Building permits, zoning and rural land rules across Michigan

At a glance

Residential building permits

0 counties with none; 2 with requirements in some cases; 81 requiring them⁹³²

County-wide zoning

29 counties without county-wide zoning; township and municipal zoning may apply⁴⁵

No building permit and no zoning

0 counties¹⁰

Septic permits

Local health departments: 53 counties classified as health-district service and 30 as county-office service; EGLE oversees the program¹¹⁶

RV occupancy

13 counties have an answer: 6 temporary-only and 7 limited, none allowed outright; township and city rules still apply⁷⁵

Tiny-home occupancy

9 counties have an answer, all limited; township and city rules still apply⁸⁵

Owner-builder

Licensing exemption for qualifying construction for your own use and occupancy on your own property; building permits and inspections still apply¹²¹³

Domestic wells

Household withdrawals are exempt from the large-withdrawal regime; local well permits or notification may still be required¹⁴¹⁵

Who to call

Contact details are copied from each office’s official page and were checked against it on October 13, 2026.

Which Michigan counties don't require a building permit?

No Michigan county is identified as having no residential building-permit requirement: 81 require one and 2 have requirements classified as applying only in some cases.⁹²³ These counts concern unincorporated land; city and township jurisdiction must be checked separately.¹⁶⁵

Emmet County and Gladwin County are classified as requiring a building permit only in some cases, which is not an exemption: Michigan law requires a written application before construction unless the code provides an exception, so ask the enforcing agency about the specific structure.³¹ One statewide code exception covers shade cloth structures built for nursery or agricultural purposes, not including service systems, and it does not authorize work that violates the code or local ordinances.¹⁷

LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes issues building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits online through its Accela portal or by mail, and applying by mail may cause delays.¹⁸¹⁹ After a permit is issued, the enforcing agency periodically inspects the work, and the owner is deemed to consent to inspection until a certificate of use and occupancy is issued.¹³²⁰ A qualifying owner-builder can be exempt from residential-builder licensing for personal use and occupancy on personal property, but permits and inspections still apply.¹²

Which Michigan counties have no zoning?

Michigan has 29 counties without county-wide zoning, 53 with county zoning, and 1 whose county zoning status we could not confirm.⁴²¹²² The first counties to compare without county-wide zoning are Houghton County, Missaukee County, Alger County, Antrim County, Benzie County, Menominee County, Osceola County, Leelanau County.⁴

A county without county-wide zoning can still contain townships, cities and villages with their own zoning districts and regulations; ask the parcel’s local zoning office about the proposed dwelling, RV use, lot dimensions and setbacks.⁵ The Michigan no-zoning county list identifies counties without county-wide zoning, not parcels free of township rules.⁴

No Michigan county combines no residential building-permit requirement with no county-wide zoning, so a search for land without zoning does not remove the building-permit question.¹⁰¹

Who issues septic permits in Michigan?

Michigan local health departments permit and inspect onsite sanitary wastewater systems, while EGLE oversees and coordinates the statewide program.⁶ County service patterns are classified as 53 counties served by health districts and 30 served by county offices; Central Michigan District Health Department is among the commonly named agencies.¹¹

Start with the local health department for the property address and request the septic application, site-evaluation requirements and current fee schedule; EGLE directs onsite-wastewater questions to its program staff or the local health department.⁶²³

Michigan requires sanitary sewage from toilets, sinks, showers, washing machines and dishwashers to go to a municipal sanitary sewer or onsite septic system.²⁴ Buildings with plumbing fixtures must connect to public sewer where available or an approved private sewage-disposal system, and plumbing work requires a permit from the appropriate enforcing agency.²⁵ An off-grid power plan therefore still needs an approved wastewater plan.²⁴

Can you live in an RV or tiny home on your land in Michigan?

Michigan has county-level RV answers for 13 counties: 6 allow temporary use only and 7 allow limited use; none is classified as allowing RV living outright, and the other 70 remain unconfirmed.⁷ The temporary-only counties are Luce County, Otsego County, Gladwin County, Wexford County, Isabella County and Shiawassee County.⁷

Tiny-home answers cover 9 counties, all classified as limited, and 74 remain unconfirmed.⁸ The first of them are Emmet County, Luce County, Lake County, Gladwin County, Presque Isle County, Keweenaw County, Isabella County and Montcalm County.⁸ Township or city zoning can add its own limits in every county.⁵

Michigan's statewide RV rule is a campground rule: a campground license is required when 5 or more recreational units are used as temporary living quarters on one parcel, and a temporary campground license from the local health department is required before operating one.²⁶²⁷ Temporary campgrounds may run for no more than two weeks unless the health department approves an extension, and the township, village or city may require special zoning approval.²⁸ Those rules do not settle whether you can live in a single RV on your own parcel, so ask the local zoning office.²⁷

Where are the best Michigan counties for a bolthole?

The highest Bolthole Index scores are Emmet County (89), Houghton County (88), Missaukee County (88), Alger County (87), Antrim County (86), Benzie County (86), Mackinac County (85), Luce County (84), on a scale of 100.²⁹

Among those counties, Houghton, Missaukee, Alger, Antrim and Benzie require building permits and have no county-wide zoning; Emmet has zoning and building-permit requirements classified as applying in some cases, while Mackinac and Luce have zoning and require building permits.²⁹ All of these counties are classified as receiving septic services from health districts, so the score does not replace septic approval or the local zoning check.²⁹⁶⁵

The median county farmland value is $5,160 per acre; the lowest listed county values begin with Delta County at $2,340 and Alger County at $2,348 per acre.³⁰ Across county tax figures, the median effective property-tax rate is 1.1% and the median county property-tax bill is $1,916 annually.³¹

What should Michigan land buyers check about water, wells and access?

Michigan's water regime is regulated riparian, with household wells exempt from the large-quantity withdrawal regime and reporting identified above 100,000 gallons per day.¹⁴ That exemption does not waive local well-construction requirements: before drilling, county ordinances require a local health-department well permit or notification, with requirements varying by county.¹⁵

For a driveway constructed or reconstructed within state-highway right-of-way, Michigan requires an MDOT driveway permit through the Construction Permit System; residential applications do not require a bond.³²³³

For river, stream or drain floodplains with a drainage area of at least 2 square miles, Michigan's Part 31 floodplain permit requirements apply, and new residential construction is prohibited in the floodway.³⁴ A new or altered building subject to the construction code cannot be occupied until the code official issues a Certificate of Occupancy.³⁵

If the parcel is a lot in a platted subdivision, LARA's Office of Land Survey and Remonumentation reviews final plats under the Land Division Act before they are recorded with the Register of Deeds.³⁶³⁷

Watch-outs

• Michigan county zoning counts do not establish the rules inside city limits or within a township; ask the applicable local zoning office about the specific address.⁵
• Michigan's owner-builder exemption concerns licensing, not an exemption from building permits, inspections, zoning or utility requirements.¹²¹³
• We could not confirm a uniform Michigan minimum dwelling size, lot size or setback schedule; ask the building-code enforcing agency about dwelling dimensions and the local zoning office about lot size and setbacks.³⁸⁵
• Michigan's campground rules and tiny-house resort guidance do not establish statewide permission for private-land RV or tiny-home occupancy.²⁷³⁹
• Michigan floodway restrictions and sanitary wastewater requirements remain separate from county zoning, so resolve floodplain and septic approval before committing to a dwelling site.³⁴²⁴

Sources

1. Michigan: Stille-DeRossett-Hale Single State Construction Code Act, MCL 125.1510, quoted and re-checked
2. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 83 Michigan counties, as of October 10, 2026: Michigan counties that require a residential building permit in unincorporated areas
3. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 83 Michigan counties, as of October 10, 2026: Michigan counties that require a residential building permit only in some cases (for example floodplain or certain structures)
4. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 83 Michigan counties, as of October 10, 2026: Michigan counties with no county-wide zoning
5. Michigan: Michigan Zoning Enabling Act, quoted and re-checked
6. Michigan: Michigan Guide to Environmental Regulations, Chapter 3: Wastewater, quoted and re-checked
7. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 83 Michigan counties, as of October 10, 2026: Michigan counties' answers on living in an RV on your own land
8. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 83 Michigan counties, as of October 10, 2026: Michigan counties' answers on living in a tiny home on your own land
9. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 83 Michigan counties, as of October 10, 2026: Michigan counties that do not require a residential building permit in unincorporated areas
10. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 83 Michigan counties, as of October 10, 2026: Michigan counties with neither a residential building permit nor county-wide zoning
11. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 83 Michigan counties, as of October 10, 2026: Who issues septic permits across Michigan's counties: a state agency, a multi-county health district, or the county
12. Michigan: Frequently Asked Questions – Residential Builder, quoted and re-checked
13. Michigan: MCL 125.1512, Inspection of construction, quoted and re-checked
14. Michigan water rights and groundwater management: National Agricultural Law Center and Bolthole Index groundwater review
15. Michigan: Before you start a well drilling business, quoted and re-checked
16. Michigan: Building Permit Information, quoted and re-checked
17. Michigan: Michigan Building Code Part 4 Rules: Work Exempt from Permit, quoted and re-checked
18. Michigan: Permits, quoted and re-checked
19. LARA Bureau of Construction Codes — Permits (michigan.gov)
20. Michigan: courts.michigan.gov, quoted and re-checked
21. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 83 Michigan counties, as of October 10, 2026: Michigan counties with county zoning
22. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 83 Michigan counties, as of October 10, 2026: Michigan counties whose building-permit or zoning answer we could not confirm
23. EGLE Onsite Wastewater Management Unit (michigan.gov)
24. Michigan: Disposal of residential wastewater such as swimming pool water, quoted and re-checked
25. Michigan: Michigan Part 7 Plumbing Code Rules, quoted and re-checked
26. Michigan: Temporary campgrounds, quoted and re-checked
27. Michigan: Legislation governing campgrounds in Michigan, quoted and re-checked
28. Michigan: Temporary campgrounds, quoted and re-checked
29. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 83 Michigan counties, as of October 10, 2026: The 8 highest-scoring Michigan counties on the Bolthole Index (off-grid and homestead land score out of 100), with each one's building-permit, zoning and septic answers
30. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 83 Michigan counties, as of October 10, 2026: Median farmland value per acre across Michigan's counties (USDA census, the middle county's value; USD/acre), with the five least expensive counties
31. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 83 Michigan counties, as of October 10, 2026: Median of Michigan's county effective property tax rates and median county property tax bills
32. Michigan: Infrastructure permits, quoted and re-checked
33. MDOT Construction Permit System support (michigan.gov)
34. Michigan: Floodplains, quoted and re-checked
35. Michigan: Certificate of Occupancy Request, quoted and re-checked
36. Michigan: Subdivisions, quoted and re-checked
37. Michigan: Subdivisions, quoted and re-checked
38. Michigan: Code Books, quoted and re-checked
39. Michigan: michigan.gov, quoted and re-checked

Written October 13, 2026 from the rules quoted below, each taken from an official source and re-checked by an independent reviewer. This is research, not legal advice: rules change, so confirm with the office before you buy or build.