Permitting Authorities / Charter Township of Grass Lake - Building Department
Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Charter Township of Grass Lake, MI?
Adopted code
Charter Township of Grass Lake - Building Department
Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Charter Township of Grass Lake, MI, issued by Charter Township of Grass Lake - Building Department. Grass Lake Charter Township publishes nothing specific to roof work: its Building Department page, building permit application, fee schedule and permit forms name no reroof line, no size or cost point and no reroof exemption. With the township silent on reroofs, the state's general permit rule applies: "before construction of a building or structure, the owner, or the owner's builder, architect, engineer, or agent, shall submit an application in writing to the appropriate enforcing agency for a building permit." The same section says "A building permit is not required for ordinary repairs of a building or structure," without defining ordinary repairs. The Building Department page lists its duties as "administration for all Building, Electrical, Mechanical and Plumbing permits", with all permits issued and managed "through inspections and certificates of occupancy". The application says "Separate applications must be completed for electrical, mechanical, and plumbing permits" and "Building work shall not be started until the application for permit has been filed." It prices a residential permit as a $50.00 base fee required on all permits plus $75.00 for each inspection (footing, rough, final, additional and others) and a $65.00 zoning compliance review fee, and its fee chart lists an "Ice Guard/Flashing/Ventilation Inspection" at $75.00; the township's 2026 fee schedule lists no roofing line, and its application fee chart is printed "Revised 3/10/2022". The application tells the permit holder "When ready for an inspection, call the inspector providing at least 24 hours advance notice." The township office is open Monday through Thursday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, and closed Fridays; its phone is 517-522-8464.
Roof code checklist: Charter Township of Grass Lake, MI
Each row comes from the sourced record on this page; full wording is in the table below. "Not published" means no official source for that item was found when the record was last verified.
Jurisdiction
Charter Township of Grass Lake, Michigan
Address
373 Lakeside Drive, Grass Lake, MI 49240
Contact
- url: https://www.grasslaketownship.gov/departments/
- phone: 517-522-8464
Roofing permit required
Required
Contractor registration required
Required
Registration details
- state_level: Michigan licenses residential maintenance and alteration contractors under the Occupational Code, and that licence "includes the following crafts and trades" among which it names roofing (MCL 339.2404(3)); "A person shall not engage in or attempt to engage in the practice of an occupation regulated under this act" without the licence (MCL 339.601(1)). MCL 339.2403 lists who may work without one, including a project whose "aggregate contract price for the labor, material, and any other items for the undertaking or project is less than $600.00". This record does not decide whether a given roofer falls inside an exemption.
- city_level: Grass Lake Charter Township keeps a filing for licensed residential contractors. Its Licensed Residential Contractors form asks for the licence number and expiration date, a federal employer ID number or reason for exemption, a workers compensation carrier or reason for exemption and an MESC employer number or reason for exemption, and says "FOR ALL NEW CONTRACTORS THERE IS A FILING FEE OF $20.00. WE MUST HAVE A CURRENT COPY OF YOUR LICENSE, ALONG WITH THIS FORM AND THE $20.00 FEE." The building permit application's fee chart lists a $20.00 New Contractor Fee and a $15.00 Annual Contractor Fee.
Permit process note
Grass Lake Charter Township publishes nothing specific to roof work: its Building Department page, building permit application, fee schedule and permit forms name no reroof line, no size or cost point and no reroof exemption. With the township silent on reroofs, the state's general permit rule applies: "before construction of a building or structure, the owner, or the owner's builder, architect, engineer, or agent, shall submit an application in writing to the appropriate enforcing agency for a building permit." The same section says "A building permit is not required for ordinary repairs of a building or structure," without defining ordinary repairs. The Building Department page lists its duties as "administration for all Building, Electrical, Mechanical and Plumbing permits", with all permits issued and managed "through inspections and certificates of occupancy". The application says "Separate applications must be completed for electrical, mechanical, and plumbing permits" and "Building work shall not be started until the application for permit has been filed." It prices a residential permit as a $50.00 base fee required on all permits plus $75.00 for each inspection (footing, rough, final, additional and others) and a $65.00 zoning compliance review fee, and its fee chart lists an "Ice Guard/Flashing/Ventilation Inspection" at $75.00; the township's 2026 fee schedule lists no roofing line, and its application fee chart is printed "Revised 3/10/2022". The application tells the permit holder "When ready for an inspection, call the inspector providing at least 24 hours advance notice." The township office is open Monday through Thursday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, and closed Fridays; its phone is 517-522-8464.
Adopted code
2015 Michigan Residential Code. This is state law and it is the same in every Michigan city, village, township and county: the state construction code act says "This act and the code apply throughout the state," and the Michigan Residential Code rule adopts "the international residential code, 2015 edition" with the state amendments in R 408.30500 to R 408.30547g. A 2021 edition was filed with the secretary of state in 2025 but has not taken effect. On July 7, 2025 the Michigan Court of Claims entered a stipulated order in Home Builders Assoc et al. v LARA et al., and the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) says that while that order remains in place "the 2015 versions of the IRC and residential provisions of the IECC standards currently adopted, in part, by each rule set will remain valid and in effect." Locally, the Charter Township of Grass Lake's Police Power Ordinance PPO-12, the Michigan Residential Code Ordinance (reviewed 9-10-2019 and 10-8-2019, as printed), says the township "hereby elects to assume responsibility for the Administration and enforcement of codes above named" and its purpose clause names "Michigan Residential Code/ 2009", "Michigan Building Code/ 2009" and "Rehabilitation Code/2009". Grass Lake Charter Township's Police Power Ordinance PPO-12 (reviewed 9-10-2019 and 10-8-2019, as printed) names "Michigan Residential Code/ 2009"; this directory has not read that text, and whether the codified reference has any effect today is not decided here. This record states the 2015 Michigan Residential Code, which the state construction code act applies throughout the state ("This act and the code apply throughout the state," MCL 125.1508a) and which LARA says remains in effect while the Court of Claims order of July 7, 2025 stands. Grass Lake Charter Township has published no statement naming the edition it enforces; its building permit application, fee schedule and permit forms name no code edition. The ordinance describes the codes as the "Michigan Residential Code/ 2009", and the base 2009 and 2015 editions are known to differ on the layer limit, so this record leaves out the drip edge, ice barrier and impact answers and states both editions' text on the layer limit. LARA's Statewide Jurisdiction List shows the Township of Grass Lake as a local enforcing agency, separate from the Village of Grass Lake.
Repair permit threshold
Grass Lake Charter Township publishes no size, square or dollar point below which roof work needs no permit and has no reroofing line: its Building Department page, its building permit application, its fee schedule and its permit forms say nothing about roofs. Its application's residential fee chart lists a $75.00 "Ice Guard/Flashing/Ventilation Inspection" among its inspections and a $50.00 "Base Fee - Required on all permits". The state part: the construction code act says "A building permit is not required for ordinary repairs of a building or structure" and does not define ordinary repairs, and the township has published nothing applying that relief to roof work. For a small repair, ask the Building Department at 517-522-8464 before starting.
Roof layer limit / recover
Not stated here as a single layer count, because the record does not settle which of two code editions answers the question in Grass Lake Charter Township, and the two differ. Michigan builds one- and two-family homes to the 2015 Michigan Residential Code, which adopts the 2015 International Residential Code and makes no amendment to its reroofing section, Section R908; the Michigan rule set was searched in full and R908 does not appear in it. The base section therefore applies as the International Code Council publishes it. Section R908.3.1.1 lists the conditions under which a new roof may not be laid over an existing one, and the third is "Where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." One existing layer may be covered once; a roof that already carries two layers is torn off to the deck. The same section also bars covering a roof that is water soaked or too deteriorated to serve as a base, and covering "slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile." Grass Lake Charter Township's Police Power Ordinance PPO-12 names the Michigan Residential Code/ 2009, which incorporates the 2009 International Residential Code. The base 2009 text, Section R907.3 (Recovering versus replacement), carries the same three conditions, its second also naming wood shake, and a fourth: "For asphalt shingles, when the building is located in an area subject to moderate or severe hail exposure according to Figure R903.5." Under that text a single existing layer of asphalt shingles can call for a tear-off where the hail condition is met, so no layer count states the 2009 rule. The 2009 Michigan amendments to that code were not read, and whether the codified reference has any effect today is not decided here (see adopted_code). The township's ordinance page lists its Police Power Ordinances (the Michigan Residential Code Ordinance, Dangerous Buildings, Blight Elimination and Municipal Civil Infractions among them) and its Zoning Ordinance chapters; the Michigan Residential Code, Dangerous Buildings, Blight Elimination and Civil Infractions ordinances were read and contain no reroofing or layer rule, and the zoning chapters were not read. The township's building permit application, fee schedule and permit forms state no layer rule of their own. Ask the Building Department (517-522-8464) before planning an overlay.
Deck & sheathing requirements
State law, from the base code. Michigan makes no amendment to the roof sheathing section of the 2015 International Residential Code, Section R803, which does not appear in the Michigan rule set, so it applies as published. Lumber roof sheathing follows Table R803.1: over rafters or beams 24 inches apart it must be at least 5/8 inch net thick. Wood structural panels must be identified "for grade, bond classification and performance category by a grade mark or certificate of inspection issued by an approved agency," and their spans may not exceed "the values set forth in Table R503.2.1.1(1), or APA E30." For a shingle roof the base code adds that "Asphalt shingles shall be fastened to solidly sheathed decks" (R905.2.1), and on any reroof "The structural roof components shall be capable of supporting the roof covering system" (R908.2). The township's Building Department page, building permit application and fee schedule, and its Michigan Residential Code Ordinance, were read for a local rule and state nothing further on roof sheathing. Grass Lake Charter Township's Police Power Ordinance PPO-12 (Michigan Residential Code Ordinance) names "Michigan Residential Code/ 2009"; this field states the 2015 Michigan Residential Code, which the state act applies throughout the state; the township has published no statement naming the edition it enforces; the Michigan Residential Code 2009 text was not read (see adopted_code).
Sales & use tax
6%, statewide, with no local add-on. This is state law: the General Sales Tax Act sets the tax "equal to 6% of the gross proceeds of the business," the Use Tax Act sets "a total combined rate equal to 6%," and the Michigan Department of Treasury says "Michigan does not allow city or local units to impose sales tax." On a roofing job the roofer is the taxpayer on materials, because the Use Tax Act counts as a consumer "A person acquiring tangible personal property if engaged in the business of constructing, altering, repairing, or improving the real estate of others." Nothing on the Grass Lake Charter Township Building Department page changes this.
Local roofing hub
More roof permit pages in Michigan
Related guides
Grass Lake Charter Township's Building Department, at the township office at 373 Lakeside Drive in Grass Lake, issues the township's building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits and manages them through inspection and certificates of occupancy. The township's Police Power Ordinance PPO-12 elects to administer and enforce the state construction codes within its limits, and the State of Michigan's jurisdiction list names the Township as its own building code enforcer, separate from the Village of Grass Lake. Michigan applies one residential code statewide, and for houses that is the 2015 Michigan Residential Code.
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