Osceola County, Michigan Building Permit Guide

Osceola County runs the construction-code program for the whole county. The Osceola County Building Department, 22054 Professional Drive, Suite A, Reed City ((231) 832-6117), issues building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits and inspects in Evart, Reed City, the four villages and all 16 townships. Zoning is not a county permit here: the county has no countywide zoning, and only the cities, villages and townships with their own ordinances issue zoning approvals. Trade permits start with a $75 non-refundable application fee, and the final inspection fee must be paid up front.

What requires a building permit in Osceola County?

The department’s forms cover new buildings, additions, alterations, repairs, demolition, foundations only, relocated buildings, mobile home set-ups and state-approved premanufactured homes, along with decks, garages, accessory structures and post-frame (pole) buildings. Its permit process page adds that electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits are needed on every project with that work, and that two sets of approved plans are required for all commercial and residential buildings of 3,500 square feet or more.

What the county decides and what the state holds

The construction code is written by the state and cannot be changed by the county or by any township. Osceola County decides how the program runs: its forms, fee charts, inspection days and the way permits expire. Zoning is entirely local here. The townships of Burdell, Cedar, Hartwick, Highland, LeRoy, Osceola, Richmond and Sherman, the villages of Hersey, LeRoy and Marion, and the cities of Evart and Reed City have their own zoning ordinances; the other townships and Tustin are not listed by the county as zoned.

Osceola County building department: who handles permitting

Every acre of Osceola County lies in a city, village or township, and the state’s Statewide Jurisdiction List gives the same answer for all 22 of them: the county enforces the building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing codes.

To confirm which township a parcel is in, use the county’s GIS parcel maps through the Equalization Department, 301 W. Upton Avenue, Reed City, (231) 832-6119. The building department and the county soil erosion office share the Professional Drive building, and the Central Michigan District Health Department’s Osceola office is in Suite D of the same address.

Osceola County permit types

The county posts separate building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing applications, a contractor registration form, a homeowners permit statement, an agricultural exemption affidavit, a gas line test affidavit and an energy code worksheet. It also publishes worksheets that let an owner describe a typical project without full drawings: a frame cross section, residential deck specifications, garages and accessory structures, and post-frame building sheets for widths up to 20, 32, 40, 48, 56 and 64 feet.

Residential permits

• Houses and additions: the building application, a frame cross section or drawings, and the energy code worksheet.
• Pole buildings: the post-frame worksheet matching the building’s width.
• Mobile homes: the application needs set-up plans, a floor plan with the rooms labeled, the driveway permit or waiver, the septic permit, any soil erosion and zoning permits, and proof that the home was built after June 15, 1976. A new manufactured home must be permitted by a licensed mobile home installer. Without the maker’s set-up plans, the county asks for a 6-inch reinforced slab with an edge deepened to at least 8 inches and at least three tie-downs per side.
• Gas work: a gas line pressure test affidavit.
• Plans: two sets of approved plans once a building reaches 3,500 square feet.

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

Commercial permits

Commercial and industrial projects need two sets of approved plans at 3,500 square feet or more and, under the county’s process page, a contact with the Drain Commissioner before the permit. Electrical work in larger buildings, over 400 amps or 3,500 square feet, needs plans with an application for plan examination; the plan review price is quoted by the office.

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, village or township zoning administrator where the unit is zoned (the county’s permit process page lists them).
• Septic and well permits from the Central Michigan District Health Department, (231) 832-5532.
• Soil erosion permit from the county Soil & Sedimentation office, or its short form for smaller earth changes.
• Driveway permit from the Osceola County Road Commission, 4737 Makwa Drive, Reed City, (231) 832-5171: new driveways need a permit and existing ones a permit or waiver; on state highways, MDOT.
• EGLE review for work in a floodplain or wetland, through EGLE’s Water Resources Division office in Cadillac, (231) 429-2658.
• Deed restrictions to check if the lot is in a subdivision.

Osceola County permit costs and fees

Osceola County does not post a building permit fee schedule; ask the department at (231) 832-6117 for the fee on a building permit. The trade applications, revised in October 2025, print their own fee charts, and the county soil erosion office posts a separate schedule. A trade application must include the application fee and the final inspection fee, or the county returns it.

Worked example from the mechanical chart: a new residential heating system with its ducts and piping, plus a new water heater, is $75 (application) + $50 (heating system) + $5 (water heater) + $75 (final inspection) = $205. Plan review for larger electrical, mechanical and plumbing work is priced by the office. The soil erosion schedule charges $100 to extend a residential permit and $150 for a commercial one, and no soil erosion fee is due when the Osceola-Lake Conservation District provides the technical assistance.

Trade permits and who may pull them

The county building department issues and inspects all electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits in Osceola County. The electrical form asks which utility serves the site (Consumers Energy, Great Lakes Energy or Tri-County Electric) and whether a building permit has already been issued for the project. Contractors list their state license number and expiry date, federal employer number and workers’ compensation carrier or the reason for an exemption, and they file the county’s contractor registration form.

Residential builders, maintenance and alteration contractors, and electrical, mechanical and plumbing contractors are licensed by the state. The county’s homeowners permit statement explains the builder exemption in the occupational code: an owner building a home for the owner’s own use and occupancy may act as the general contractor, even with a licensed builder heavily involved, but the exemption does not cover an apartment building or a duplex. An owner who takes the permit carries the contractor’s responsibilities, including correcting code violations made by others, liability for injuries on the job, and payroll taxes and workers’ compensation for anyone working there. The trade applications carry their own homeowner affidavit section for owners doing that work themselves.

How to apply for an Osceola County building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

The county’s process page is a checklist in order: floodplain or wetland, zoning, septic and well, digging, commercial drainage, subdivision restrictions and driveway, and only then the building permit. A missing approval from any of those offices holds the permit. The Drain Commissioner and the soil erosion director are both part-time and often in the field, so leave a message and allow time; the Drain Commissioner keeps office hours on Monday afternoons from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at 602 W. Upton Avenue, (231) 832-7398.

Inspections and certificates in Osceola County

Call the building department at (231) 832-6117 when work is ready, giving at least 24 hours’ notice. Building inspections run Monday to Friday, electrical inspections on Tuesday and Thursday, and mechanical inspections on Monday and Wednesday. The electrical form adds that no electrical work may be concealed until it has been inspected.

• Mobile homes: footing before any concrete, tie-downs before the skirting goes on, and a final once every trade has passed; the home may not be occupied until the occupancy certificate is issued, and all fees must be paid before it is mailed.
• Rough and underground: each extra trade visit is $75.
• Final: paid with the application, $75 per trade.
• Septic: handled by the health department, not the county building office.

The trade forms set a six-month clock: a permit becomes invalid if work does not start within six months of issue or stops for six months, and the county closes any permit with no inspection requested and done within 180 days of issue or of the last inspection. Closed permits are not refunded, and extending one costs $75.

Michigan building code in Osceola County

Osceola County itself is not a flood insurance community: in Michigan no county joins the National Flood Insurance Program, so participation is decided township by township and city by city. The county’s process page sends floodplain and wetland questions to EGLE’s Cadillac office before any permit is issued.

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

Osceola County permit search and official resources

Permit holders can follow online applications through BS&A Online, and the building department answers questions about a property’s permit history at (231) 832-6117. For copies of county records, use the county’s Freedom of Information Act request form from the Administrator/Controller’s office, 602 W. Upton Avenue, Reed City, (231) 832-6196. Septic and well records sit with the Central Michigan District Health Department.

• Osceola County Building Department
• Building permit process and zoning administrators
• BS&A Online permit applications
• Electrical permit application and fees
• Mechanical permit application and fees
• Plumbing permit application and fees
• Homeowners permits statement
• Agricultural building exemption affidavit
• Mobile home set-up requirements
• Soil & Sedimentation office
• Soil erosion permit fees
• Zoning in Osceola County
• Drain Commissioner
• Equalization and GIS parcel maps
• Administration and FOIA forms
• Central Michigan District Health Department offices
• BCC Statewide Jurisdiction List

Osceola County building permit FAQs

Does Osceola County issue permits in Reed City and Evart?

Yes. The county department enforces the building and trade codes in both cities, the villages of Hersey, Le Roy, Marion and Tustin, and all 16 townships.

Can I apply online?

Yes, through BS&A Online, or on the paper forms at 22054 Professional Drive, Reed City.

How much is an electrical permit?

A $75 non-refundable application fee and a $75 final inspection fee, plus per-item charges such as $5 per circuit and $10 for a service through 200 amps.

Do I need a zoning permit?

Only where your city, village or township has its own zoning ordinance; Osceola County has no countywide zoning.

Do farm buildings need a building permit?

A building used only for agriculture can be considered for exemption on the county’s agricultural affidavit; it cannot hold residential storage, and township zoning may still apply.

Can I build my own house?

Yes, as the owner of a home built for your own use and occupancy, but not for a duplex or apartment building, and you take on the contractor’s liabilities.

When is a soil erosion permit required?

For earth changes within 500 feet of a creek, lake, river, stream or county drain, or of one acre or more; a single-family home permit is $125 up to an acre.

Who issues septic and well permits?

The Central Michigan District Health Department, Suite D, 22054 Professional Drive, Reed City, (231) 832-5532.

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