Permits and licensing · Michigan
Renovation permits and contractor licences in Michigan
Michigan licenses residential builders and residential maintenance and alteration contractors at state level, through the Bureau of Construction Codes inside the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. The same bureau examines and licenses electricians, plumbers, mechanical contractors and the boiler and elevator trades. Building permits come either from a city, township or county that the bureau has approved to administer and enforce the state construction code, or from the bureau's own inspections division where no local agency does.
Regulators and licensing bodies in Michigan
These official bodies license contractors, oversee safety or issue permits in Michigan.
Bureau of Construction Codes (LARA)
Administers the Stille-DeRossett-Hale Single State Construction Code Act, the Skilled Trades Regulation Act and Article 24 of the Occupational Code, and is responsible for examination and licensing in the boiler, electrical, elevator, mechanical, plumbing, residential builder and maintenance and alteration contractor fields. It reviews and approves local ordinances that let a city, township or county administer and enforce the state construction codes, and registers local code officials and inspectors. It also investigates consumer complaints against its licensees.
Bureau of Construction Codes – Licensing Section
Reviews applications and checks compliance with the statutes for anyone seeking a boiler, electrical, elevator, mechanical, plumbing, inspector or plan reviewer, or residential builder credential, and handles renewals. Most applications and renewals are filed through the state's online Accela portal. The section also approves the prelicensure and continuing education courses builders have to take.
Detroit Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department
Issues Detroit's building permits. For a residential building permit the city states that contractors must have a builder's licence and a City registration, while a homeowner applying for a permit on their own home does not need a contractor's licence. Detroit also issues its own electrical licences and registrations: the state bureau confirms this and tells applicants who live in the city to go to Detroit directly.
Grand Rapids Development Center
Runs planning, permits, inspections and code guidance for Grand Rapids. A contractor who wants to apply for permits in the city must first register their State of Michigan licence with the City, and the City publishes an online directory of contractors currently registered to work there so you can check before you hire.
Trades that need a licence in Michigan
General contracting and renovation
State law defines a residential builder as a person who contracts to erect, construct, replace, repair, alter, add to, improve, wreck or demolish a residential structure, meaning a detached one- or two-family dwelling or a townhouse of no more than three storeys above the grade plane. Owners building or altering a structure on their own property for their own use and occupancy are exempt, as is a single small project under a contract value the statute sets. Anyone else needs the state licence.
Sources:Michigan Compiled Laws 339.2401 – Definitions(opens in a new tab)Michigan Compiled Laws 339.2403 – Acting without a licence(opens in a new tab)
Certified trades
A residential maintenance and alteration contractor licence names the crafts and trades it covers: carpentry, concrete, swimming pool installation, basement waterproofing, excavation, insulation, masonry, roofing, siding and gutters, screen or storm sash installation, tile and marble, and house wrecking. The licence has to specify the particular craft the holder is qualified for, so ask to see which one is on it.
Sources:Michigan Compiled Laws 339.2404 – Maintenance and alteration contractor licence(opens in a new tab)
Electrical work
Electricians are registered as apprentices and licensed as journeyman or master electricians by the bureau, and firms hold electrical contractor licences; the state's exams are based on the 2023 National Electrical Code and the 2023 Michigan Part 8 electrical code rules. If your work is in the City of Detroit, the bureau says the city issues its own electrical licences and registrations, so check there rather than with the state.
Sources:Michigan LARA – Electrical examination, licensing and registration information(opens in a new tab)
Plumbing
Plumbers are registered as apprentices and licensed as journey or master plumbers, and firms hold plumbing contractor licences, all through the same bureau. A journey plumber licence takes at least three years and thousands of hours of supervised installation work as a registered apprentice, plus both a written and a hands-on practical examination. Ask which grade of licence the person doing your work actually holds.
Sources:Michigan LARA – Plumbing examination, licensing and registration information(opens in a new tab)
Consumer protection
Check any Michigan builder, electrician, plumber or mechanical contractor by name, business name or licence number in the state's licensee search before you sign anything. The bureau also investigates consumer complaints against the people and businesses it licenses, so there is somewhere to take a problem.
Sources:Michigan LARA – Licensee search(opens in a new tab)Michigan LARA – About the Bureau of Construction Codes(opens in a new tab)
Building and renovation permits in Michigan
Permits come from whichever agency enforces the code where you live. The bureau reviews and approves local ordinances that let a city, township or county administer and enforce the state construction codes, and its own inspections division issues boiler, building, electrical, elevator, mechanical and plumbing permits where it is the enforcing agency. Editions differ by discipline: the bureau lists the 2021 Michigan Building Code, the 2015 Michigan Residential Code, the 2021 Michigan Plumbing and Mechanical Codes and the 2023 National Electrical Code as current, with residential requirements carried in the Residential Code.
Sources:Michigan LARA – Bureau of Construction Codes, Permits(opens in a new tab)Michigan LARA – Construction code books and current editions(opens in a new tab)Michigan LARA – About the Bureau of Construction Codes(opens in a new tab)
Permit information from large municipalities
Before you hire a contractor in Michigan
Practical checks you can do yourself, using official tools where they exist.
Ask for the residential builder or maintenance and alteration licence number and check it in the state's licensee search.
Official lookup: Michigan LARA – Licensee search(opens in a new tab)
Check that the licence names the craft your job needs, since a maintenance and alteration licence lists specific trades.
Official lookup: Michigan LARA – Bureau of Construction Codes, Licensing Section(opens in a new tab)
For electrical work in Detroit, check the licence with the city, which issues its own rather than using the state one.
Official lookup: Michigan LARA – Electrical examination, licensing and registration information(opens in a new tab)
Ask whether your city, township or county enforces the construction code, or whether the state bureau does, before anyone pulls a permit.
Official lookup: Michigan LARA – Bureau of Construction Codes, Permits(opens in a new tab)
Confirm which edition of the Michigan code applies to your work, because the building, residential, plumbing and electrical codes sit on different editions.
Official lookup: Michigan LARA – Construction code books and current editions(opens in a new tab)
Confirm the contractor's licence and insurance with your state or county government, and get the work, materials and price in writing.
Official lookup: FTC – How to avoid a home improvement scam(opens in a new tab)
Sources for renovation permits and licences in Michigan
Every fact on this page comes from these official sources.
- Michigan LARA – About the Bureau of Construction Codes(opens in a new tab)
- Michigan LARA – Bureau of Construction Codes(opens in a new tab)
- Michigan LARA – Bureau of Construction Codes, Licensing Section(opens in a new tab)
- Detroit BSEED – Building permits(opens in a new tab)
- Michigan LARA – Electrical examination, licensing and registration information(opens in a new tab)
- Grand Rapids – Development Center(opens in a new tab)
- Grand Rapids – Registered contractor(opens in a new tab)
- Michigan Compiled Laws 339.2401 – Definitions(opens in a new tab)
- Michigan Compiled Laws 339.2403 – Acting without a licence(opens in a new tab)
- Michigan Compiled Laws 339.2404 – Maintenance and alteration contractor licence(opens in a new tab)
- Michigan LARA – Plumbing examination, licensing and registration information(opens in a new tab)
- Michigan LARA – Licensee search(opens in a new tab)
- Michigan LARA – Bureau of Construction Codes, Permits(opens in a new tab)
- Michigan LARA – Construction code books and current editions(opens in a new tab)
- FTC – How to avoid a home improvement scam(opens in a new tab)
Find licensed pros
Compare local pros for the regulated trades in this guide, then confirm their licence with the regulator before you hire.
Renovation permits in other states
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Planning a renovation?
Describe your project once and hear from local pros. Ask each one for their licence and permit details before you hire.