Grand Haven, Michigan Building Permit Guide

Inside the City of Grand Haven, building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits come from the Building and Inspection Division of the Grand Haven Department of Public Safety, 525 Washington Avenue ((616) 842-3460), which also does the plan review and inspections; the Building Official is Tom Bruursema. Applications are emailed to GHDPSBuilding@grandhaven.org or mailed, every building permit also gets a zoning and land use review, and the permit fee is $793.40 for the first $100,000 of construction value plus $5.25 for each further $1,000.

What requires a building permit in Grand Haven?

The division lists the permits it reviews and issues as building permits for remodeling, additions and siding; electrical permits for new and changed services; mechanical permits for furnaces and air conditioners; and plumbing permits for new bathrooms, new fixtures and repiping. Its residential instructions go further on exterior work: every roofing and re-roofing job needs a permit, flat roofs included, and so does siding or re-siding.

Items in the second list still have to meet zoning setbacks and lot coverage, and several of them need a city zoning-side permit: fences take a $50 fence permit, retaining walls under 4 feet have their own application, and accessory buildings, driveways and patios take a $50 land use permit from the Planning Department. Replacement windows must not be smaller than the old ones where a bedroom window’s opening is under 5.7 square feet or where the window supplies the light and ventilation the code requires (glass equal to 8% of the floor area), and a shingle roof may carry no more than two layers.

What the city decides and what the state holds

Michigan sets one construction code that no city can amend, and it licenses builders and trades. The City of Grand Haven decides who enforces that code inside its limits: Ottawa County has no building program, and the state’s Statewide Jurisdiction List marks the city “Local” for all four codes. The city’s zoning ordinance (Chapter 40 of the city code) governs setbacks, uses, site plans and overlay districts.

Grand Haven building department: who handles permitting

Two city offices are involved. The Building and Inspection Division, housed with Public Safety, handles plan review, permits and inspections for all four trades. The City Planner, at City Hall, reviews new dwellings, additions, accessory buildings, fences and signs for zoning, runs site plan review and variance requests, and staffs the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Commission.

The city, home to 11,038 people in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate, and Grand Haven Charter Township are separate governments with separate permit offices. A Grand Haven mailing address can lie in the township, so check the parcel’s municipality on its tax record before you apply; the township’s permits come from its own Community Development Department on 168th Avenue.

Grand Haven permit types

The Public Safety forms page posts the residential building permit application and its instructions, a commercial and industrial building application, electrical, mechanical and plumbing applications, demolition and building-moving applications, a contractor registration form, the construction valuation chart, a deck construction guide and the Construction Board of Appeals application. The Planning Department posts the zoning-side forms: land use, fence, sign, retaining wall, change of use, sensitive areas overlay, site plan review, special land use, lot split and ZBA applications.

Residential permits

• Drawings: a scale drawing of all proposed work, a cut-away showing material sizes and types, and a site plan with the lot size, every building and deck, and distances to all property lines and between buildings.
• Zoning and land use review: required on every project that needs a building permit, with its own $50 fee.
• Seals: not needed for one- and two-family homes under 3,500 square feet of calculated floor area.
• Valuation: the city sets the final project value from state or ICC valuation tables, not only from the figure on the form.

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

Commercial permits

Commercial, multifamily (more than two units), planned development and special land use projects go through site plan review with the Planning Commission and City Council before a building permit. The city offers a free conceptual site plan meeting with the City Planner before submission, followed by a pre-application conference. The site plan review fee starts at $200 for projects up to $100,000 and rises by project value; Planning Commission and ZBA cases also carry a $1,500 escrow deposit for review costs.

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

What comes before the building permit

• Zoning approval from the City Planner (not needed first for interior remodeling, demolition or window replacement).
• Sensitive Areas Overlay permit where the parcel is in that district: an administrative review with a $50 fee for a single-family house, with topographic maps, elevations and a landscape plan; other projects go to the Planning Commission.
• Right-of-way work needs a separate application to the Department of Public Works.
• Soil erosion permit from the Ottawa County Water Resources Commissioner for earth changes within 500 feet of a lake, stream or drain or of an acre or more.
• Variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals: five to seven weeks from application to hearing, with notice to neighbors within 300 feet.

Grand Haven permit costs and fees

Grand Haven’s building permit fee tables take effect on July 1, and the 2025 and 2026 tables carry the same figures. The posted fee schedule shows fiscal 2025-26 rates beside a 2026-27 budget column; where the two differ, both are shown below. The building permit fee comes from the project value, set from the latest ICC building valuation data.

Worked example from the schedule: an addition to a single-family house valued at $150,000 is $793.40 for the first $100,000 plus 50 × $5.25 = $262.50, a building permit of $1,055.90, plus the $50 zoning review. There is no 65% plan review charge because the project is a one-family home. Electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits are added on top: for example $60 to apply plus $4 per circuit and the inspection fees for the wiring. Re-inspections cost $60 to $75, and extra plan review caused by changes is $75 an hour.

Trade permits and who may pull them

The Building and Inspection Division issues and inspects electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits in the city, using separate applications for each trade. Contractors register with the division on the city’s contractor registration form (revised August 2024), choosing builder, electrical, mechanical or plumbing, giving their state contractor license number and expiry date, naming who else may sign applications, and emailing a copy of the license to GHDPSBuilding@grandhaven.org.

Residential builders, maintenance and alteration contractors and the electrical, mechanical and plumbing trades are licensed by the state. The city’s residential application includes a homeowner affidavit: the owner certifies that the work will be done personally on the owner’s own dwelling, lived in or about to be occupied, that nothing will be covered or used before the appropriate inspector approves it, and that the owner will arrange the inspections. Typical trade charges are $10 for an electrical service through 200 amps, $50 for a complete residential heating system with ducts or hot water piping, $5 per water heater or new gas opening and $5 per plumbing fixture.

How to apply for a Grand Haven building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

The division issues a permit only after it has all the required paperwork and the building official has finished the plan review, so missing drawings or a missing site plan stop the clock. Projects in the Sensitive Areas Overlay District, work in the public right of way and anything needing a variance add separate approvals; a variance hearing takes five to seven weeks, and an approved variance lapses if it is not used within one year. Starting work without a permit adds a penalty fee on top of the normal fee.

Inspections and certificates in Grand Haven

Inspections are arranged through the Building and Inspection Division, (616) 842-3460. The city’s residential instructions list the inspections a house project may need:

• Footing: before each pour, with the reinforcing in place.
• Foundation: after the foundation coating and plate anchors, before sill plates and backfill.
• Sheathing: after the weather-resistive paper goes on, before siding or eave coverings.
• Framing: after the plumbing, electrical and mechanical rough-ins pass, before insulation or wall coverings.
• Insulation and drywall: insulation before the walls are covered, drywall before taping.
• Final: after all work is complete and the trades have been approved.

Each trade permit carries its own inspection fees: $75 per mechanical or plumbing inspection, and $60 or $75 per electrical inspection depending on the fee year. Inspections outside normal business hours cost $60 to $75. Rental properties in the city must also be registered every year under Chapter 9 of the city code, with an initial registration and inspection fee of $525 per unit.

Michigan building code in Grand Haven

The City of Grand Haven participates in the National Flood Insurance Program in its own right; FEMA shows it in the regular program since February 15, 1978, with flood maps dated October 21, 2021. The city’s Sensitive Areas Overlay District adds its own review on top of the construction code for the parcels it covers.

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

Grand Haven permit search and official resources

For copies of building permits, plans or inspection records, the city posts a separate Building Department FOIA request form; send it to the Department of Public Safety with the property address and the records you need. Zoning decisions, variances and site plan approvals are kept by the Planning Department at City Hall.

• Grand Haven Building Operations
• Public Safety forms and permits
• Zoning and planning development guide
• Residential building permit instructions
• Residential building permit application
• Contractor registration
• City fee schedule, FY 2025-26 and 2026-27
• Building permit fee table, effective July 1, 2025
• Sensitive Areas Overlay permit application
• Building Department FOIA request form
• Grand Haven zoning ordinance (Chapter 40)
• Ottawa County soil erosion permits
• BCC Statewide Jurisdiction List

Grand Haven building permit FAQs

How much is a building permit in Grand Haven?

It depends on project value: $793.40 covers the first $100,000, and each further $1,000 adds $5.25 up to $500,000. A $150,000 house addition is $1,055.90 plus a $50 zoning review.

Do I need a permit to re-roof?

Yes. The city requires a permit for all roofing and re-roofing, including flat roofs, and for siding.

Do I need a permit for a shed or fence?

A single-story shed of 200 square feet or less and a fence may not need a building permit, but a shed takes a $50 land use permit and a fence a $50 fence permit.

How do I submit an application?

Email it to GHDPSBuilding@grandhaven.org for the quickest response, or mail it to the Department of Public Safety, 525 Washington Avenue.

Is Grand Haven Township the same office?

No. Grand Haven Charter Township runs its own building division; city permits come only from the city’s Public Safety department.

Can a homeowner pull a permit?

Yes, for work done personally on the owner’s own home, lived in or about to be occupied, by signing the homeowner affidavit.

Is there a plan review fee?

Yes, 65% of the building permit fee, except for one- and two-family homes.

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