Sanilac County, Michigan Building Permit Guide

Sanilac County is one of the Michigan counties where the county is the building department everywhere: the state’s jurisdiction list shows the Sanilac County Department of Construction and Land Use (Courthouse Annex, 60 West Sanilac Avenue, Room 210, Sandusky; 810-648-4664) enforcing the building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing codes in all four cities, nine villages and 26 townships. The same office is the county’s soil erosion agency. Zoning or land use approval still comes from the local unit first, and septic and well permits from the county health department.

What requires a building permit in Sanilac County?

Because the county enforces the state construction code in every local unit, the same county permits apply from Port Sanilac to Marlette. The county’s application covers:

The county application form states that separate applications must be completed for plumbing, mechanical and electrical work, and that this work must also meet the Michigan energy code. Before the county issues a building permit, the township, city or village usually has to approve the project’s zoning or land use, and the health department has to issue any septic or well permit.

What the county decides and what the state holds

The construction code itself is the state’s. The county decides how it runs its enforcement program and its fees; each township, city or village decides its own zoning, land use permits and local requirements such as bonds or pre-application fees.

Sanilac County building department: who handles permitting

The state’s Statewide Jurisdiction List (Bureau of Construction Codes, revised November 6, 2026) lists Sanilac County as COUNTY for building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing in the county and in every one of its 39 cities, villages and townships, so no Sanilac unit is shown running its own program or using the state:

The county’s forms call the office the Sanilac County Department of Construction or the Construction and Land Use Department; Marlette’s form and the health department call it the county Building Department. It is in the Courthouse Annex at 60 West Sanilac Avenue, Room 210, Sandusky, MI 48471; phone 810-648-4664, fax 810-648-5110. Eric Bowerman is the Building Official and also the county’s plumbing and mechanical inspector, with separate building and electrical inspectors and a soil erosion enforcement agent. The largest communities are Sandusky (2,664 people), Croswell (2,263), Marlette (1,833) and the Sanilac part of Brown City (1,277); the state lists Brown City only under Sanilac County.

Sanilac County permit types and what comes first

The county’s building application (titled “application for and plan examination”) asks for the owner, architect or engineer, and contractor with builder’s license number and expiry, federal employer number, workers’ compensation carrier and state unemployment number or the reason for an exemption. It records the type of improvement, the proposed use, the frame, heating fuel, sewage disposal (public or septic), water supply (public or private well), whether there will be air conditioning or fire suppression, the floor areas and the number of off-street parking spaces.

Residential permits

For a house, garage or addition, start with the local land use or zoning permit. Sanilac Township’s packet is a typical example: a site plan drawn to scale on graph paper showing every existing and proposed structure with its distances from the front, side and rear lot lines, fences, decks, pools, ponds, the driveway, easements, and the well and septic field, with copies of the county well and septic permits and any soil erosion or state environmental permits attached. That township’s land use permit is good for one year. You then take the local approval, every other permit and two sets of plans to the county Department of Construction for the building permit.

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

Commercial permits

Commercial and industrial buildings go through the county’s plan examination on the same application, marked for the building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing or foundation reviews needed, after local site plan or special use approval. In the City of Marlette, for example, a building or special use permit is not issued by the county until the city’s Zoning Administrator or City Manager has approved a pre-application, which costs $25 for residential and $75 for non-residential projects. The pre-application, with a detailed site plan, is returned to Marlette City Hall, 6436 Morris Street; city officials inspect the site, and once approved the form is taken to the county office with the county permit fees. An approved pre-application is good for one year, and construction must start within that time.

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

What comes before the building permit

• Local zoning or land use: from the township, city or village where the parcel is; the zoning administrator may visit the site.
• Septic and well: the Sanilac County Health Department says its sewage and well permits are required before you receive a building permit. Its sewage permit procedure asks for an acceptable soil evaluation, clear directions to the property (vacant land flagged with survey tape), the property tax ID and legal description or survey, and three copies of a dimensioned site plan, preferably at 1 inch to 20, 30 or 40 feet, showing boundaries, roads, easements, existing and proposed buildings and driveways, the proposed system and reserve area, wells on the lot and neighboring lots, underground utilities and ponds or streams. Lots created under the Land Division Act need a professionally prepared site plan with existing and proposed contour elevations.
• Soil erosion: the county Department of Construction is the soil erosion agency; earth moved before the permit is issued draws a $250 failure-to-comply fee.
• Wetlands, shoreline and floodplains: the landowner must contact the state environmental agency (EGLE, formerly the DEQ) for a wetland assessment, and work in a high-risk erosion area or floodplain needs a state permit.
• Driveways: driveway culvert permits on county roads come from the Sanilac County Road Commission (810-648-2185, as listed on the health department’s permit guide).

Sanilac County permit costs and fees

The county’s building and trade fee schedule is not printed on its application forms; ask the Department of Construction (810-648-4664) for the current schedule and the fee for your project, and make soil erosion fees payable to the Sanilac County Department of Construction. Local and health department charges that are published are below.

The health department fees come from its schedule effective October 1, 2025 (last updated February 10, 2026), which also lists a $128 re-inspection fee and plat reviews at $604 plus $28 per lot. The performance bonds appear on the county building application as reproduced in Sanilac Township’s 2023 land use packet, marked as a special local requirement; other units may set different local charges, so ask your township, city or village. The county may also require a performance deposit on a soil erosion permit, posted as cash, a certified check, an irrevocable letter of credit or a surety bond.

Trade permits and who may pull them

The county Department of Construction issues and inspects electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits throughout Sanilac County, each on its own application. The Building Official doubles as the plumbing and mechanical inspector, and the department has a separate electrical inspector. The building application asks contractors for their state builder’s license number and expiry, and the application warns that conspiring to evade the state’s residential licensing requirements brings civil fines.

• Electrical: county electrical permit and inspections by the county’s electrical inspector.
• Mechanical and plumbing: county permits, inspected by the Building Official.
• Energy code: the county form notes that plumbing, electrical and mechanical work must conform to the Michigan energy code.
• Septic installers: the health department keeps a list of registered septic installers and local well drillers.

How to apply for a Sanilac County permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

The most common hold is a missing local or health approval: the county expects the land use permit and any other permits to accompany the building application, and the health department’s septic and well permits come first. On lakeshore and riverside lots, the state wetland assessment and any high-risk erosion or floodplain permit must also be in hand.

Inspections and occupancy

County inspectors carry out the building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing inspections; the department’s published number, 810-648-4664, is the contact for all four trades and for soil erosion. Septic and well work is inspected by the health department, whose schedule charges $128 for a re-inspection and three times the application fee when a system or well is installed without a permit. For a new well, the permit fee includes one round of water testing: once the well is connected to the home, call the health department at 810-648-4098, ext. 124, to book a sample collection for bacteria, partial chemistry and arsenic. A well application needs the same kind of dimensioned site plan as a septic application, including overhead and underground utilities and neighboring wells.

Local zoning administrators may also visit: Sanilac Township’s land use permit allows its Zoning Administrator to enter at reasonable times to check the permit’s conditions until a certificate of occupancy is issued. The county soil erosion application includes an operation schedule, month by month, for temporary controls, excavation, finish grade, permanent controls and seeding, and the department has a soil erosion enforcement agent.

Michigan building code in Sanilac County

The county enforces the state code for every local unit. No Michigan county is a National Flood Insurance Program community: each township, city and village joins on its own, and floodplain work also needs a state permit, so ask your local unit whether it participates. The City of Marlette, for example, notes on its zoning pre-application that it joined the program on September 4, 1996 (community 260959).

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

Sanilac County permit search and official resources

For past county permits or inspection records, contact the Department of Construction in Room 210 of the Courthouse Annex; copies of files are requested under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act. The health department has its own FOIA request form for septic and well records, and land use permits are kept by the township, city or village that issued them.

• County soil erosion permit forms (Department of Construction)
• Sanilac Township land use permit packet with county building application
• City of Marlette zoning permit pre-application
• City of Marlette planning and zoning
• Sanilac County Health Department: Environmental Health
• Health Department septic and well permits
• Health Department 2026 fee schedule
• Health Department permit resource guide
• Health Department onsite sewage permit procedure
• Health Department well permit instructions
• State Statewide Jurisdiction List (Bureau of Construction Codes)

Sanilac County building permit FAQs

Does Sandusky or Croswell issue its own building permits?

The state’s November 2026 jurisdiction list shows the county Department of Construction serving every Sanilac city, village and township for all four codes, Sandusky and Croswell included.

Where is the county building office?

Courthouse Annex, 60 West Sanilac Avenue, Room 210, Sandusky (810-648-4664).

Do I need local approval first?

Usually. Townships and cities issue land use or zoning approval, which must go with the county building application.

Who issues septic and well permits?

The Sanilac County Health Department, 171 Dawson Street, Suite 123, Sandusky (810-648-4098, ext. 124); both are needed before the building permit.

When is a soil erosion permit needed?

When an earth change disturbs more than one acre or is within 500 feet of a lake or stream; the county Department of Construction issues it.

How much is a new septic permit?

$409 for a new or replacement residential application under the health department’s current schedule.

Is a water test included with a well permit?

Yes. The $348 well permit includes one water sample, collected by the health department after the well is connected to the home.

Are electrical permits separate?

Yes. Electrical, mechanical and plumbing each need their own county application.

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