing major systems.

What Cadillac decides and what the state holds

The Bureau of Construction Codes’ Statewide Jurisdiction List (revised November 6, 2026) marks the City of Cadillac as enforcing all four codes itself, while most of the rest of Wexford County is served by the county’s program; Wexford County’s own page agrees that Cadillac issues its own building, trade and soil erosion permits. The state code sets construction standards; the city chooses its inspection contractor, sets fees, enforces its zoning ordinance, runs the historic district and registers rental housing.

Cadillac building department: who handles permitting

The city has retained Associated Government Services to provide all building permit and inspection services. Its Community Development Department is the liaison: it accepts applications, payments and documents, checks each application for completeness, carries out the zoning review and forwards the file to AGS. The department also oversees planning and zoning applications and enforces the zoning ordinance.

Only land inside the city limits goes to City Hall. Parcels in Haring, Clam Lake, Cherry Grove and Selma townships, for example, are served by the Wexford County Building Department under the state list, and Cedar Creek Township issues its own building permits.

Cadillac permit types

The construction forms page lists the building permit application, residential and commercial electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits, fence, sign, mobile home and single-use moving permits, the sidewalk, driveway and right-of-way permit, the soil erosion permit, a historic district work application, roof data and energy code compliance sheets, wall-section details for accessory buildings and new homes, and the two fee calculation guides.

Residential permits

• Plans and seals. Submit two full plan sets and one digital set. One- and two-family homes under 3,500 square feet do not need an architect’s or engineer’s seal, but roof trusses and other manufactured members need the manufacturer’s sealed drawings.
• Checklist. A house application needs the energy code worksheet, a site plan or lot diagram, the driveway permit, the water and sewer (or well and septic) permit, a soil erosion permit if the site is within 500 feet of water, proof of ownership and zoning approval, and answers on whether the lot is in the historic district or in a wetland, floodplain or critical dune area. No building permit is issued in a floodplain without EGLE or DNR approval.
• Lot diagram. Show lot lines, existing and proposed buildings with distances to every side, easements and any lakes, streams or wetlands within 500 feet; the owner or contractor stakes two adjacent lot lines.
• Re-roofing. Describe the covering, layers, decking, venting and flashing, and attach historic district approval where it applies.
• Manufactured homes and demolition. A HUD home needs its approved installation instructions, a moving permit, the mobile home checklist and trade permits; a state-approved premanufactured unit needs its building system approval papers. Demolition needs proof that every utility is disconnected and a disposal report if asbestos, tanks or other regulated materials are on site.

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

Commercial permits

Commercial plans must be sealed by a design professional and come with the same site, utility, soil erosion and zoning items as a house. The site plan review checklist bound into the application asks for AutoCAD files referenced to Michigan State Plane Central coordinates and the city’s vertical datum, and the Zoning Administrator may waive items depending on the project’s scope. Signs need stamped drawings, foundation details for free-standing signs, an approved sign permit and an electrical permit if lit.

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

• Zoning. Zoning approval comes from Community Development; variances go to the Zoning Board of Appeals (third Thursday, 5:30 p.m.) and plans and special uses to the Planning Commission (fourth Monday, 6:00 p.m., City Council Chambers). Zoning application fees can be paid online by e-check without a fee or by card with one. New addresses come through the city’s address assignment application, and the city also sits on the Cadillac–Clam Lake Joint Planning Commission, listed among the boards its Community Development Department works with.
• Historic district. Any exterior change in design, materials or appearance in the Cadillac Historic District, created in April 2005, needs a Certificate of Appropriateness; file the work application at least 7 days before the Historic Districts Commission meets on the second Monday. Routine maintenance and painting do not need approval.
• Right-of-way. Curb cuts must be 12 to 60 feet wide and sidewalk driveway crossings no wider than 35 feet; after payment the city engineer, Prein & Newhof, reviews the application and handles inspections. The form calls for liability insurance of at least $100,000 for bodily injury and $50,000 for property damage.
• Septic and wells. On sites without city water and sewer, District Health Department #10 at 521 Cobb Street issues the sanitation permit.

Cadillac permit costs and fees

The city’s posted Permit Fee Calculation Guide applies its fee schedule to a “determinant” value: the Bureau of Construction Codes’ square-foot construction cost for the building’s use group and construction type (the 2013 table) multiplied by the floor area, with unfinished basements at 20 percent of the table cost. AGS sets the final fee after plan review and the city emails an invoice.

Worked example from the city’s guide: a new 2,000-square-foot house (use group R-3, construction type VB) has a table cost of $95.34 a square foot, so the determinant is $190,680. The fee is $373 plus $2.10 for each $1,000 over $100,000 (90.68 × $2.10 = $190.43), or about $563.43. Each trade permit for that house adds $205. The commercial guide works through a 20,000-square-foot factory building (use group F-1, type III-A, $71.35 a square foot): a $1,427,000 determinant gives a permit fee of $137 plus 1,417 × $2.60, which adds up to $3,821.20 (the guide’s own sum prints $3,817.20), and a plan review fee of $630 plus 927 × $0.21, or $824.67.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits are issued by AGS for the city. Contractors can register and apply online through BS&A, or email the form to permits@cadillac-mi.net or bring it to City Hall; the Community Development Department forwards it to AGS and emails the approval, and the city’s chart puts the whole process at up to 3 business days.

• Flat residential pricing. Each residential trade form offers a single inspection ($53), a special or safety inspection ($53), an addition or remodel with two inspections ($152), and a new residence with three inspections ($205); the electrical form also prices an addition or remodel with a service upgrade at $205.
• Electrical plans. A dwelling of 3,500 square feet or more needs plans with an application for plan examination; plans are not needed when the service is 400 amps or less and the building is 3,500 square feet or less, unless the code official asks for them.
• Applicant details. The building application asks for the contractor’s license number and expiry, federal ID, state unemployment employer number and workers’ compensation carrier, or the reason for an exemption.

How to apply for a Cadillac building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

Community Development screens each file for completeness and zoning before AGS sees it, so a missing checklist item (energy worksheet, proof of ownership, utility or septic permit) stops the clock at the first step. Floodplain sites wait for EGLE or DNR approval, historic district projects for the monthly commission meeting, and right-of-way work for the city engineer’s review.

Inspections in Cadillac

Contractors schedule every building and trade inspection by calling AGS at 269-629-0600; the city’s process chart says construction can begin once the permit is issued. The signer’s certification on the trade forms includes a promise to arrange necessary and timely inspections, and a permit stays valid only while work progresses and inspections are requested. Soil erosion work is inspected by the city’s Utilities Department at $20 per inspection, and starting earth work without a permit can double the fee, with at least $100 added.

Rental housing is inspected under a separate city program: any unit rented for more than three months of a calendar year must be registered, whether a single-family house, an apartment, a mobile home inside or outside a park, a rooming house or a boarding house; certificates are renewed online through the city’s BS&A rental search, and rental inspections are booked through the city’s BS&A scheduling tool.

Michigan building code in Cadillac

FEMA’s Community Status Book lists the City of Cadillac (community 260247) as a participating National Flood Insurance Program community, with its current map dated August 3, 1998, and the city’s building checklist says no permit is issued for a floodplain site without EGLE or DNR approval. The Planning Commission is also updating the master plan in 2026: a first community survey ran from June 23 to July 21, 2026 and drew 249 responses, and a draft plan is posted.

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

Cadillac permit search and official resources

Trade permits and payments run through BS&A Online. For copies of building records, send a Freedom of Information Act request to the city’s FOIA Coordinator (the Payroll Clerk, under the city’s 2024 FOIA policy) at FOIA@cadillac-mi.net or by mail to City Hall.

• Cadillac building permits and rental certificates
• BS&A Online, City of Cadillac (trade permits and payments)
• Cadillac applications and permits
• Guide to residential building documents (2026)
• Building permit application and checklists
• Permit fee calculation guide
• Residential electrical permit
• Residential mechanical permit
• Residential plumbing permit
• Soil removal and erosion control application
• Sidewalk, driveway and right-of-way permit
• Fence permit application
• Community Development Department
• Planning Commission
• Zoning and Zoning Board of Appeals
• Historic Districts Commission
• FOIA policy and procedure
• Wexford County Building Department coverage
• Bureau of Construction Codes Statewide Jurisdiction List
• FEMA Community Status Book, Michigan

Cadillac building permit FAQs

Does Wexford County issue building permits in Cadillac?

No. The city issues its own building, trade and soil erosion permits, with Associated Government Services doing plan review and inspections.

How much is a building permit for a new house in Cadillac?

The city’s guide works a 2,000-square-foot house out at about $563, plus $205 for each trade permit.

Can I apply online?

Trade permits can be filed through BS&A; building permits are emailed to permits@cadillac-mi.net or filed at City Hall.

Do I need a permit for a shed?

A building of 200 square feet or more needs a building permit; a smaller one needs zoning approval with a site plan.

How long does review take?

Up to 7 to 10 business days for residential building permits and up to 3 for trade permits.

Who schedules inspections?

The contractor or permit holder, by calling AGS at 269-629-0600.

Do I need approval for exterior work in the historic district?

Yes, any exterior change in design, materials or appearance needs a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Districts Commission; routine maintenance and painting do not.

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