Westland is a large Wayne County city whose construction permitting is conventional but whose point-of-sale regime is not. The housing code makes it unlawful to sell or transfer a dwelling for residential purposes unless a valid certificate of approval is tendered to the purchaser, or one of the defined alternatives is used instead.
A housing inspector carries out a code inspection of the home. The heating system must be tested and certified as safe by a licensed contractor on a furnace and boiler certification form, which has to reach the building department before final approval allowing occupancy is granted.
This guide covers work inside the Westland city limits. Wayne County and the neighbouring communities each run their own permitting and their own point-of-sale rules, which differ.
The seller finishes the inspection, or the buyer pays to close. The seller applies and pays a $225 fee. Where the seller completes the process a certificate of approval is issued and is good for six months. Where the seller does not finish, the buyer must buy a $40 approval letter to close before the transfer can go ahead, return the remaining violations disclosure form with the signed purchase agreement, and then has ninety days to make the repairs and pass a final inspection. Either way the building department is on the closing path, so start the inspection when the property is listed rather than when the offer is accepted.
What requires a building permit in Westland?
Permit required
- New commercial, multi-family and residential construction, additions and change of occupancy
- Structural alterations, load-bearing changes, foundations, decks and retaining walls
- Electrical work — services, panels, circuits, solar and EV charging — under the electrical part of the state code and the referenced National Electrical Code
- Plumbing work under the plumbing part of the state code, pulled by a state-licensed plumbing contractor; gas piping under the mechanical code
- Mechanical and HVAC change-outs, and work affecting the energy code envelope
- Re-roofing (ordinary repairs excepted), pools, signs, and demolition
Often exempt
- Minor repairs and maintenance replacing materials in kind
- Small accessory structures below the code threshold, where zoning allows
- Painting, flooring, cabinetry and other finish work
- Like-for-like fixture or appliance swaps with no alteration to wiring or piping
The code is the same statewide, but fee schedules, procedures and the choice of third-party agency differ from one municipality to the next, so an exempt list from a neighbouring township is not reliable. An exemption from a building permit is never an exemption from zoning, the energy code, or an electrical or plumbing permit. Confirm scope with the Westland Building Division before work starts.
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Get a free quote →Local rules worth knowing
The alternatives are narrow and worth knowing: the ordinance allows a sale to a purchaser who will occupy the dwelling, where it is not held by the seller as investment property, only if the seller delivers a valid inspection report to the purchaser at least 10 days before the transfer and the parties execute a waiver of tender in the form the article requires.
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
Who handles permitting in Westland?
The Building Division issues building and trade permits, runs the housing inspection programme behind the point-of-sale certificate, and handles the re-occupancy process that new businesses must complete before opening.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Department | City of Westland Building Division |
| Address | 36300 Warren Road, Westland, MI 48185 |
| Phone | (734) 467-3210 |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. |
| Point-of-sale inspection | Housing inspector code inspection, with a pre-inspection checklist published |
| Certificate of approval | Valid six months from issue |
| New business occupancy | Commercial certificate of occupancy application and $400 processing fee before inspections |
| Temporary occupancy | Temporary certificate of occupancy available on request, with an expiry date |
New businesses face their own version of the same idea. A certificate of occupancy is required before opening to the public, and a Commercial Certificate of Occupancy Application with a $400 processing fee must be submitted to the Building Division before inspections are carried out. The property is then inspected by both a fire department inspector and a certified building inspector, and the building inspector determines what permits the required safety updates or proposed renovations will need.
A temporary certificate of occupancy can be requested where corrections remain outstanding, but it is granted on the express understanding that all noted corrections are completed and inspected on or before its expiry date. Failure can result in immediate suspension of the temporary certificate, possible vacation of the building and citations.
In 2025, building permits issued in Westland authorized 27 new privately owned housing units, all of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.
Permit types
Residential permits
Residential permits cover additions, bathrooms, family rooms, electrical, furnaces and the usual alterations. The division asks applicants to document the who, what, when, where and how of the job, with sketches or plans of the proposed work, before a permit is issued. More than one inspection is typically required on a project.
Not sure this scope needs a permit?
Get a free quote →How Michigan contractor credentials work
The licence number goes on the permit application. Michigan requires the application to set out the licence number and expiry date of the residential builder, maintenance and alteration contractor, architect or engineer acting for the owner, together with a written instrument — a contract, power of attorney or letter of authorisation — showing that person is authorised to act. Doing residential work that requires a licence without one is a civil violation, which the county prosecuting attorney or the Attorney General may pursue. Confirm what the Westland Building Division requires for the parcel, along with insurance coverage.
Commercial permits
Commercial work runs through plan review alongside the re-occupancy process for any change of tenant or new business. The building inspector determines the permits needed from the safety updates and proposed renovations identified at the joint fire and building inspection, so the permit scope is often defined by that inspection rather than before it.
Licenses, trade classifications and design professionals
Practically, three credential layers appear on Michigan projects: the state residential builder or maintenance and alteration licence on residential work; separately licensed electrical, plumbing and mechanical trades, also licensed by the state; and, on commercial and larger residential work, drawings sealed by a Michigan-licensed architect or professional engineer, with plans reviewed by a state-registered plan reviewer; detached one- and two-family houses of 3,500 square feet or less need no architect or engineer seal. Confirm what the Westland Building Division requires for the specific building before filing.
Michigan licenses residential builders and maintenance and alteration contractors at state level, and the permit application must carry the licence number. Michigan rules
Westland permit costs and fees
Westland charges permit fees to cover application, review and inspection, under the master fee schedule (Ordinance 29-W-45-1). The point-of-sale inspection costs the seller $225, an approval letter to close costs the buyer $40, and a new business pays a $400 processing fee with its commercial certificate of occupancy application. Contractors register with the city before pulling permits.
Michigan fees are set by whoever holds enforcement for the parcel — the local unit, the county, or the state where neither has taken it on — so the schedule follows the authority rather than the state. A figure from a neighbouring municipality is not reliable, and a figure from a neighbouring township can be wrong even where the county enforces both. Ask the Westland Building Division for the schedule in force on your filing date.
Need a real number for a specific Westland project? Send us the scope, address and valuation and we will identify the authority having jurisdiction, the code edition in force and the fee categories that will apply.
Rather talk it over?
Call 1-855-478-4290 →Fees are set by the enforcing agency — the local unit, a county program or the state — and may only fund that agency's work. Michigan rules
Trade permits and who may pull them
Permit required
- Service installations, panel upgrades, new circuits, solar PV and EV chargers
- New plumbing, repipes, water heater change-outs, fixtures, backflow and gas piping
- HVAC installation and change-out, ductwork, venting and commercial kitchen exhaust
- Sprinkler, standpipe and fire alarm work on commercial and multi-family structures
Typically exempt
- Replacing a fixture, switch, receptacle or light with no alteration to wiring or piping
- Clearing a stoppage without replacing or rearranging concealed piping
- Filter, thermostat and routine component service
- Like-for-like appliance repair that does not alter the connection
Electrical, plumbing and mechanical contractors hold state licences valid anywhere in Michigan, and each trade follows its part of the state construction code. Michigan rules
How to apply for a Westland building permit
The seller completing the inspection produces a certificate of approval good for six months. Leaving it late pushes the cost and the risk onto the buyer.
The heating system must be tested and certified as safe by a licensed contractor on the furnace and boiler certification form, which must reach the department before final approval.
The city publishes a checklist for the housing inspection. Working through it first is the cheapest way to avoid a re-inspection.
The commercial certificate of occupancy application and $400 processing fee must be submitted before the joint fire and building inspection takes place.
The building inspector determines which permits are needed from the safety updates and renovations identified at that inspection.
A temporary certificate can be requested, but corrections must be completed and inspected before it expires or it can be suspended.
Rather not deal with the building department?
Get a free quote →Review, corrections and what actually causes delay
In Michigan, the first cause of delay is uncertainty over who enforces the code — filing with the local unit when the county holds enforcement for it, or with the county when the state does. After that comes the edition question, because the trade parts and the building parts moved on different dates, and houses still follow the 2015 residential code, so a submission drawn to the wrong one is a correction cycle. Then a missing or expired state licence number on the application, energy-code and plan documentation, and floodplain requirements along the shorelines and rivers. Build the plan-review time into the schedule and confirm the checklist with the Westland Building Division before filing.
A Michigan permit lapses if work does not start within 180 days or stops for 180 days; confirm the expiry with Westland on phased or delayed work. Michigan rules
Inspections in Westland
Where a permit is required, standard checkpoints include footing and foundation, framing, rough-in electrical, plumbing and mechanical, insulation and energy-code compliance, fire systems on commercial work, and final, with a use-and-occupancy certificate before the building is used. A new business is inspected by both a fire department inspector and a certified building inspector before its certificate of occupancy issues.
Ask the enforcing agency which edition applies to your application, especially around a code change date — because editions are adopted part by part, the answer can differ between the building inspection and the trade inspections on the same job. They are carried out by an inspector registered with the state, employed or contracted by whichever authority holds enforcement for the parcel. Keep the approved plans and the energy-code documentation on site for the inspector to check against, and confirm the notice the Westland Building Division needs and its inspection windows.
Do not cover work before the required inspection has been approved. Keep the issued permit, the approved plans, product listings, energy-code documentation and your correction responses available on site.
Westland permit search and official resources
Permit records in Michigan sit with the authority that issued them — the local unit, the county, or the state bureau where neither took enforcement on. Where the Westland Building Division is the authority for the City of Westland, it holds the building permit, the inspection history and the use-and-occupancy certificate. If you are buying, refinancing or renovating, confirm that past work was permitted rather than assuming it was — open permits and missing certificates are a common closing problem.
Confirm the authority having jurisdiction first, then confirm the edition. Michigan enforces one statewide construction code, but enforcement may sit with the local unit, the county or the state, and the code is adopted part by part on separate effective dates. Both questions have to be answered for the parcel and the filing date before the requirements are knowable.
Want this handled start to finish?
Get a free quote →These are the primary sources behind this guide. Codes, fee schedules and procedures change — confirm the position for your filing date.
- City of Westland buying or selling a home
- City of Westland opening a business
- Westland permit required
- Westland housing code, code of ordinances
- Michigan Bureau of Construction Codes - current code books and effective dates
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a city inspection to sell my house in Westland?
Effectively yes. The housing code makes it unlawful to sell or transfer a dwelling for residential purposes unless a valid certificate of approval is tendered to the purchaser at the time of sale, or one of the defined alternatives applies. If the seller completes the inspection a certificate of approval is issued and is good for six months.
What happens if the seller does not finish the inspection?
The buyer must purchase a $40 approval letter to close, which allows the closing to go ahead, and return the remaining violations disclosure form with the signed purchase agreement. The buyer then has ninety days to make the repairs and schedule a final inspection to receive the certificate of approval.
What is the furnace certification for?
The dwelling’s heating system must be tested and certified as safe for use by a licensed contractor. The furnace and boiler certification form is completed by the mechanical contractor and submitted to the building department before final approval allowing occupancy is granted.
What does a new business have to do before opening?
Obtain a certificate of occupancy. A commercial certificate of occupancy application and a $400 processing fee are submitted to the Building Division before inspections, the property is inspected by a fire inspector and a certified building inspector, and the building inspector determines what permits are needed.
Inspections are where schedules slip.
Get a free quote →Which code edition applies to my work?
It depends which part of the code the work falls under. One Michigan point catches almost everyone: the commercial and residential codes are not on the same edition. The bureau moved the plumbing, mechanical and electrical parts to new editions on the twelfth of March, 2024, and the building and rehabilitation parts to their 2021 editions on the ninth of April, 2025; houses still follow the 2015 Michigan Residential Code. The residential code did not move with them. Replacement residential rules were filed for an August 2025 effective date, but the Court of Claims entered a stipulated order stopping the department from implementing them while a builders’ association challenge is litigated, so the bureau still lists the 2015 Michigan Residential Code as the code in force. That case was still live when this guide was written. Confirm the edition governing each part of your work on your filing date rather than assuming the newest one applies.
Can I get occupancy while corrections are outstanding?
Sometimes, through a temporary certificate of occupancy, granted on the understanding that all noted corrections are completed and inspected on or before its expiry date. Failing to do so can result in immediate suspension, possible vacation of the building and citations. Residential builders and maintenance and alteration contractors are licensed by the state under Article 24 of Public Act 299 of 1980, administered by the Bureau of Construction Codes, and the plumbing, electrical and mechanical trades are state-licensed as well. The licence is valid statewide. The permit application must set out the licence number and its expiry date, and performing residential work that requires a licence without holding one is a civil violation the county prosecuting attorney or the Attorney General may pursue.
Simplify Westland permitting with Alliance Permitting
Westland’s rules bite at transaction moments rather than construction moments. We work them back from the closing or opening date.
Trusted by leading builders, developers, and national contractors — 21+ years of filing in the jurisdictions we write about.
Contractors and builders choose Alliance for Westland because the work is done by people who have stood at the counter:
- 21+ years of filing, so the authority question gets answered before the application goes in
- We confirm the edition in force for each code part on your filing date, not the newest one published
- Licence numbers, expiry dates and the written authorisation instrument checked before submission
- Correction cycles handled directly with the reviewer so your crew is not waiting on a resubmission
- Inspection sequencing tracked through to the certificate, including trade sign-offs
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.
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More Michigan permitting guides
This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Westland permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.