Midland, Michigan Building Permit Guide

Inside the City of Midland, the Building Department at City Hall, 333 W. Ellsworth Street (989-837-3383), issues building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits, with Ryan Chapman as Building Official; land outside the city belongs to the townships and their own enforcing agencies. Contractors register with the city ($15) before any permit is granted. Building permits are priced by project value on the schedule effective July 1, 2025, so a $250,000 project pays $1,311, and a complete residential application is generally processed within 5 business days.

What requires a building permit in Midland?

The city lists additions, garages, new homes, new windows, porches, remodeling, roofs, siding and swimming pools of either kind as work that needs a building permit, and it requires one to demolish a structure. Every fence, residential or commercial, needs a fence permit with a site plan, and every new sign needs a sign permit, though refacing or repairing an existing sign does not.

The city’s exemption handout also lists one-story detached accessory buildings of up to 200 square feet, which still need a zoning permit, and fences up to 6 feet as needing no building permit, though the city’s fence page requires a fence permit for every fence.

What Midland decides and what the state holds

Under the state’s Statewide Jurisdiction List, the City of Midland enforces all four codes itself, and Midland County runs no construction-code program, so no county office issues permits inside the city. The code rules are the state’s; the city sets its own fees, zoning, floodplain ordinance and soil erosion program, and it reviews commercial work through Fire, Engineering, Planning and the water and water reclamation divisions. The city is rewriting its zoning ordinance in stages: City Council adopted the use rules on March 24, 2025 and the new schedule of lot, setback and height rules on November 24, 2025, and a public hearing on the parking amendment, Zoning Text Amendment No. 170, is set for the November 23, 2026 Council meeting.

Midland building department: who handles permitting

The Building Department covers the whole city, which reaches a short way into Bay County (176 of its residents in the Census estimates, against 42,630 in Midland County). The city’s own FAQ says it has no jurisdiction over building issues outside the city limits and sends township residents to the Township Code Authority of Midland County (989-837-6521).

Midland permit types

The building permit and plan examination application covers residential and commercial work; plumbing, mechanical and electrical each need a separate application. The application forms page also carries roof and siding, demolition, grading, sign, fence, above-ground pool, manufactured home, photovoltaic (building and electrical) and child daycare certificate of occupancy applications. Appeals of a building official’s decision use the Construction Board of Appeals application, and the building application reminds permit holders that Midland County waste must go to the City of Midland landfill and that a permit does not override deed restrictions.

Residential permits

• Plans. For one- and two-family buildings under 3,500 square feet the owner, an engineer or an architect may draw the plans; larger houses need sealed plans. Submit one paper and one digital set with a dimensioned site plan, elevations, wall details, foundation and floor plans, lumber species and grade, the energy code forms and a separate sheet naming the codes used.
• Value. Give the contract price for remodels and additions; the Building Department works out the value of a new house itself.
• Owners. If the permit is in the homeowner’s name, the owner signs an affidavit that the owner will do the work in a home the owner lives in or is about to occupy and will arrange the inspections.
• Sheds and pools. A residential shed of 50 to 200 square feet, a commercial shed under 150 square feet and an above-ground pool use the zoning compliance permit with a site plan.

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

Commercial permits

Commercial plans must be sealed and include a site plan, all elevations, electrical, sign, plumbing and mechanical drawings, load calculations, riser diagrams, air flow data and structural and foundation sheets, plus stormwater information. Any expansion of a building’s footprint needs an administrative site plan review through the Planning Department ($250, with an 11 by 17 inch copy, a 24 by 36 inch copy and a digital copy). The department advises a pre-construction meeting for every commercial job.

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

• Planning Commission site plan. Required ($400) for building work that adds 15,000 square feet or more of floor space, other than one- and two-family homes; non-single-family uses in single-family districts, parking lots of 51 or more spaces, site condominiums of 11 or more homes, changes in street access, and additions of 1,000 square feet or more to commercial, industrial or office buildings next to RA residential districts.
• Variances. The Zoning Board of Appeals charges $425; file at least 3 weeks before the meeting. Neighbors within 300 feet are mailed notice 15 days ahead, and the average request takes under 30 days.
• Soil erosion and grading. The city issues its own soil erosion permits for earth changes of 1 acre or more or within 500 feet of a lake or stream; grading permits are free but need a site plan.
• Floodplain. Projects in the floodplain need state permits, elevation certificates and a site plan with elevations, and sometimes a FEMA Letter of Map Amendment.

Midland permit costs and fees

Building permit fees follow the City of Midland Building Permit Fee Schedule effective July 1, 2025, a table of project values in $1,000 steps. The fee starts at $78 for work up to $1,000 and climbs by $10 per $1,000 to $25,000, by $5 per $1,000 to $100,000, by $4 per $1,000 to $500,000 and by $3 per $1,000 to $1 million. The table steps up between bands: $693 at $100,000 but $715 just above it, and $2,311 at $500,000 but $2,393 just above.

Worked example: a $250,000 addition falls in the $249,000.01 to $250,000 row, so the building permit is $1,311, with separate trade permits on top. The schedule’s own example for a $2,345,678 project rounds up to $2,346,000 and charges $3,966 plus 1,346 × $2.50, or $7,143. Soil erosion permits for commercial and industrial sites start at $250 for the first acre, and starting earth work without one adds an investigation fee equal to the permit fee.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits are issued and inspected by the city, each on its own application with its own fee chart (base fee $53). Applications ask for the contractor’s license number and expiry date, and the contractor must already be registered with the city.

• Electrical: new houses are charged $0.06 per square foot across all floors, garage and basement, plus the service and any temporary pole ($21); a service under 600 amps is $31.50. An annual permit is offered at $1,500.
• Mechanical: a new residential heating system is $115 per furnace, ductwork in conditioned space $0.05 per square foot, a furnace under 100,000 BTU $21, a gas water heater $11 and an air conditioner or split system $19.
• Plumbing: listed fixtures (bathtubs, sinks, toilets, dishwashers, sump pumps and others) are $25; a new water heater $21, a replacement only the base fee, and a private sewage disposal system $84. The city’s plumbing inspector answers pipe-material questions at 989-837-3383.
• Homeowners: the building and electrical applications carry the same affidavit for an owner doing the work in the home the owner lives in or is about to occupy.

How to apply for a Midland building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

Complete residential applications are generally processed within 5 business days and commercial ones within about 3 weeks, because each city department that reviews a commercial job must sign off first. Floodplain sites take longer. An application left idle for 180 days is treated as abandoned unless it is being pursued in good faith; the building official can grant 90-day extensions on a written request showing cause.

Inspections in Midland

Call the Building Department at 989-837-3383 at least a day ahead to schedule each required inspection. Building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, fence, grading, mobile home and zoning compliance permits stay valid for 180 days from issue or from the last inspection, so book inspections as the work moves on; signs must be installed within 60 days and soil erosion permits last one year.

Floodplain work gets extra scrutiny. When repairs or improvements to a building in the 100-year floodplain cost 50 percent or more of its market value, the whole building must be brought up to floodplain standards, including a lowest floor at least 1 foot above the base flood elevation, and the city’s substantial improvement page explains the rule and links flood-recovery help from the May 2020 flood. Whoever signs a permit takes responsibility for the work, including any rework found at the final inspection.

Michigan building code in Midland

FEMA’s Community Status Book lists the City of Midland (community 260140, in Bay and Midland counties) as participating in the National Flood Insurance Program, with flood maps effective May 4, 2009, and in the Community Rating System at class 5, which gives eligible policies a 25 percent discount.

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

Midland permit search and official resources

Copies of completed permit applications and their site plans can be requested from the Building Department. Other records go through the city’s Freedom of Information Act request form, online or at the City Clerk’s Office, and the City Attorney’s Office processes them.

• Midland permit information
• Permit application forms
• Building permit fee schedule, effective July 1, 2025
• Electrical, mechanical, plumbing and other permit fees, July 1, 2025
• Permit application requirements
• Projects not requiring a permit
• Contractor registration form
• Timeline for permit approval
• Permit expiration dates
• Soil erosion permit fees
• Substantial improvement and floodplain rules
• Zoning Board of Appeals
• Zoning modernization project
• FOIA requests
• Building Department staff directory

Midland building permit FAQs

How much is a building permit in Midland?

It depends on project value: $78 up to $1,000, $318 at $25,000, $693 at $100,000 and $1,311 at $250,000, under the schedule effective July 1, 2025. Trade permits are extra.

Do I need a permit for a fence?

Yes. Every residential and commercial fence needs an $80 fence permit with a site plan that meets the zoning ordinance.

Does a shed need a permit?

A residential shed of 50 to 200 square feet needs an $80 zoning compliance permit; larger accessory buildings need a building permit.

Can I pull my own permit?

Yes, for work you do yourself in the home you live in or are about to occupy, by signing the homeowner affidavit on the application.

How long does review take?

About 5 business days for a complete residential application and about 3 weeks for commercial work; floodplain sites take longer.

My address says Midland but I am outside the city. Who issues my permit?

Not the city. Many townships use the Township Code Authority of Midland County (989-837-6521); others run their own building departments.

How do I appeal a zoning decision or get a variance?

File with the Planning Department for the Zoning Board of Appeals ($425) at least 3 weeks before a meeting; appeals of an official’s decision must be filed within 30 days.

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