Farmington Hills, Michigan Building Permit Guide

Farmington Hills sits in the wooded western half of Oakland County, and the city’s permitting reflects that. The Building Division handles the construction side, but the Planning Office holds a tree removal permit requirement that attaches long before a foundation is poured.

The Building Division reviews construction plans and documents, issues building, plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits, inspects new and renovated structures, and registers every contractor who performs work in the city. Records are kept to the state retention schedule, so historic plan copies are usually obtainable.

This guide covers work inside the Farmington Hills city limits. The City of Farmington is a separate, smaller municipality with its own arrangements, and Oakland County does not permit inside either.

What requires a building permit in Farmington Hills?

The code is the same statewide, but fee schedules, procedures and the choice of third-party agency differ from one municipality to the next, so an exempt list from a neighbouring township is not reliable. An exemption from a building permit is never an exemption from zoning, the energy code, or an electrical or plumbing permit. Confirm scope with the Farmington Hills Building Division before work starts.

Local rules worth knowing

Replacement is prescriptive as well: replacement trees must be of the same species as those removed where available from Michigan nurseries, and where they are not, from the list of acceptable trees held in the Planning Office. Existing trees within 10 feet of the building envelope require replacement, which quietly catches most tight suburban lots.

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

Who handles permitting in Farmington Hills?

The Building Division reviews plans, issues building and trade permits, inspects new and renovated structures and registers all contractors working in the city, with zoning, planning and engineering handled on separate lines.

The homeowner route is narrow. A homeowner may only pull permits in lieu of a licensed contractor where they are the registered legal homeowner, the home is their primary residence, and they actually reside in the house. All three conditions have to hold. A signed and notarised homeowner affidavit — stating that the property will be the owner’s residence, will not be rented for a year and is not for sale — must be attached to each permit application, which means planning a trip to a notary into the filing.

Contractors face a parallel step. Since early March 2026 every building permit application and inspection request in Farmington Hills goes through the city’s BS&A online portal, replacing paper applications, counter submissions and phone inspection requests. Contractors must have a BS&A account, and the city has to link it to the contractor’s name record or issue a web PIN before it can submit, so set this up before the day you need to file.

In 2025, building permits issued in Farmington Hills authorized 22 new privately owned housing units, all of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.

Permit types

Residential permits

Residential permits cover new homes, additions, decks, alterations and the trades. Some items need no building permit but still require a zoning check, including playhouses, playground equipment, wading pools, flag poles and basketball backboards. Driveways and poured concrete without footings need no building permit but may need a right-of-way permit from Engineering.

How Michigan contractor credentials work

Commercial permits

Commercial work runs through plan review with landscape plans prepared and sealed by a registered landscape architect for all projects, submitted to the Planning Office alongside the tree replacement and open space plans. Commercial fencing is handled by Planning rather than Zoning, which is the reverse of the residential route.

Licenses, trade classifications and design professionals

Practically, three credential layers appear on Michigan projects: the state residential builder or maintenance and alteration licence on residential work; separately licensed electrical, plumbing and mechanical trades, also licensed by the state; and, on commercial and larger residential work, drawings sealed by a Michigan-licensed architect or professional engineer, with plans reviewed by a state-registered plan reviewer; detached one- and two-family houses of 3,500 square feet or less need no architect or engineer seal. Confirm what the Farmington Hills Building Division requires for the specific building before filing.

Michigan licenses residential builders and maintenance and alteration contractors at state level, and the permit application must carry the licence number. Michigan rules

Farmington Hills permit costs and fees

Farmington Hills publishes a building fee schedule by permit type and valuation, with plan review and trade permits charged separately. Tree removal, landscape review and right-of-way permits carry their own charges through Planning and Engineering.

Michigan fees are set by whoever holds enforcement for the parcel — the local unit, the county, or the state where neither has taken it on — so the schedule follows the authority rather than the state. A figure from a neighbouring municipality is not reliable, and a figure from a neighbouring township can be wrong even where the county enforces both. Ask the Farmington Hills Building Division for the schedule in force on your filing date.

Fees are set by the enforcing agency — the local unit, a county program or the state — and may only fund that agency's work. Michigan rules

Trade permits and who may pull them

Electrical, plumbing and mechanical contractors hold state licences valid anywhere in Michigan, and each trade follows its part of the state construction code. Michigan rules

How to apply for a Farmington Hills building permit

Review, corrections and what actually causes delay

In Michigan, the first cause of delay is uncertainty over who enforces the code — filing with the local unit when the county holds enforcement for it, or with the county when the state does. After that comes the edition question, because the trade parts and the building parts moved on different dates, and houses still follow the 2015 residential code, so a submission drawn to the wrong one is a correction cycle. Then a missing or expired state licence number on the application, energy-code and plan documentation, and floodplain requirements along the shorelines and rivers. Build the plan-review time into the schedule and confirm the checklist with the Farmington Hills Building Division before filing.

A Michigan permit lapses if work does not start within 180 days or stops for 180 days; confirm the expiry with Farmington Hills on phased or delayed work. Michigan rules

Inspections in Farmington Hills

Where a permit is required, standard checkpoints include footing and foundation, framing, rough-in electrical, plumbing and mechanical, insulation and energy-code compliance, fire systems on commercial work, and final, with a use-and-occupancy certificate before the building is used. Where tree protection applies, the location and condition of the protective fencing around the drip line is checked on site as well as on the plans.

Ask the enforcing agency which edition applies to your application, especially around a code change date — because editions are adopted part by part, the answer can differ between the building inspection and the trade inspections on the same job. They are carried out by an inspector registered with the state, employed or contracted by whichever authority holds enforcement for the parcel. Keep the approved plans and the energy-code documentation on site for the inspector to check against, and confirm the notice the Farmington Hills Building Division needs and its inspection windows.

Do not cover work before the required inspection has been approved. Keep the issued permit, the approved plans, product listings, energy-code documentation and your correction responses available on site.

Farmington Hills permit search and official resources

Permit records in Michigan sit with the authority that issued them — the local unit, the county, or the state bureau where neither took enforcement on. Where the Farmington Hills Building Division is the authority for the City of Farmington Hills, it holds the building permit, the inspection history and the use-and-occupancy certificate. If you are buying, refinancing or renovating, confirm that past work was permitted rather than assuming it was — open permits and missing certificates are a common closing problem.

These are the primary sources behind this guide. Codes, fee schedules and procedures change — confirm the position for your filing date.

• City of Farmington Hills Building Division
• Farmington Hills when is a permit required
• Farmington Hills design guidelines, fees and checklists
• Michigan Bureau of Construction Codes licensing section
• Michigan Bureau of Construction Codes - current code books and effective dates

Frequently asked questions

When do I need a tree removal permit?

Before any tree removal activity involving trees 6 inches or more in diameter at breast height. The permit comes from the Planning Office under the zoning ordinance, and protective snow fencing must be erected around the drip line of trees being saved with its location shown on all plans.

Do I have to replace trees I remove?

Where replacement is triggered, replacement trees must be of the same species as those removed where available from Michigan nurseries, and otherwise from the list of acceptable trees held in the Planning Office. Existing trees within 10 feet of the building envelope require replacement.

Can I pull my own permit as a homeowner?

Only if all three conditions hold: you are the registered legal homeowner, the home is your primary residence, and you reside in the house. A signed and notarised homeowner affidavit must be attached to each permit application. Residential builders and maintenance and alteration contractors are licensed by the state under Article 24 of Public Act 299 of 1980, administered by the Bureau of Construction Codes, and the plumbing, electrical and mechanical trades are state-licensed as well. The licence is valid statewide. The permit application must set out the licence number and its expiry date, and performing residential work that requires a licence without holding one is a civil violation the county prosecuting attorney or the Attorney General may pursue.

How do I register as a contractor?

Through the city’s BS&A online portal, which since early March 2026 is the only route for permit applications and inspection requests. Create a BS&A account; the city must then link it to your contractor name record or issue a web PIN before the account can submit. The Building Division registers every contractor working in the city; call 248-871-2450 with questions.

Which code edition applies to my project?

It depends which part of the code the work falls under. One Michigan point catches almost everyone: the commercial and residential codes are not on the same edition. The bureau moved the plumbing, mechanical and electrical parts to new editions on the twelfth of March, 2024, and the building and rehabilitation parts to their 2021 editions on the ninth of April, 2025; houses still follow the 2015 Michigan Residential Code. The residential code did not move with them. Replacement residential rules were filed for an August 2025 effective date, but the Court of Claims entered a stipulated order stopping the department from implementing them while a builders’ association challenge is litigated, so the bureau still lists the 2015 Michigan Residential Code as the code in force. That case was still live when this guide was written. Confirm the edition governing each part of your work on your filing date rather than assuming the newest one applies.

What needs a zoning check but no building permit?

The city lists playhouses, playground equipment, wading pools, flag poles and basketball backboards among the items that need no building permit but still require compliance with the zoning ordinance. Driveways and poured concrete without footings need no building permit but may need a right-of-way permit from Engineering.

Simplify Farmington Hills permitting with Alliance Permitting

The tree survey is the item that moves a Farmington Hills programme, and it moves it at the start rather than the end. We front-load it.

Trusted by leading builders, developers, and national contractors — 21+ years of filing in the jurisdictions we write about.

Contractors and builders choose Alliance for Farmington Hills because the work is done by people who have stood at the counter:

• 21+ years of filing, so the authority question gets answered before the application goes in
• We confirm the edition in force for each code part on your filing date, not the newest one published
• Licence numbers, expiry dates and the written authorisation instrument checked before submission
• Correction cycles handled directly with the reviewer so your crew is not waiting on a resubmission
• Inspection sequencing tracked through to the certificate, including trade sign-offs

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