Flushing Charter Township, Michigan Building Permit Guide

The Charter Township of Flushing enforces the state construction code for all four disciplines through its own Building Department, part of the Construction and Development Services Department at 6524 N. Seymour Road, Flushing (810-659-0800, building@flushingtwp.org). The City of Flushing is a separate government with its own office. Applications go in by email or mail, and the June 2026 building application prices a permit at $62 plus 0.8% of the labor and materials cost, with a $70 minimum, under user fees the Township Board approved on December 9, 2025.

What requires a building permit in Flushing Charter Township?

The township’s building application covers new buildings, additions, alterations, repairs, demolition, mobile home set-ups, foundations only, premanufactured units, relocations and special inspections, and a separate application is needed for each plumbing, mechanical and electrical job. The department also posts guides for finishing a basement and building a pole barn, and a checklist for ponds.

The township charges a $50 zoning review whenever zoning has to look at a building permit or at a use that needs no building permit. Ponds are allowed on lots of at least 2 acres zoned RSA, with a $650 fee and a $7,500 bond.

What the township decides and what the state holds

Flushing Township picks its fees, registers contractors, writes its zoning ordinance (in the 2022 Code of Ordinances) and runs its own inspectors for every trade. The construction rules themselves are the statewide Michigan codes. The state’s jurisdiction list marks the township LOCAL for building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing, while the City of Flushing is listed LOCAL for building only, with its trades handled by the state, so the two places follow different routes.

Flushing Charter Township building department: who handles permitting

The Building Department has a building inspector, a mechanical and plumbing inspector and an electrical inspector, and the township’s fee schedule describes it as the Construction and Development Services Department. Zoning sits with a separate Zoning Administrator and Code Enforcement Officer in the same building.

Flushing Charter Township permit types

The township posts separate 2026 application forms for building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing work, plus fence, zoning, solar, home occupation and special use forms. The building form asks for the project value (labor plus materials), square footage, the contractor’s state builder license and expiry date, workers’ compensation and liability insurance, and the owner’s and agent’s signatures.

Residential permits

• One- and two-family homes under 3,500 square feet: the application and at least two sets of plans showing the foundation and floor plans, a roof and wall section, elevations, a site plan and how the energy code will be met. No architect’s or engineer’s seal is needed at that size.
• Homes of 3,500 square feet or more are treated like commercial jobs: plan review must be approved first, and the 2026 fee chart lists a $650 plan review.
• Mobile and premanufactured homes: plans for the foundation and anchoring, a site plan and, for state-approved premanufactured units, the Building System Approval.
• Owner-builders: the township’s instructions say to write “Homeowner” in the contractor space when the owner does the work.

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

Commercial permits

Commercial projects need a plan review approval letter before the building permit can issue, and new business occupancies in existing buildings get both a building inspection and a zoning review of the proposed use. Site plan review costs $650, plus $800 for engineering review and an escrow of at least $3,500 set by the scope; commercial solar projects carry a $5,000 minimum escrow.

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

What comes before the building permit

For a new house the township’s checklist must be complete and signed before a permit is issued:

• Address: assigned by the Genesee County Road Commission, which takes address and driveway requests through its Oxcart online system (810-767-4920).
• Driveway: the Road Commission must approve the approach, and the driveway work must be finished before house construction starts.
• Sewer or septic: connection to public sewer is required where it is available, with a copy of the sewer permit from Genesee County Drain Commissioner Water & Waste Services (810-732-7870); otherwise the Genesee County Health Department issues the septic permit after a perc test, $220 for each step on a residential lot. The perc test stays valid for five years and cannot be scheduled until the lot has a street address, and the system is installed by a Health Department-licensed contractor or by the owner under Environmental Health supervision (324 S. Saginaw Street, Flint; 810-257-3603).
• Water or well: public water where available, otherwise a Health Department well permit ($200 for a private home). Ask the township whether the lot was specially assessed for sewer or water.
• Soil erosion: a permit from GCDC-WWS; the zoning permit form repeats this.
• Floodplain and drainage: a state fill permit if the property is in the floodplain, and a drainage plan showing that runoff will not reach a neighbor’s land.

Flushing Charter Township permit costs and fees

The Township Board approved the current user fee schedule on December 9, 2025, and the building application updated in June 2026 uses the same figures. The Building page still links an older Construction Permit Fee Schedule (adopted December 22, 2017) with lower rates of $50 for the first $1,000 and $5 for each further $1,000; the 2026 schedule is the newer adopted one.

Worked example from the June 2026 application: a $200,000 job is $200,000 × 0.008 = $1,600, plus the $62 base, for a $1,662 permit fee; with the $45 application fee and $60 final inspection that is $1,767, before the 1% archiving fee and any plan review. The application charges those two fees on every building permit, although the user fee schedule lists the $45 application fee under other building work and repairs, so confirm the total with the department. Applications sent without payment are put on hold and the plan review fee is invoiced. Refunds are considered only when no work has started and no inspection has been made.

Planning fees in the same schedule: special use permit $650; pre-application meeting $250; rezoning $650 to RSA, $950 for detached single-family residential and $1,600 for non-detached single-family residential; Zoning Board of Appeals $500 for detached single-family residential and $650 for non-detached; special meetings of either board $800; signs $50 for a detached house and $200 per commercial sign; short-term rental permit $100, renewed for $50.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Each trade needs its own township application, and the township’s own inspectors do the inspections. Contractors register once with the township by emailing the registration form and a certificate of liability insurance to building@flushingtwp.org; the $15 fee is added to the first permit. The form records the state license number, license type (building, electrical, mechanical or plumbing) and grade.

• Electrical: a new single-family home is $200 up to 150 amps and 30 circuits, or $250 up to 200 amps and 40 circuits. Other jobs pay a $45 application fee plus items such as $7 per circuit, $40 for a panel upgrade up to 200 amps and $135 for a pool. The planning part of the schedule also lists a $100 electrical compliance permit for services over 200 amps.
• Mechanical: $155 for a new house’s furnace, vents, ducts, chimney and air conditioning, plus $80 for a second furnace or air conditioner; otherwise $45 plus items, such as $30 for gas piping with one test and five openings.
• Plumbing: new homes are $125 up to 1,750 square feet and 1½ baths, $150 above that, and $180 over 3,000 square feet or more than three baths; other jobs are $45 plus $9 per fixture.
• Larger homes: a $500 residential trades plan review may be added when needed.

How to apply for a Flushing Charter Township building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

The township does not issue a permit until every checklist item is in, so a missing address, driveway approval or septic permit stops a new house. Commercial work and homes of 3,500 square feet or more wait for plan review approval, and a package sent without money is held until the invoiced plan review fee is paid.

Inspections in Flushing Charter Township

Call the inspector whose number is printed on your permit at least one day ahead; requests made by 4:00 p.m. are scheduled for the next business day, and the work should be finished before you call. Most structures need at least five inspections: foundation (before concrete), backfill (after footings, walls, waterproofing and drain tile), rough (after framing and the trade roughs are approved, before insulation), insulation, and final before anyone moves in.

A permit stays valid while inspections continue. It lapses if work does not start within 180 days or stops for 180 days, and the township closes a permit with no inspection in 180 days; closed permits are not refunded and cost $75 to re-open. Ask for the certificate of occupancy in writing, listing every building, trade, boiler and elevator permit number and any fire final; it is issued only when all fees are paid and all permits are finaled.

Michigan building code in Flushing Charter Township

The township enforces the building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing parts of the state code itself, so trade permits are never sent to the state. FEMA’s Community Status Book lists the township (community 260396) as a participating National Flood Insurance Program community, with flood maps dated September 25, 2009, and the township’s checklist calls for a state fill permit on floodplain property.

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

Flushing Charter Township permit search and official resources

For permit files, plans or certificates, complete the township’s Request for Public Records form and return it to 6524 N. Seymour Road or email it to both clerk@flushingtwp.org and deputyclerk@flushingtwp.org; copies are priced under the Freedom of Information Act itemization posted on the fees page.

• Flushing Township Building Department and forms
• User Fee Schedule 2026 (approved December 9, 2025)
• Building Permit Application (June 2026)
• Requirements for obtaining building permits
• New house permit checklist
• Contractor registration form
• Zoning permit application
• Older construction permit fee schedule (2017)
• Township fees page
• Zoning and code enforcement
• Freedom of Information Act requests
• Genesee County Health Department septic permits
• Genesee County Health Department well permits
• GCDC-WWS soil erosion, sewer and water permits
• Genesee County Road Commission permits and addresses
• Bureau of Construction Codes Statewide Jurisdiction List
• FEMA Community Status Book, Michigan

Flushing Charter Township building permit FAQs

Does the City of Flushing issue permits for the township?

No. The township has its own Building Department on N. Seymour Road; the city is a separate government with a different trade arrangement.

How much is a building permit for a new house?

$62 plus 0.8% of the labor and materials cost, with a $70 minimum, plus the $45 application and $60 final inspection fees; a $200,000 house comes to $1,767 before the archiving fee.

Can I apply online?

The township takes applications by email to building@flushingtwp.org or by mail; its fee schedule adds $3 to permits bought online.

Can a homeowner pull the permit?

Yes, the instructions tell owners doing their own work to enter “Homeowner” in the contractor section of the application.

Do I need a permit for a fence or shed?

A fence needs a $50 fence permit; a residential shed under 200 square feet goes through the $50 zoning review.

How far ahead do I book an inspection?

At least one day; calls made by 4:00 p.m. are scheduled for the next business day.

Do contractors register with the township?

Yes, once, for $15 added to the first permit, with a certificate of liability insurance.

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