Oceana County, Michigan Building Permit Guide

Oceana County runs its own construction-code program. The Oceana County Building Department, 3986 N. Oceana Drive, Hart ((231) 873-5355), issues building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits for homes and commercial buildings in most of the county. The exceptions are Newfield and Otto townships, whose permits are handled by North Country Inspections, and Grant Township, which issues its own building permits while the county handles its trade permits. Building applications go in person or by mail, and under the fee schedule effective May 8, 2025 a house is priced at its square footage times $54 times 0.0055.

What requires a building permit in Oceana County?

The county department permits new buildings, additions, alterations, demolition, mobile and manufactured homes and the electrical, mechanical and plumbing work in them. Its fee schedule spells out several local thresholds, and its exempt-work page points to the work-exempt lists in the state building and residential codes.

A project without a building permit can still need a township zoning permit, a health department permit, a driveway permit or a soil erosion permit. Small commercial buildings of 360 square feet or less in storage use groups S-1 or S-2 do not need architect-sealed plans but still need a permit and the other documents. School construction is permitted through the State of Michigan, not the county.

What the county decides and what the state holds

The state writes the construction code and licenses builders and trades, and no county or township can amend it. Michigan counties have no unincorporated land: every parcel is in a city, village or township. Under the Bureau of Construction Codes’ Statewide Jurisdiction List, Oceana County is the enforcing agency for most of them, and it sets its own fees. Zoning is not a county permit here: each zoned township or village issues its own zoning permit or waiver, and the county’s fact sheet lists each unit’s zoning official.

Oceana County building department: who handles permitting

Use the Statewide Jurisdiction List to match your parcel’s city, village or township to its permit office. The county department covers the units below for all four codes unless noted; to check a parcel, look it up on the county’s GIS interactive map or its BS&A tax and assessing records, or call the department.

Oceana County permit types

The county posts separate applications for building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits, a commercial plan review addendum, a contractor registration form, a gas pressure test affidavit, a demolition checklist and fill-in cross-sections for a house, garage, pole building and deck. Every application must give the site address, the parcel ID number and driving directions, or it is returned.

Residential permits

• Houses are priced by floor area: living space, finished and unfinished basement, decks and garages each have their own rate.
• Cross-section drawings for houses, garages, pole buildings and decks can be completed on the county’s fill-in forms.
• Mobile homes: a single-wide permit is $100 and a double-wide $130, with any basement or deck priced as for a house.
• Energy: new houses, and additions or remodels over 50%, need a passing blower door test at the final inspection.

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

Commercial permits

Commercial work needs an architect’s seal, and the application must give the use group, construction type and occupant load. The county’s commercial checklist asks for the township zoning permit, the plan review addendum, septic and well permits, a grading permit from the Drain Commissioner, a driveway permit, two full sets of signed and sealed site, architectural, electrical, plumbing and mechanical plans, structural calculations, door and window schedules, rated assemblies, accessibility details, design loads and complete specifications.

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

What comes before the building permit

• Zoning permit or waiver from the township or village, where it is zoned.
• House number from Oceana County Equalization ((231) 873-4609), required for every new home and new building on a vacant lot.
• Septic and well permits from District Health Department #10 ((231) 873-2193); the department needs the permit itself, not a receipt. The health department also requires a separate approval, listed as a BPA, when you change a building’s use, add a bedroom, connect or reconnect to an existing well or septic system, or do not know where the septic, drain field or well is.
• Driveway permit from the Oceana County Road Commission ((231) 873-4226) on a vacant lot, for any work in the road right-of-way or where a culvert is needed; private roads are excepted.
• Soil erosion permit from the Drain Commissioner ((231) 873-3887, 100 S. State St., Hart) for earth changes of 225 square feet or more within 500 feet of a lake, stream, wetland or drain, or of an acre or more, and for commercial projects.
• State permits: EGLE for work affecting a lake, river, stream, wetland, dune, high-risk erosion area or floodplain, and the DNR for earth moving within 400 feet of the designated parts of the White and Pere Marquette rivers.

Oceana County permit costs and fees

The county’s building fee schedule took effect May 8, 2025. Cents are rounded to the nearest dollar and the minimum fee is $75. Plan review is charged on every building permit except demolition, under a separate plan review schedule approved by the Board of Commissioners on December 11, 2015.

Worked example from the schedule: a 1,800-square-foot house over an 1,800-square-foot unfinished basement is 1,800 × $54 × 0.0055 ($534.60) plus 1,800 × $17 × 0.0055 ($168.30), or $703 after rounding. Plan review is added on the valuation from the state’s square-foot cost table, and the first $100 of an application is not refundable. Soil erosion permits are a separate Drain Commissioner charge: $125 for a single-family house and $100 for a garage, pole barn or addition, valid for one year.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Outside Newfield and Otto townships, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits come from the county department, including in Grant Township. Trade applications can be filed on BS&A Online or on paper, and each lists its own fees; the electrical application starts with a $75 non-refundable fee that includes one inspection. Contractors register with the department by sending a copy of each current license and photo ID; a company doing licensed residential building or maintenance and alteration work registers the company’s builder license, not just an owner’s.

Residential builders and maintenance and alteration contractors are licensed by the state, as are electrical, plumbing and mechanical contractors. The county’s electrical application carries a homeowner affidavit: the owner certifies that the work will be installed personally in the home the owner lives in or is about to occupy, will not be covered or used until the county electrical inspector approves it, and that the owner will arrange the inspections. The county also posts a gas pressure test affidavit and a plumbing fixture and water-connected appliance table to help fill in the trade forms.

How to apply for an Oceana County building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

An application without the address, parcel ID or directions is returned, and a building application sent by email is not processed. A health department receipt in place of the actual septic or well permit also holds a file. An application not pursued is treated as abandoned 180 days after filing, though the building official may grant extensions requested in writing.

Inspections and certificates in Oceana County

Schedule inspections by phone at (231) 873-5355, by email to bi@oceana.mi.us or on BS&A Online, at least 24 hours ahead, and give access instructions. Building inspections are on Tuesday and Thursday, with inspectors arriving between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.; electrical on Tuesday and Thursday, mechanical on Tuesday and Wednesday and plumbing on Thursday, with arrivals between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

• Footing: after excavation and reinforcement, before concrete or backfill, including post holes.
• Rough-in: before insulation and drywall, after the electrical, mechanical and plumbing rough-ins pass; truss prints must be on site.
• Final: when the project is complete and the trade finals have passed, with a blower door test for new houses and large remodels.

A permit stays valid for six months and each inspection pushes the expiry out another six months; a permit with no inspection for 180 days is cancelled and cannot be refunded or reinstated. Every building needs an occupancy letter from the department before it is used or occupied.

Michigan building code in Oceana County

No Michigan county joins the National Flood Insurance Program itself; each township, city and village participates on its own. The county Drain Commissioner’s office lists Benona, Golden, Newfield, Ferry, Pentwater and Greenwood townships, the villages of Pentwater and Hesperia and the City of Hart as participating, and EGLE handles floodplain permits.

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

Oceana County permit search and official resources

Permit holders can follow electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits and pay fees on BS&A Online, and the county’s GIS map and BS&A tax records identify a parcel’s township or city. For copies of county building records, file a Freedom of Information Act request on the county’s FOIA page: complete page 1 of the request form and upload it there. Well and septic records belong to District Health Department #10, which takes FOIA requests through its own portal (foia@dhd10.org, (231) 303-1805).

• Oceana County Building Department
• Permit forms and fee schedules
• When you want to build, remodel or demo (April 2026)
• Building fee schedule, effective May 8, 2025
• Plan review fee schedule
• Inspection schedule
• Building permit application
• Commercial application requirements
• Contractor registration form
• Permit contacts
• Online permit services
• Drain Commissioner soil erosion program
• Soil erosion permit fee schedule
• National Flood Insurance Program in Oceana County
• County FOIA requests
• BCC Statewide Jurisdiction List

Oceana County building permit FAQs

Does Oceana County issue building permits everywhere in the county?

No. It covers Hart, the six villages and 13 townships for all four codes, plus trade permits in Grant Township; Newfield and Otto use North Country Inspections, and Grant Township issues its own building permits.

Can I email my building permit application?

No. Building applications go in person or by mail; only electrical, mechanical and plumbing applications can be filed online.

How much is a building permit for a house?

Square footage × $54 × 0.0055, with separate rates for basements, decks and garages, plus plan review; an 1,800-square-foot house over an unfinished basement of the same size is $703.

Do I need a permit for a shed or deck?

Not for a detached one-story shed under 200 square feet, or a low detached deck under 200 square feet that meets the county’s spacing rules.

Who handles septic and well permits?

District Health Department #10, (231) 873-2193; the building department needs the actual permit.

When are inspections done?

Building on Tuesday and Thursday, electrical Tuesday and Thursday, mechanical Tuesday and Wednesday and plumbing Thursday, with 24 hours’ notice.

Do I need a soil erosion permit?

Yes for earth changes of 225 square feet or more within 500 feet of water, or an acre or more; apply to the Drain Commissioner.

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