Gladwin County, Michigan Building Permit Guide

Every city and township in Gladwin County uses the county for construction codes: the state’s jurisdiction list marks the county, the cities of Gladwin and Beaverton and all 15 townships as county-enforced for building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing work. Permits come from the Gladwin County Construction Codes Department in the County Annex Building, 555 West Cedar Avenue, Suite C, Gladwin (989-426-5931), whose Building Official, Jim Thurlow, is also the county Zoning Administrator. Residential fees follow the schedule adopted on September 8, 2023, with a $105 minimum, and every permit stays valid for 18 months.

What requires a building permit in Gladwin County?

The county’s residential fee schedule shows how wide the net is: re-roofing, an open deck of any size, an above-ground pool and setting a pre-built shed each carry their own flat permit fee, and finishing a basement or converting a garage to living space is priced like new second-floor space.

Starting work without a permit adds a penalty of $75 up to the full cost of the normal permit.

What the county decides and what the state holds

The construction code itself, its editions and the permit rules in it are set in Lansing and cannot be changed by the county. Gladwin County chooses how it runs the program: the 18-month permit life with paid six-month extensions, its fee schedules, Tuesday and Thursday trade inspection days, and the county zoning ordinance. Plan review is charged by the hour for commercial work and for homes over 3,500 square feet.

Gladwin County building department: who handles permitting

Under the Bureau of Construction Codes’ Statewide Jurisdiction List (revised November 6, 2026), Gladwin County runs the program for every local unit and for all four trades, so there is no city or township building office to find first. The building permit application asks only whether the site is inside the City of Gladwin or the City of Beaverton or, if not, which township it is in.

The department also issues certificates of occupancy, documents code violations and assigns new addresses anywhere in the county. Its staff page lists Jim Thurlow as Building Official, Building Inspector, Plan Reviewer and Zoning Administrator, a separate electrical line and an assistant zoning administrator.

Flood insurance is a local matter in Michigan: no county joins the National Flood Insurance Program, so each city or township decides for itself, and the building permit application carries a flood-zone approval line.

Gladwin County permit types

The building application is the state-style “Application for Building Permit and Plan Examination”: you give the tax ID number, owner, contractor license and builder’s license numbers with expiry dates, workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance details (or the reason for exemption), the type of improvement and use, and the floor areas. Plumbing, mechanical and electrical work each need their own application to the right division.

Residential permits

• New homes and additions are priced per square foot of foundation and of each floor, plus a size step from $10 (up to 1,000 square feet) to $35 (3,001 to 3,499), with $5 more for each further 500 square feet.
• Manufactured and modular homes are priced by the foundation they sit on, from 16 cents a square foot on piers to 19 cents on a basement.
• Garages and storage buildings are 15 cents a square foot (13 cents for a second floor).
• Flat-fee jobs such as roofs, decks, pools and demolition (keep the disposal receipts as proof) are priced in the fee table below.

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

Commercial permits

Commercial work is valued from the county’s square-foot cost table by use group and construction type, with basements at 20% of table cost and values rounded up to the next $1,000; premanufactured units pay half the on-site fee.

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

• Zoning. The Gladwin County Zoning Ordinance (effective February 1, 2008, with later revisions) requires a certificate of zoning approval before you build, alter, move or change the use of a structure. The zoning application wants a site plan showing lot lines, road frontage, waterfront, any county drain and the distance from each structure to each line, and the site staked on the ground. A zoning permit is valid for 12 months, and a copy goes to Construction Codes. Fences need no zoning permit unless the ordinance says otherwise. The county ordinance governs townships that have no zoning of their own; ask the Zoning Department whether yours does.
• Planning Commission and ZBA. Both meet at 1:00 p.m. in the Commissioners’ Chambers of the Courthouse, 401 West Cedar Avenue: the Planning Commission on first Wednesdays (next required date December 2, 2026), the Zoning Board of Appeals on third Tuesdays (December 15, 2026).
• Moratoria. On August 11, 2026 the Board of Commissioners extended two moratoria adopted on June 9, 2026: no special use permit applications are accepted for data centers (Resolution 2026-014, three more months) or for utility-scale solar, wind and battery storage facilities (Resolution 2026-015, six more months). Both end sooner if the zoning amendments take effect first; by their terms they run into early March 2027.
• Soil erosion. The Gladwin Conservation District runs the county soil erosion program under a county ordinance, so failing to get a permit can bring a citation.
• Septic, well and driveway. The Central Michigan District Health Department issues septic and well permits, and the Gladwin County Road Commission handles county road right-of-way permits.

Gladwin County permit costs and fees

The residential building schedule was adopted and took effect on September 8, 2023; trade fees were revised on the same date. The commercial schedule dates from January 10, 2017 and the plan review sheet from 2018. Fees are rounded to the nearest dollar.

Worked example (commercial). A 2,000-square-foot business building (use group B) of type 5B construction is valued at the table’s $89 a square foot, or $178,000. The fee is $395 plus $2 for each of the 78 thousands over $100,000 ($156), so $551, plus the $115 base fee: $666 before hourly plan review.

Trade permits carry their own base fees: $75 for residential electrical (one inspection included, $105 minimum permit), $100 for commercial electrical, and $75 for mechanical and plumbing. An extension after 18 months costs $50 for each six months.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Because the county holds all four codes in every local unit, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits come from the same annex, not from the state. Each trade application asks for the contractor’s state license number and expiry date, and carries the state warning that conspiring to get around the residential licensing rules brings civil fines.

• Electrical. Fees run by item, such as $30 for a service and $40 to $100 to wire a dwelling or addition up to 3,000 square feet. The application lets the “owner and occupant” or a contractor certify the work.
• Mechanical. Plans are not needed for one- and two-family homes whose heating and cooling input is 375,000 BTU or less. A homeowner signs an affidavit that the work will be done by themselves in the home they live in or are about to occupy; a homeowner may install a tank only if they own it.
• Plumbing. Plans are not needed for one- and two-family homes of 3,500 square feet or less, or buildings needing fewer than 12 fixtures. Setting a mobile home needs at least the application fee, a sewer or building drain and a water service line.

Residential builders and maintenance and alteration contractors carry state licenses, and the building application asks for the builder’s license number; a homeowner building their own house enters their own details instead.

How to apply for a Gladwin County building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

The form says an application without every section completed, signed and paid for will not be issued. Mailed applications stall without the phone check on cost. Commercial jobs and homes over 3,500 square feet wait for hourly plan review, and the zoning permit, soil erosion permit and health department approvals must be in hand because the application records each one.

Gladwin County inspections and occupancy

When work is ready, call the number printed on the permit with as much notice as you can, and give the property owner’s name and the township. The electrical and mechanical applications list Tuesdays and Thursdays as inspection days, and nothing may be covered until it has been inspected. The electrical base fee includes one inspection; an additional one is $50, a residential special inspection $125 and a commercial re-inspection $50.

Building inspections follow the stages of the job, from the foundation (required for any building over 400 square feet) to the final, and the department issues the certificate of occupancy when the work passes.

Michigan building code

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

Gladwin County building permit FAQs

Does the City of Gladwin or Beaverton have its own building department?

No. The state’s jurisdiction list shows both cities, like all 15 townships, under the county for building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits.

How long is a Gladwin County permit good for?

Eighteen months. After that the county asks about progress; each six-month extension costs $50, and if the fee is not paid within 10 days the permits are closed and new ones are needed.

Do I need a permit to re-roof?

Yes. The residential schedule lists roofs at a flat $150.

Can I do my own electrical or mechanical work?

The county forms let an owner who lives in the home apply: the electrical form for an “owner and occupant”, and the mechanical form with an affidavit that you will do the work yourself in the home you live in or are about to occupy.

When is a soil erosion permit needed?

For earth changes over 225 square feet within 500 feet of a lake, stream, county drain or storm drain, any disturbance over one acre, and gravel pits. For a home on a crawl space or basement the district charges $85 to $150, depending on the square footage.

Can I apply to build a solar farm or data center now?

Not under county zoning: special use applications for data centers and for utility-scale solar, wind and battery storage are on hold under moratoria extended on August 11, 2026.

Gladwin County permit search and official resources

Permit files sit with the Construction Codes Department; ask the office about a past permit at an address. For copies, the county takes Freedom of Information Act requests in writing or by voice, addressed to the County Administrator as FOIA Coordinator at 401 West Cedar Avenue, by fax to 989-426-4281 or by email to commissioners@gladwincounty-mi.gov, with “FOIA” in the subject. Parcel lines and owners are on the county GIS viewer.

• Gladwin County Construction Codes Department
• Residential construction fee schedule (adopted Sept. 8, 2023)
• Commercial construction fee schedule (Jan. 10, 2017)
• Plan review fees
• Building permit application
• Electrical permit application and fees
• Mechanical permit application and fees
• Plumbing permit application and fees
• Zoning / land use application
• Gladwin County Zoning Ordinance
• Resolution 2026-014, data center moratorium extension
• Resolution 2026-015, solar, wind and battery storage moratorium extension
• Gladwin Conservation District soil erosion permits
• Central Michigan District Health Department offices
• Gladwin County Road Commission permits
• Gladwin County GIS parcel viewer
• Gladwin County FOIA procedures
• Bureau of Construction Codes Statewide Jurisdiction List

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