Presque Isle County, Michigan Building Permit Guide

Presque Isle County is one of the Michigan counties that runs its own construction-code program, and it covers the whole county: the Bureau of Construction Codes lists the county as the enforcing agency for building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing work in Rogers City, Onaway, the villages of Posen and Millersburg and all 14 townships. The Building and Zoning Department, led by Building and Zoning Official Rob Ransom, is at 106 E. Huron Avenue, Suite B, in the Courthouse Annex in Rogers City ((989) 734-2915). Its fee schedule took effect January 30, 2026 and prices most new building by the square foot.

What requires a building permit in Presque Isle County?

The county’s permit-requirements sheet says permits are needed before work starts on all new residential and commercial construction, including manufactured structures brought to the site, and for alterations and remodeling of existing buildings. Trade work in existing buildings needs its own permit: new rough plumbing or plumbing alterations, electrical updates, new services and new wiring, and replacement furnaces, wood stoves, fireplaces, new ductwork, LP tanks, gas lines and added central air.

A change of use in a commercial building, such as office to retail or residential to commercial, brings the whole building under the applicable codes, including barrier-free rules. Commercial and multi-family plans must come from a licensed architect or engineer.

What Presque Isle County decides and what the state holds

Michigan writes the code; the county enforces it. Under Ordinance No. 1-1992, effective February 28, 1992, the county named its building official as the enforcing agency for the whole county except any city, village or township that took on enforcement by its own ordinance, and the state’s Statewide Jurisdiction List (revised November 6, 2026) shows that none has: every unit is marked as county-enforced for all four codes. The county sets the fee schedule, runs the BS&A permit portal, enforces Part 91 soil erosion rules, and zones the townships that have no zoning of their own.

Presque Isle County building department: who handles permitting

The county Building and Zoning Department issues building permits for the entire county, plus electrical, mechanical, plumbing, soil erosion and county zoning permits. It works under the general supervision of the County Board of Commissioners. Zoning is the one piece that is split, because several local units zone their own land.

To tell which zoning office applies, find the parcel’s township, city or village on the county’s Beacon property map. The county’s 2022 sheet lists the local zoning administrators for the units that zone themselves, and the department gives that list by phone.

Presque Isle County permit types

The 2026 building permit packet bundles the building application, the signed inspection schedule, the county zoning application, a pole barn worksheet, a residential construction worksheet and the fee schedule. Separate forms cover electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits (2024 county applications), soil erosion (2026 application and site map), garage plan examination and pole barn specifications.

Residential permits

• What to submit. A signed application and inspection schedule, a construction drawing detailed enough to build from, the zoning permit and soil erosion permit where they apply, and payment; an application without payment is not complete. Checks are payable to Presque Isle County.
• Square footage. Fees are figured from exterior dimensions, so the application asks for each area: first and second floors, crawlspace or basement, attached or detached garage, pole barn, mobile home and deck or porch.
• Health department number. The application has a line for the District #4 Health Department tank (septic) permit number, and septic approval is needed before a building permit issues.
• Plans for trades. The county’s plumbing form needs no plans for a one- or two-family home up to 3,500 square feet, and the electrical form none for systems up to 400 amps in buildings up to 3,500 square feet.

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 plans from a licensed architect or engineer, a $100 base fee and a $75 zoning permit, and is priced per square foot by use group: $0.45 for business and mercantile space and $0.55 for assembly, educational, high-hazard, institutional and apartment buildings. Plan review is 30% of the permit fee, up to $2,500. Fire suppression and fire alarm systems each carry a $250 plan review fee on top of their trade permits, and towers are $6 per vertical foot.

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 approval from the county or the local unit, after any variance or special use permit the project needs; the county form asks for a site plan with setbacks, existing buildings and driveways, water within 500 feet, steep slopes and right-of-way access.
• Soil erosion from the same county department: the county is the Part 91 agency here.
• Septic and well from District Health Department #4, which shares the Courthouse Annex at 106 E. Huron Avenue ((989) 734-4723), for new or replacement homes, bedroom additions and mobile homes off municipal water or sewer.

Presque Isle County permit costs and fees

The county’s fee schedule effective January 30, 2026 charges a base fee on every building permit and then a square-foot rate by type of construction; alterations and fire repairs are priced on project value from the schedule’s valuation table instead.

How the square-foot method works: a 24-by-30-foot detached pole building is 720 square feet, so its building line is 720 × $0.22, or $158.40, and every building permit adds the $75 base fee. Any foundation, zoning or soil erosion charges on the schedule are separate lines. Electrical, mechanical and plumbing fees are itemized on each trade application; the plumbing application fee is $75. Soil erosion fees double when work starts without a permit. A permit kept open beyond its first year carries a $60 permit maintenance fee, and re-opening an inactive permit in its first year is $45.

Trade permits and who may pull them

On the state’s November 2026 jurisdiction list the county enforces the electrical, mechanical and plumbing codes in every unit, and the county posts its own 2024 electrical, mechanical and plumbing applications from the Suite B office. The county’s older 2022 requirements sheet still says the State of Michigan issues plumbing and mechanical permits countywide; the newer state list and the county’s own forms and 2026 fee schedule show the county handling all three trades, so file trade permits with the county.

• Inspectors. The inspection schedule gives separate numbers for the electrical inspector ((989) 306-0525) and the plumbing and mechanical inspector ((989) 306-3471), in addition to the building official at (989) 734-2915.
• Licensed contractors. The county’s sheet notes that residential contractors doing work worth more than $600 in materials and labor must hold a state license in their trade, and suggests owners ask to see it. Residential builders and maintenance and alteration contractors are licensed by LARA; the trade applications ask for the state license number and expiry.
• Homeowners. The building application has a homeowner line for work done by the owner in their own home that they live in or are about to occupy.
• After a flood. The department’s 2026 flood-damage notice says submerged electrical parts must be evaluated by a licensed electrician before power is restored, and septic systems checked before use; the office keeps lists of licensed contractors.

How to apply for a building permit in Presque Isle County

Review, corrections and what causes delay

The county will not issue a building permit without zoning approval and, where a septic system is involved, the health department’s approval. Residential plan review is free when plans arrive with the application and $50 when they come separately, so file the drawing with the packet. The county publishes no review time. Permits are generally good for one year and can be renewed before they lapse; a permit with no work or inspections for six months or more may be treated as expired.

Inspections and certificates in Presque Isle County

Every inspection needs 24 hours’ notice, booked through BS&A Online or by phone. The signed inspection schedule in the 2026 packet lists what a new house needs:

• Footing, once forms and rebar are in place with the grounding rod visible.
• Foundation: insulated concrete forms before the pour, block foundations after they are cored.
• Rough inspections for plumbing, mechanical and electrical, then the framing rough.
• Insulation, then all finals.
• Blower door test on all new construction.

Decks and pole barns need footing, framing and final inspections; commercial buildings add slab and under-floor inspections. A re-inspection after corrections is invoiced at $75. No building may be used or occupied until a certificate of occupancy is issued, and the county’s sheet adds that a well final from the health department is needed before the certificate. A temporary certificate costs $100.

Michigan building code in Presque Isle County

The county is the enforcing agency for all four codes in every local unit. Flood insurance in Michigan is handled by each township, city and village rather than the county: FEMA lists no Michigan county as a National Flood Insurance Program community, so participation and flood maps depend on the local unit. Near the shore, the county’s soil erosion rule (500 feet from a lake, river, stream or wetland) and the zoning site plan’s water and slope details apply.

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

Presque Isle County permit search and official resources

Permit holders can follow their own applications, payments and inspection requests in BS&A Online. Parcel, ownership and tax data are on the county’s Beacon property search. For copies of permit files, use the county’s Freedom of Information Act process under its posted FOIA procedures and guidelines.

• Presque Isle County Building and Zoning Department
• BS&A Online: building and zoning services
• Fee schedule effective January 30, 2026
• 2026 building permit packet and inspection schedule
• Construction permit requirements in Presque Isle County
• Electrical permit application
• Mechanical permit application
• Plumbing permit application
• Soil erosion application and site map
• Zoning application
• Presque Isle County zoning ordinance
• Ordinance No. 1-1992 designating the enforcing agency
• Flood damage information
• Freedom of Information Act
• Statewide Jurisdiction List (Bureau of Construction Codes)

Presque Isle County building permit FAQs

Does Presque Isle County issue building permits in Rogers City and Onaway?

Yes. The county enforces the building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing codes in both cities, both villages and all 14 townships; the cities do their own zoning.

How much is a building permit for a new house?

A $75 base fee plus $0.28 per square foot under 2,000 square feet, $0.34 from 2,000 to 3,499 and $0.45 from 3,500 up, with basements, garages and decks priced on their own lines.

Who issues septic and well permits?

District Health Department #4 in the Courthouse Annex, (989) 734-4723; septic approval comes before the building permit.

When do I need a soil erosion permit?

For disturbing 1 acre or more, or for construction within 500 feet of a lake, river, stream or wetland; the county issues it, $175 for a residential site of an acre or less.

Can I apply online?

Yes. BS&A Online takes applications, documents, payments and inspection requests.

Does the state still issue plumbing and mechanical permits here?

The county’s 2022 sheet said so, but the November 2026 state list and the county’s own trade forms show the county issuing them.

How much notice do inspections need?

24 hours; re-inspections after corrections are $75.

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