Riverview, Michigan Building Permit Guide

In the City of Riverview, the Building and Engineering Department at City Hall, 14100 Civic Park Drive (734-281-4242), issues building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits; Brent Strong is Building Official. Under the city’s 2024 Building Fee Schedule a permit starts with a non-refundable $75 base fee plus $10 per $1,000 of value, every permit includes one inspection, and contractors register for $50. Trade permits can be filed online.

What requires a building permit in Riverview?

Riverview’s permit page and fee schedule list the permits the department issues and the inspections that go with them.

Work that starts before a permit is issued is subject to double permit fees under the 2024 schedule. Sidewalk repair is the homeowner’s responsibility in Riverview, and the concrete work still needs a permit.

What Riverview decides and what the state holds

The Bureau of Construction Codes’ Statewide Jurisdiction List (revised November 6, 2026) shows Riverview enforcing the building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing codes itself; Wayne County has no construction-code program. The construction code is the state’s; the city sets the fees, registers contractors under its own ordinance, runs zoning through its Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals, provides flood plain information and stormwater maintenance agreements, coordinates with the fire marshal, and inspects rentals and homes for sale. Private subdivision restrictions, recorded with the Wayne County Register of Deeds, can be stricter than city rules, and a homeowners association may enforce them.

Riverview building department: who handles permitting

The Building and Engineering Department works under the Community Development Department. It reviews plans, issues building and trade permits and certificates of occupancy and compliance, registers contractors, approves the building side of business licenses and runs the rental and home-sale inspections. Its staff page lists the city’s building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, rental and fire inspectors.

Street repair, trees in the right-of-way and special trash pickups belong to the Department of Public Works, and blight complaints to the code enforcement officer in the Police Department, not to the Building Department.

Riverview permit types

The department posts a building permit application, electrical, mechanical and plumbing applications, the homeowner affidavit, a fence permit with a neighbor agreement form and fence guidance, a valuation chart, pool and hot tub handouts, a demolition packet, home-sale and rental forms, and a vacant property registration.

Residential permits

• Building application: owner and contractor details (the contractor must be registered with the city), a description of the work and its estimated cost, a plot plan showing the new work and existing structures, scaled plans and specifications in duplicate, a copy of the contractor’s proposal or contract and, for new construction, a lot grading and drainage plan drawn on a boundary survey. Electrical, mechanical, plumbing, sewer, water and storm utility work and fences each need their own application.
• New houses and additions: two sets of plans go to the office with the building application, and a complete packet is emailed to the department. Including a certified as-built mortgage survey with the drawings may speed up the permit. Residential plan review is $50.
• Fences: new and replacement fences need a permit approved by the Building Official. Since January 18, 2016 the city requires a certified survey or signed neighbor agreements, and mortgage surveys are no longer accepted; homeowners association members need the HOA board representative’s signature on the application. The fence FAQ bans fences in front yards, caps height at 6 feet, requires post holes at least 42 inches deep (inspected before the posts are set), puts the finished side outward, rules out barbed, razor and electric fences, limits wood to redwood, cedar or No. 1 pressure-treated lumber, does not allow chain link for screening, and keeps corner sight areas clear under Zoning Ordinance Section 9.304.
• Pools and hot tubs: building and electrical permits are both required. An above-ground pool permit is $125 with one inspection and a hot tub $100 with two; an in-ground pool is $75 plus $10 per $1,000 and needs separate electrical and mechanical permits.
• Selling a house: since July 1, 2016 the city inspects houses before sale: $200 for the first inspection and $75 for each one after. If violations are still open, the city requires a signed escrow agreement, an affidavit assuming the violations and a $1,000 escrow paid at the city before closing.
• Renting a house: rentals register with the city and must receive a certificate of compliance before anyone moves in, then re-certify every three years.

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 permits use the same $75 base fee and $10 per $1,000 of value. Additional or lock-out inspections on commercial and industrial jobs cost $60. Demolition of multiple dwellings or commercial and industrial buildings is $125 with two inspections, and the department reviews the building and safety side of each business license application, with a $25 background check per applicant. Bonds and escrows the city holds carry a 10% administrative fee.

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

• Planning Commission. Reviews site plans, special land uses and planned developments, and keeps the Master Plan and Zoning Ordinance. The Community Development Director administers the Master Plan and Zoning Ordinance and coordinates with the commission and the appeals board, while the Building Official advises on site plans, helps applicants with procedures and investigates violations. Unusual site conditions or requests to depart from the fence standards can also go to the commission, for a fee.
• Zoning Board of Appeals. Hears appeals of administrative decisions and grants variances under the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act; the City Clerk publishes notices and keeps the minutes.
• Soil erosion. Wayne County is the soil erosion agency for Riverview: earth changes over one acre or within 500 feet of a lake, stream or open drain need its permit (734-326-3936).
• County roads. Driveway approaches or other work in a Wayne County road right-of-way need a county construction permit from the DPS Permit Office (734-858-2774).
• Fire hydrants. Using a city hydrant takes a $125 permit, plus a bond, water cost, meter rental and inspections if needed.

Riverview permit costs and fees

The city’s 2024 Building Fee Schedule, effective July 1, 2024 and posted by both the department and the City Clerk, sets a non-refundable $75 application or base fee on permits and prices building work at that base plus $10 per $1,000 of value, for residential and commercial work alike. Ask the department for the exact charge at a given valuation.

Apartment and other multi-unit rentals pay $165 per building plus $85 for each unit, common area, mechanical room and building exterior, with a 10% administrative fee; re-inspections are $85 per unit.

Electrical items on the same schedule include $30 for the first circuit and $10 for each added one, $50 for a service up to 1,000 amps plus $15 per added 100 amps, $150 minimum for residential solar, $50 to reconnect residential heating or cooling, and $100 for a built-in pool or hot tub.

The permit page shows some older figures that differ from the 2024 schedule: a $325 fence permit (schedule: $125), a $50 rental registration with $75 re-inspections (schedule: $75 and $85), and a $75 mechanical reconnection fee dated 2015 (schedule: $50 for a house). The page also notes that rooftop, crawl-space or other hard-to-reach equipment adds $75.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Riverview takes all trade permit applications online through BS&A, and the department’s staff list includes electrical, mechanical and plumbing inspectors. Each trade permit starts with the $75 non-refundable base fee, and a $50 final inspection is added automatically; extra inspections are $75 each.

• Contractor registration: required for building, commercial, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and fence contractors under Ordinance Sec. 86-245, with a driver’s license, Michigan contractor license and general liability insurance; it expires when the state license does. Every permit application must also come with a certificate of insurance, which insurers may mail, fax or email to the department.
• Homeowners: an owner pulling a permit signs the city’s homeowner affidavit, initialing each line: that they are the legal owner and the person doing the work, that the work is held to the same standards and inspections as a contractor’s, that they must correct failed work, that hiring an unlicensed contractor brings penalties under state law and Ordinance Sec. 86-223, and that an uninsured contractor injured on the job leaves the owner liable. A city witness signs it.
• Furnaces and air conditioners: the electrical reconnection for a furnace, air conditioner or both goes on the mechanical permit; file an electrical permit only for a new or altered connection.

How to apply for a Riverview building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

The department says complete submittals let projects be reviewed without delay. Riverview’s rules stop a job when a fence application comes with only a mortgage survey, when the certificate of insurance is missing, or when fees are unpaid: inspectors are not rescheduled until everything is paid. A permit can be extended by written request for $25; a refund also needs a written request, and the $75 base fee is never refunded.

Inspections and certificates in Riverview

Inspections are scheduled by phone at 734-281-4242 in time blocks rather than set appointments. Each permit fee includes one inspection, and a scheduled visit is charged whether or not the inspector can get in, so make sure someone gives access.

Concrete needs a form and a final inspection, fences a post-hole and a final, and hot tubs two. The Building Official issues certificates of occupancy for completed work and certificates of compliance for rentals, which are renewed every three years.

Michigan building code in Riverview

FEMA’s Community Status Book lists the City of Riverview (community 260240) as participating in the National Flood Insurance Program, with flood maps effective October 21, 2021; the Building Department provides flood plain information for a property.

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

Riverview permit search and official resources

Trade permits and invoices are handled through the city’s BS&A Online site. For copies of permits, plans or inspection records, the City Clerk takes Freedom of Information Act requests on the city’s FOIA form, under its posted FOIA procedures and guidelines.

• Riverview Building and Engineering Department
• Permit applications, fees and inspection days
• 2024 Building Fee Schedule
• Building permit application
• Homeowner’s affidavit
• Fence permit application
• Fence neighbor agreement
• Fence frequently asked questions
• Building Official and inspectors
• Community Development: Planning Commission and ZBA
• City fee schedules
• City Clerk FOIA requests
• BS&A Online
• Wayne County soil erosion permits
• Wayne County road right-of-way permits
• Bureau of Construction Codes Statewide Jurisdiction List
• FEMA Community Status Book, Michigan

Riverview building permit FAQs

How much is a building permit in Riverview?

The 2024 schedule charges a non-refundable $75 base fee plus $10 per $1,000 of value, with one inspection included.

Do I need a survey for a fence permit?

Yes. Riverview requires a certified survey or signed neighbor agreements; a mortgage survey is no longer accepted.

Can I apply online?

Yes for trade permits, which are all accepted through BS&A Online; building permits use the city’s application.

Does Riverview inspect a house before it is sold?

Yes. The sale inspection costs $200, and each later visit $75.

Do contractors have to register?

Yes. Building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and fence contractors register for $50 with their license, driver’s license and liability insurance.

Can a homeowner get a permit?

Yes, by signing the city’s homeowner affidavit confirming they own the property and will do the work themselves.

Can I put a fence in my front yard?

No. Riverview’s fence rules prohibit front-yard fences, and fences elsewhere are limited to 6 feet.

When does the electrical inspector come?

Tuesday and Thursday mornings, 9 a.m. to noon.

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