Do you need a deck permit in Michigan?
By Mario Bailey Last checked
- Always required
- 2
- of 4 jurisdictions
- Conditional
- 2
- depends on size or scope
- Not required
- 0
- exempt outright
Deck Permit rules nationwide, beyond Michigan.
Requirements and size thresholds for deck permits vary by locality. The table below compares what each Michigan county or city requires. Always confirm with the local office before starting.
Comparing states? See deck permit rules across every locality we cover.
The application steps and inspection sequence for deck permits come from the model code rather than from Michigan law, so they read the same wherever you build. We keep that walkthrough in one place: how a deck permit application and its inspections work, start to finish. What changes between Michigan jurisdictions is below: who requires a permit, what they charge, and which office you file with.
Swipe sideways to see thresholds and confidence.
| Locality | Permit required? | Typical threshold | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ann Arbor | Yes | Any size | Confirmed on official page |
| Detroit | Conditional | deck area | Confirmed on official page |
| Grand Rapids | Conditional | floor area at which a freestanding deck with supporting beams, joists or posts requires a building permit; a deck attached to or adjacent to a house requires one at any size | Confirmed on official page |
| Sterling Heights | Yes | Any size | Confirmed on official page |
| No localities match your filter. | |||
What a deck permit costs in Michigan
4 Michigan jurisdictions we cover publish a fee figure for this work. Each line is quoted from that office's own schedule and linked to its citation. The figures are not comparable to one another: some are flat minimums, some a percentage of job value, some charged per fixture, so what you pay depends on which schedule applies and on your job's valuation.
Building Permit Fees (effective October 2019, revised 7/15/2025): $15 base application fee for all permits, plus a permit fee on estimated project cost ($100 for cost up to $1,000, which includes one rough and one final inspection; $100 plus $10 per $1,000 from $1,000 to $50,000), plus a plan examination fee of 20% of the building permit fee. A deck of 200 sq ft or less that is floating or detached instead pays the zoning compliance permit fee of $25 (projects up to $10,000) or $75 (over $10,000). Expedited plan review adds a $15 expedited plan review fee on top of the $15 base application fee.
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Building permit fees are based on project cost under the BSEED Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2024, modified 7/18/2025: $2,000 or less, Flat $271.43; Over $2,000 but not over $25,000, First $2,000 Base $271.43 plus $34.09 Per $1,000 or fraction thereof over $2,000.
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FY 2027 Planning, Design and Development Fee Schedule effective July 1, 2026, Building Permits: "Residential Deck $66.00 plus Zoning Permit fee". Footnote 6 puts the 1-2 family Zoning Permit fee at $25. Footnote 4 reads "Flat fee permits available under Michigan Residential Code only; 2 inspections included; 2 may be combined for a $20 discount", which is how a combined deck and pool permit is priced.
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Building Permit Application 26-27 fee chart: 'Deck/Porch' $78.00, plus the non-refundable $56.00 application fee. 'Gazebo/Pergola' is a separate $78.00 line. Re-inspection fee $75.00.
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Jurisdictions not listed publish no dollar figure we could quote. Absence does not mean a permit is free.
Common questions about deck permits in Michigan
- Do I need a deck permit in Michigan?
- In Michigan it depends on the size of the job. Permits are issued locally, so the answer comes from your Michigan city or county rather than a single statewide rule. Of the 4 Michigan jurisdictions we have verified for deck work, 2 require a permit outright, 2 depend on the size or scope of the job, and 0 require none.
- Is there a deck permit exemption in Michigan?
- 2 of the 4 Michigan jurisdictions we cover set a threshold rather than a flat rule, so the same job can be exempt in one Michigan county and permitted in the next. The table above lists each Michigan jurisdiction's published threshold in its own words, with the source and the date we verified it.
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