Chippewa County, Michigan Building Permit Guide

In Chippewa County the answer depends on the township and the trade. The state’s jurisdiction list gives the county’s building program the building code in the Village of De Tour and 15 townships, from Kinross and Soo to Drummond and Whitefish; the City of Sault Ste. Marie and Pickford Township run their own building programs; and the state Bureau of Construction Codes (BCC) issues electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits almost everywhere. The county’s building office was temporarily vacant in November 2026, and from September 28, 2026 to January 28, 2027 the BCC provides plan review, permits and inspections for the county program, with applications and payment through LARA. After January 28, 2027, check the county Building Department page for who takes applications.

What requires a permit in Chippewa County?

The county’s Building Department page puts the rule simply: permits are obtained and posted before work starts, and the state form adds that building work may not start until the Bureau of Construction Codes has issued the permit. The application form posted on that page in November 2026, the state’s own building permit application, covers new buildings, additions, alterations, repairs, demolition, foundations only, relocation, mobile home set-ups and pre-manufactured homes, so each of those needs a building permit wherever the county program applies.

The county pages do not publish a list of work that is exempt. Electrical, plumbing and mechanical work each need a separate permit from the state, apart from electrical work in De Tour Village and De Tour Township, which has a local electrical permit.

What the county decides and what the state holds

Chippewa County elected to run a building code program, and it has a Building Code Board of Appeals for it. The state writes the code, holds the trades in most of the county, and from September 28, 2026 to January 28, 2027 also does the county’s building plan review and inspections. The county’s permit checklist treats zoning as a township matter: it lists the townships that zone and their contacts, and each decides its own land use rules.

Chippewa County building department: who handles permitting

The Bureau of Construction Codes’ Statewide Jurisdiction List (revised November 6, 2026) splits the county three ways for building permits and almost entirely to the state for trade permits. Its “Assistance to Local Enforcing Agency” note adds that the BCC is providing building plan review, permit and inspection services for Chippewa County from September 28, 2026 until January 28, 2027.

The two largest units sit on different sides of that line: the City of Sault Ste. Marie (13,083 people in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate) runs its own building program, while Kinross Charter Township (6,790) is served by the county program.

Chippewa County permit types and application documents

In November 2026 the county posted the state’s Building Permit Application (form BCC-324) and said applicants may need to create a LARA account to file. The form asks for the project address and the city, village or township, the owner of the land, the estimated project cost, the licensed residential builder or maintenance and alteration contractor with license number and expiry date, the use group, type of construction and floor areas, and a site plan. Its last page has a block where the local approvals are recorded: zoning, fire district, health department, soil erosion and flood zone.

Residential permits

The county asks for at least two sets of plans and specifications drawn to scale: floor plans of each floor with exterior dimensions, windows, doors and every room named; a footing and foundation plan with beams, posts or piers; exterior elevations showing decks, dormers, roof lines and final grade; a wall cross section from footing to the top of the roof with member sizes; and a site plan measured to lot lines and other buildings. A one- or two-family house under 3,500 square feet of calculated floor area does not need an architect’s or engineer’s seal. Contractors must have a copy of their current state license on file before they can apply for permits in the county.

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

Commercial permits

Buildings under the Michigan Building Code need sealed construction documents, and two sets must go in with a separate Application for Plan Examination, with its fee, and be approved before the building permit can issue. Projects over the seal threshold are designed by a Michigan architect or engineer. Trade permits for commercial work come from the state in every unit except De Tour’s local 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

• Address. New construction needs a property address from the county Equalization Department before the well and septic applications can be completed.
• Township zoning. The county checklist lists Bay Mills, Bruce, Dafter, DeTour Village, Kinross, Pickford, Raber, Rudyard, Soo, Sugar Island, Superior and Whitefish as having zoning, with township contacts such as Kinross Township Office (906) 495-5381 and Rudyard Township Office (906) 478-5041. Site plans and application forms are approved by the township zoning administrator and the county building inspector.
• Well and septic. The Chippewa County Health Department’s Environmental Health Division (508 Ashmun Street, 906-635-3620) evaluates building sites and issues sewage system permits under the Upper Peninsula Environmental Health Code. No local unit may issue a building permit for a premises needing a sewage system before the Health Officer gives permission.
• Soil erosion. The Chippewa Luce Mackinac Conservation District is the County Enforcing Agency for Part 91 in Chippewa County (2847 Ashmun Street, 906-635-1278). A permit is needed for an earth change of one acre or more or within 500 feet of a water body; a complete application is decided within 30 days, and card payments carry a 4% service fee.
• Roads, water and floodplain. Culvert permits from the Chippewa County Road Commission (3949 South Mackinac Trail, 906-635-5295); dock and dredging permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (906-635-3461); floodplain review from EGLE’s Marquette District floodplain engineer.

Chippewa County permit costs and fees

From September 28, 2026 to January 28, 2027, while the state runs the county program, building permits are applied for and paid online through LARA, and the county suspended its own online permit payments at noon on September 23, 2026. The county pages do not post a county building fee schedule for this period. The state form the county links to prints the fixed charges below; the permit fee itself is worked out by the state from the application and entered in its validation block.

On an island job where a ferry, boat or plane is needed to reach the site, the $50 island charge is added to the permit fee. Other agencies charge their own fees: the Conservation District’s soil erosion fees are set out in its application packet, and the Health Department publishes environmental health fees on its fee page. For trade work the state’s electrical, mechanical and plumbing applications carry their own fees, and De Tour’s local electrical application has its own.

Trade and specialty permits in Chippewa County

For electrical, mechanical and plumbing work the jurisdiction list names the state Bureau of Construction Codes as the enforcing agency in every local unit, including the City of Sault Ste. Marie and Pickford Township, with one exception: electrical work in the Village of De Tour and De Tour Township is permitted and inspected locally. The county’s Building Department page links the state’s electrical, mechanical and plumbing applications and the separate DeTour Village/DeTour Township electrical permit application, and names a state inspector for each trade and a local inspector for De Tour electrical.

• Electrical. State permit everywhere except De Tour, where the local electrical application is used.
• Mechanical. State permit for furnaces, boilers, gas piping, venting and similar systems in every unit.
• Plumbing. State permit in every unit; septic systems themselves are permitted by the Health Department, not the plumbing inspector.

Licenses

The building permit application asks for the state license number and expiry date of the residential builder or maintenance and alteration contractor, along with federal employer, workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance numbers or the reason for an exemption. The county requires a copy of a contractor’s current license before that contractor applies for permits in the county.

How to apply for a Chippewa County permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

A missing local approval is the usual stall: the state form has a block for zoning, fire district, health, soil erosion and flood zone sign-offs, and the Health Department’s permission must come before any permit for a lot needing a septic system. Commercial work waits on plan examination approval. Until the state’s assistance ends on January 28, 2027, send questions to the state contacts the county lists; after that date, check the county Building Department page.

Chippewa County inspections and final approval

The permit itself carries the inspector’s phone number. When the work is ready, call the assigned inspector with the job location, the permit number and your contact details. The state form says the inspector responds within two business days to schedule a visit and that inspections are typically done within five business days, subject to the schedule. The county’s FAQ adds that work which will be covered up usually needs a rough and a final inspection, and no work may be concealed before it is inspected.

• Building. Rough stages before concealment and a final; a certificate of occupancy can be requested on the application for $50.
• Trades. Separate state inspections for each electrical, mechanical and plumbing permit, or the De Tour electrical inspector there.
• Septic and soil erosion. The Health Department inspects the sewage system and the Conservation District visits after the earth change starts and again when the site is stabilized.

A permit stays valid while work progresses and inspections are requested. It lapses if work does not start within 180 days of issue or stops for 180 days, and a permit with no inspection for 180 days is closed without refund; re-opening it costs $75.

Michigan building code

The state code applies the same way whether the county program, a local program or the state does the inspecting. Floodplain participation is local in Michigan: no county is a National Flood Insurance Program community, and FEMA lists the City of Sault Ste. Marie as participating, with flood maps effective June 23, 2026. Outside the city, floodplain questions go to EGLE’s floodplain engineer named in the county checklist. The county Drain Commissioner administers only one drain, the Hakola-Ross Drainage District in Rudyard Township; other ditch problems go to the Road Commission.

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

Chippewa County permit search and official resources

For permits issued under the county program, ask the state BCC at bccpermits@michigan.gov or 517-241-9313 about an issued permit. For county records, file a Freedom of Information Act request on the county’s FOIA form by email, or mail it to the Administrator’s Office, 319 Court Street, Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783.

• Chippewa County Building Department
• Building Department FAQs
• Building permit application (state form BCC-324)
• Checklist to obtain a Chippewa County building permit
• Address request form (Equalization)
• DeTour Village and DeTour Township electrical permit application
• Building Code Board of Appeals
• Health Department septic systems
• Health Department well and water services
• Chippewa Luce Mackinac Conservation District soil erosion permits
• Drain Commission
• FOIA forms and procedures
• BCC Statewide Jurisdiction List

Chippewa County building-permit FAQ

Who issues building permits in Chippewa County?

For the 16 units in the county program, the state BCC from September 28, 2026 to January 28, 2027; after that, check the county Building Department page. Sault Ste. Marie and Pickford Township issue their own.

Where do I get an electrical permit?

From the state everywhere except the Village of De Tour and De Tour Township, which use a local electrical permit.

How do I pay for a building permit?

From September 28, 2026 to January 28, 2027, online through LARA; the county suspended its own online permit payments at noon on September 23, 2026 for the switch.

Is there an extra fee on Sugar Island or Drummond Island?

The state application adds a $50 island inspection fee where ferries, boats or planes are involved.

Do I need a soil erosion permit?

Yes, from the Chippewa Luce Mackinac Conservation District, for an earth change of one acre or more or within 500 feet of a water body.

Who approves septic systems?

The Chippewa County Health Department’s Environmental Health Division; its permission comes before any building permit on a lot that needs a sewage system.

How fast are inspections?

The state form says inspectors respond within two business days and usually inspect within five.

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