Cannon Township, Michigan Building Permit Guide

Cannon Township, a Kent County township of about 14,600 people (2025 Census estimate), is listed by the state as enforcing all four construction codes itself. In practice its contract building inspectors, Imperial Municipal Services (IMS), process building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits at 263 Northland Drive, Rockford, while the township office at 6878 Belding Road NE (616-874-6966) handles zoning, driveway, storm water and sewer permits, which must be approved before IMS releases a permit. The fee schedule on the township’s building application starts at $50 and reaches $140 plus $3 per $1,000 above $10,000 of value.

What requires a building permit in Cannon Township?

Cannon’s forms show which approvals go together. The building application covers new homes, additions, remodels, accessory buildings, pole buildings, decks, re-roofs, demolition, foundations only, relocations and mobile or premanufactured home set-ups, plus every kind of non-residential building; electrical, mechanical and plumbing work each need a separate permit. The township’s own permits sit alongside these.

Zoning and building approval look only at the zoning ordinance and the building codes; the zoning form warns that township approval does not check private deed or association restrictions, so a written association approval is part of the building checklist where restrictions apply.

What Cannon decides and what the state holds

The state’s Statewide Jurisdiction List shows Cannon enforcing building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing codes locally, with IMS doing the work for the township. Cannon keeps its own zoning ordinance with overlay districts such as access management and a natural rivers overlay, a storm water ordinance (General Ordinance 2001-9), driveway standards, a sewer system and a Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals. Where construction is proposed in a wetland, the zoning form says a state permit is also required.

Cannon Township building department: who handles permitting

The township calls IMS its long-time building inspectors and says IMS now processes building and trade permits. Applications are dropped off at the township office for review first; zoning, driveway, storm water and sewer approvals must be in place before IMS releases the permit. Planning and zoning staff do the residential zoning compliance check for each building permit and run the storm water permit process.

Cannon Township permit types

The township bundles its forms into a Building and Zoning Permit Packet whose checklist must be complete before IMS will accept a building application. Trade permit forms for electrical, mechanical and plumbing work are filed at the IMS office.

Residential permits

• New homes and additions need two complete plan sets, one full size and one letter size, showing footing depth, every elevation, floor plans for all levels, decks and porches, and a wall section from footing to peak, plus a truss diagram or roof load data sheet and a REScheck or other energy compliance report with Manual J and S calculations.
• Sealed plans are required when finished habitable area exceeds 3,500 square feet.
• Demolition uses the building form with proof that utilities are disconnected; an existing sewer lead must be capped under North Kent Sewer Authority permits, and a well or septic system to be reused must be re-certified by the Health Department, or else abandoned or removed.
• Sheds under 200 square feet appear on the zoning permit form.

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

Commercial permits

Non-residential plans go in with an Application for Plan Examination and its fee, and they must be prepared and sealed by a Michigan-licensed architect or engineer unless IMS rules the work minor. Commercial plan review is charged at $150 per $100,000 of value on top of the building fee, and mechanical, plumbing and electrical permits are added as required. Development proposals that need site plan approval go to the Planning Commission, with township planning staff reviewing them first.

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 permit. A site plan with setbacks, driveways, power and gas lines, easements, water, wetlands and the septic field; a survey may be needed where setbacks are unclear.
• Variances and appeals. The Zoning Board of Appeals hears appeals of zoning decisions and grants variances only where strict compliance would cause practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship that the owner did not create and unique circumstances on the property support it. Its decisions are final except for an appeal to the circuit court within 21 days.
• Storm water permit. Within 500 feet of water or regulated wetlands: 2-foot contours, existing and finished grades (with a recent survey if the site has been graded since 2004) and erosion controls, where turbidity fencing may be required on lakefront lots, plus a NAVD88 survey on lakefront lots showing the 100-year flood elevation and legal lake level. The township engineer must inspect the erosion controls on site before a building permit can be released.
• Driveways and addresses. A Kent County Road Commission driveway permit or address assignment, and a township driveway permit for drives of 75 feet or more, measured from the road edge to the house or attached garage. The township standards call for a 20-foot cleared strip with branches trimmed to 14 feet, a driving surface at least 12 feet wide (16 feet for a shared drive inside an easement of at least 33 feet), 6 inches of compacted 22A gravel, a crown for drainage, a grade of no more than 10 percent unless the Fire Chief approves more, curves with at least a 50-foot inside radius, and a setback of 25 feet from streams and other water except at an approved crossing that can carry fire equipment.
• Soil erosion. A KCRC permit within 500 feet of a lake or stream or for an acre or more of earth change (KCRC Permit Department, 616-242-6920).
• Well, septic and sewer. Health Department well and septic permits, with review of any existing drain field for new buildings and additions; or a township sewer permit where the North Kent Sewer Authority system serves the lot.

Cannon Township permit costs and fees

Cannon publishes its building permit fee schedule on the building permit application itself, a 2021 form that is the one posted on the permits page. The two value bands meet at $10,000, where both give $140.

Worked example from the printed schedule: a new house valued at $250,000 is $140 for the first $10,000 plus 240 × $3 for the rest, or $860, before trade permits and any county charges. Trade permit fees are set on the separate electrical, mechanical and plumbing forms. Checks are made payable to Cannon Township, and the permits page notes that online payments are no longer accepted.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits are separate permits under Cannon’s local program, filed at the IMS office at 263 Northland Drive. Each needs its own application, and the building permit does not cover the trades.

• Licenses on the form. The building application asks for the residential builder’s license number and expiry date and, for non-residential work, the architect or engineer’s license; trade permits go to contractors holding the matching state electrical, plumbing or mechanical license.
• Licensing law. Every application repeats the state warning that conspiring to get around Michigan’s residential licensing rules brings civil fines.
• Trade inspections. Electrical work is inspected at temporary service, permanent service, rough-in and final; mechanical and plumbing work at underground (where anything will be buried), rough-in and final.
• Sewer work. Connections, disconnections and reconnections to the township sewer need a township sewer permit in addition to the plumbing permit.

How to apply for a Cannon Township building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

The township step can hold a permit back: on a site near water, the township engineer has to inspect the erosion controls before the building permit is released, and lakefront lots need a NAVD88 survey. Starting excavation early doubles the building permit fee. Once issued, a permit lapses if work does not begin within six months, and a permit with no inspection for six months is closed; closed permits are neither refunded nor reinstated.

Inspections and certificates in Cannon Township

Book inspections with IMS at 616-863-9294 or 1-800-442-2794 with the job address and permit number; the building form also points to online scheduling through the township website. Before the first visit, stake the lot and the building corners so the inspector can check the footings against the lot lines, post the permit where it can be seen from the road, and put up a street number or a sign with the owner’s or contractor’s name.

• Footing in some cases (ask IMS), then wall forms once forms and any reinforcing steel are in place, before concrete.
• Foundation after the forms come off and damp-proofing, stone and drain tile are done, before backfill.
• Rough-in when framing is finished and after the electrical, mechanical and plumbing roughs, before insulation or drywall.
• Final when the building is ready for occupancy, after all trade finals.

Work must not go past a required inspection until it is approved. Extra inspections, re-inspections and hourly inspections are $50 each under the printed schedule on the application.

Michigan building code in Cannon Township

Cannon is listed as a local enforcing agency for every trade, with IMS acting as its inspectors. FEMA’s Community Status Book lists the Township of Cannon (community 260734) as participating in the National Flood Insurance Program since September 16, 1988, with current maps effective February 23, 2023; the township’s storm water permit asks lakefront applicants to locate the 100-year flood elevation.

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

Cannon Township permit search and official resources

The Township Clerk keeps custody of the township’s records, so requests for past permits, plans or approvals go to the Clerk under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act; agendas, minutes, ordinances and public notices can be searched on the township’s CivicWeb portal. Parcel boundaries and zoning districts are on the Kent County parcel viewer and the township’s interactive zoning map.

• Cannon Township permits and where to file each one
• Building and zoning permit packet with checklist
• Building permit application and fee schedule
• Zoning permit application
• Storm water permit application
• Township driveway standards and permit
• Sewer permit application
• Electrical permit application
• Mechanical permit application
• Planning, Zoning and Building
• Zoning Board of Appeals
• Township Clerk
• Agendas, minutes and ordinances (CivicWeb)
• Kent County Road Commission permits
• KCRC soil erosion program
• Statewide Jurisdiction List (Bureau of Construction Codes)

Cannon Township building permit FAQs

Who issues building permits in Cannon Township?

Imperial Municipal Services processes building and trade permits for the township, after the township office approves zoning, driveway, storm water and sewer permits.

How much is a building permit in Cannon Township?

Under the schedule on the township application, $140 plus $3 per $1,000 above $10,000 of value; a $250,000 house is $860.

Can I pay for a Cannon permit online?

No. The permits page says online payments are no longer accepted; checks are payable to Cannon Township.

Do I need a storm water permit?

Yes if the site is within 500 feet of a lake, stream or regulated wetland; the township engineer inspects erosion controls before the building permit is released.

Does a long driveway need a township permit?

A driveway of 75 feet or more needs a township permit in addition to the Road Commission permit for the road connection.

Does a small shed need a permit in Cannon Township?

Sheds under 200 square feet are listed on the township’s zoning permit application, which needs a site plan with the distances to every property line.

How do I schedule an inspection?

Call IMS at 616-863-9294 or 1-800-442-2794 with the address and permit number.

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