Wexford County, Michigan Building Permit Guide

Wexford County runs a full construction-code program. The Wexford County Building Department, 401 North Lake Street, Cadillac (231-779-9465), where Mack Erickson is Building Official, issues building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits in the villages of Buckley, Harrietta and Mesick and in 15 of the 16 townships, and the trade permits in the City of Manton and Cedar Creek Township, which issue their own building permits. The City of Cadillac handles all of its own permits. Under the fee schedule revised May 22, 2025, a house costs 20 cents a square foot plus a $125 application fee, and the same office runs soil erosion permits everywhere except Cadillac.

What requires a building permit in Wexford County?

Where the county is the enforcing agency, its checklists cover new dwellings and modular homes, additions, manufactured homes, garages and pole buildings, decks, covered porches, breezeways, finished basements, remodels and alterations, roof replacements, demolition, commercial and industrial buildings and cell towers, each with its own line on the fee schedule. Electrical, mechanical and plumbing work need separate trade permits.

Truss specifications for any building must meet the county’s minimum ground snow load of 60 pounds per square foot, and new addresses are issued with the building permit under the county address ordinance ($10 application); the county does not address vacant land.

What the county decides and what the state holds

The state construction code sets the rules. Wexford County is one of the Michigan counties that enforces it, sets its own fees through its Building Department schedule and hears appeals through a county Construction Board of Appeals ($225 per meeting). For zoning, the Building Department’s page refers applicants to the cities, villages, three townships and the Wexford Joint Planning Commission, and lists several townships with no zoning.

Wexford County building department: who handles permitting

The Bureau of Construction Codes’ Statewide Jurisdiction List (revised November 6, 2026) marks the county program for all four codes in three villages and 15 townships, splits two units and leaves the City of Cadillac fully local. The county Building Department’s own page describes the same split.

To find the local unit a parcel lies in, and so which office applies, look it up in the county’s GIS, kept by Equalization at 437 East Division Street, Cadillac (231-779-9470).

Wexford County permit types

The department posts checklists for houses, accessory buildings, decks and manufactured HUD homes, a building permit application, a manufactured home application, garage and pole barn cross-section details, the homeowner’s affidavit, the agricultural exemption request and separate electrical, mechanical and plumbing applications.

Residential permits

• House checklist (July 2025). Septic and well permits or waivers, a driveway permit or waiver, an approved zoning permit, the building application, an address application if none exists, one set of plans (floor plan, all elevations, foundation, cross-section and truss specifications), an energy code form, a copy of the builder’s license or the homeowner’s affidavit, and a soil erosion permit when the site is within 500 feet of water or more than an acre is excavated.
• Sealed drawings. Required for houses over 3,500 square feet and all commercial buildings, and the July 2025 accessory building checklist requires engineered or architect plans for pole buildings and garages with sidewalls of 12 feet or more.
• Accessory buildings over 200 square feet. Pole buildings, detached garages and utility buildings follow their own checklist: zoning permit, driveway permit or waiver, application, address if needed, one plan set with a cross-section and truss specifications, and soil erosion only near water or over an acre; trade permits are separate.
• Owners as general contractor. The county’s affidavit explains that Michigan’s licensing law lets owners act as their own general contractor when building a residence for their own use, but not for a duplex or apartment building, and that the owner then carries the liability, the code corrections and the payroll and workers’ compensation duties a contractor would.

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 are 23 cents a square foot, with a separate plan review fee of $70 plus 5 cents a square foot paid at application, so review costs are covered if the project stops before a permit issues. Plans must be sealed, and trade plan review may also be needed for any building other than a house under 3,500 square feet.

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

• Zoning. The county page lists Cedar Creek, Clam Lake and Haring townships and the cities and villages with their own zoning; the Wexford Joint Planning Commission zones Antioch, Boon, Cherry Grove, Hanover, Selma, Slagle, Springville, South Branch and Wexford townships; Colfax, Greenwood and Henderson townships and the Village of Harrietta have no zoning. For Liberty Township the county’s documents differ: the web page lists it with the no-zoning townships, while the 2024 packet and July 2025 checklist place it under the Joint Planning Commission.
• Septic and wells. District Health Department #10, 521 Cobb Street, Cadillac (231-775-9942 on the county checklist), unless public sewer or water serves the site.
• Driveways. The Wexford County Road Commission, 85 West M-115, Boon (231-775-9731), for county roads; MDOT (231-775-3486) for state highways.
• Water and rivers. EGLE for wetland or floodplain determinations, and the DNR when building on a river; the 2024 packet says building within 400 feet of any river must comply with the Natural Rivers Act.

Wexford County permit costs and fees

The Building Department’s fee schedule was revised on May 22, 2025. It says the office takes check or cash and no cards, while the department’s web page now announces that credit cards are accepted, so ask which applies when you pay. Refunds are capped at 75 percent of any fee.

Worked example: a 1,500-square-foot house is 1,500 × $0.20 = $300 plus the $125 application fee, or $425 before any inspection fees listed separately; a 24-by-24-foot detached garage (576 square feet) adds 576 × $0.16 = $92.16 and its own $125 application fee. The county’s posted soil erosion packet carries a schedule effective March 1, 2005: $60 for a residential disturbance under an acre, $200 for a commercial project under an acre and $50 for each additional acre, doubled if work starts before the permit.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Wexford County issues electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits in every unit except the City of Cadillac, including Manton and Cedar Creek Township. Each trade application asks for the contractor’s license number and expiry, federal ID, workers’ compensation carrier and state unemployment number, or a reason for exemption, and warns that conspiring to evade Michigan’s residential licensing rules carries civil fines.

• Homeowners. The electrical, mechanical and plumbing forms each carry a homeowner’s affidavit: the owner installs the work personally in the single-family home they live in or are about to occupy, keeps it uncovered until inspected and arranges the inspections.
• Inspection days. Electrical inspections run on Wednesdays and Fridays, plumbing on Tuesdays and mechanical on Thursdays; building inspections are on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
• Plan review. The trade forms note that plan review may be required for any building other than a single-family home under 3,500 square feet.

How to apply for a building permit in Wexford County

Review, corrections and what causes delay

Outside approvals come first: the house checklist expects the zoning permit, the health department permit or waiver and the driveway permit before the building application. Demolition waits for a disconnect letter from the electric or gas utility. Soil erosion permits within 500 feet of water are required even for small sites unless the county’s agent grants a waiver for disturbance under 225 square feet or work finished within 24 hours. A permit is cancelled if no inspection is requested or made within six months, and cancelled permits are not refunded or reopened.

Inspections in Wexford County

All county inspections need at least 24 hours’ notice by phone on 231-779-9465, and the trade forms make the permit holder responsible for calling before any work is covered. Building inspections are done on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the trade inspections on their set days. Re-inspections and added inspections cost $75 each, and a temporary certificate of occupancy $100.

Appeals of the Building Official’s decisions go to the county’s Construction Board of Appeals, whose members serve three-year terms; a hearing costs $225.

Michigan building code in Wexford County

No Michigan county is a National Flood Insurance Program community; each city, village and township joins on its own, and FEMA’s Community Status Book lists the City of Cadillac (community 260247) as participating. County-level offices that often matter alongside a permit are the Drain Commissioner (401 North Lake Street, 231-779-9115), who maintains 17 county drains, regulates the water levels of Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell under a circuit court order and maintains the Clam River Dam, and Equalization, which keeps parcel records and the county GIS.

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

Wexford County permit search and official resources

For parcel numbers, owners and maps, use the county’s GIS and land parcel pages through Equalization (Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.). Copies of permit and inspection records are requested under the Freedom of Information Act with the county’s FOIA form or online request link; the county also posts its FOIA public summary and an indigent fee-waiver affidavit.

• Wexford County Building Department
• Building permit fee schedule (May 22, 2025)
• Building permit application
• Residential dwelling permit requirements
• Residential accessory building permit requirements
• Homeowner’s affidavit
• Agricultural exemption application
• Electrical permit application
• Mechanical permit application
• Plumbing permit application
• Permit information packet (2024)
• Soil erosion and sedimentation control application
• Soil erosion permit waiver
• Wexford County Drain Commissioner
• Wexford County Equalization and GIS
• Wexford County FOIA
• City of Cadillac building permits
• Bureau of Construction Codes Statewide Jurisdiction List
• FEMA Community Status Book, Michigan

Wexford County building permit FAQs

Does Wexford County issue building permits in Cadillac?

No. The City of Cadillac issues its own building, trade and soil erosion permits.

Who issues permits in Manton and Cedar Creek Township?

Each issues its own building permits; Wexford County issues their electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits.

How much does a permit for a new house cost?

20 cents a square foot plus a $125 application fee, so $425 for a 1,500-square-foot house before separately listed inspections.

Do I need a permit for a small shed?

Not from the county if it is one story, under 200 square feet and under 10 feet high, but zoning approval is still required.

Is the Building Department open on Fridays?

No. It is open Monday to Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with a half-hour lunch closing.

When do I need a soil erosion permit?

For earth changes of an acre or more or within 500 feet of a lake, river or stream; the county issues them everywhere except Cadillac.

Can I act as my own general contractor?

Yes, for a residence built for your own use, after signing the county’s homeowner’s affidavit; it does not cover duplexes or apartments.

Who handles septic and well permits?

District Health Department #10 at 521 Cobb Street in Cadillac.

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