Permitting Authorities / City of North Muskegon - Inspection Department
Do you need a permit to replace a roof in North Muskegon, MI?
Adopted code
City of North Muskegon - Inspection Department
Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in North Muskegon, MI, issued by City of North Muskegon - Inspection Department. In North Muskegon a reroof is permit work with a published fee. The Building Permit Application's fee schedule effective January 1, 2024 prices "Tear off and Reroof" at $145.00 (permits that need two inspections) and "Re-shingle" at $95.00 (one inspection), and its value-based table starts at "$95.00 (Minimum Fee)" for work valued up to $1,000. Each inspection beyond those included in the permit is $65.00 ("Additional/Re-inspections"), and if the inspector is scheduled and the work "does not pass inspection or the job is not ready or they cannot get into the structure", an additional inspection fee is charged each time. The schedule adds that "The City of North Muskegon reserves the right to administer an investigation fee equal to the permit fee if work is started before an approved permit is received." The Inspection Department page says "Permits, may be obtained at City Hall Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m." and "If plan review is required, the permit will not be issued until all plan reviews are complete. To avoid a delay in acquiring your permit(s), please submit your plan(s) with required permit application form." The Forms and Permits page says permits can be submitted by email, and the pages read show no online permit portal. Building inspection scheduling is by phone with the Building Inspector at (231) 578-1646; electrical inspections and mechanical and plumbing inspections are scheduled with their own inspectors, and the Building Inspector keeps office hours Monday, 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. The city contracts with Muskegon Charter Township only for "code enforcement services, rental property inspection, and vacant property registration", not for building permits. City Hall is at 1502 Ruddiman Drive, North Muskegon, MI 49445, (231) 744-1621, and its lobby is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., excluding holidays.
Roof code checklist: North Muskegon, 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
City of North Muskegon, Michigan
Address
1502 Ruddiman Drive, North Muskegon, MI 49445
Contact
- url: https://www.northmuskegon.org/departments/inspections/
- phone: 231-744-1621
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: North Muskegon registers contractors: its Inspection Department page says "CONTRACTOR REGISTRATION is required for all contractors." and "All contractor registrations expire at the same time as your State license.", and its Contractor Registration Form lists "$15.00 registration fee", "A copy of your current license" and "Proof of liability insurance".
Permit process note
In North Muskegon a reroof is permit work with a published fee. The Building Permit Application's fee schedule effective January 1, 2024 prices "Tear off and Reroof" at $145.00 (permits that need two inspections) and "Re-shingle" at $95.00 (one inspection), and its value-based table starts at "$95.00 (Minimum Fee)" for work valued up to $1,000. Each inspection beyond those included in the permit is $65.00 ("Additional/Re-inspections"), and if the inspector is scheduled and the work "does not pass inspection or the job is not ready or they cannot get into the structure", an additional inspection fee is charged each time. The schedule adds that "The City of North Muskegon reserves the right to administer an investigation fee equal to the permit fee if work is started before an approved permit is received." The Inspection Department page says "Permits, may be obtained at City Hall Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m." and "If plan review is required, the permit will not be issued until all plan reviews are complete. To avoid a delay in acquiring your permit(s), please submit your plan(s) with required permit application form." The Forms and Permits page says permits can be submitted by email, and the pages read show no online permit portal. Building inspection scheduling is by phone with the Building Inspector at (231) 578-1646; electrical inspections and mechanical and plumbing inspections are scheduled with their own inspectors, and the Building Inspector keeps office hours Monday, 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. The city contracts with Muskegon Charter Township only for "code enforcement services, rental property inspection, and vacant property registration", not for building permits. City Hall is at 1502 Ruddiman Drive, North Muskegon, MI 49445, (231) 744-1621, and its lobby is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., excluding holidays.
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." LARA's Statewide Jurisdiction List names the City of North Muskegon as its own building code enforcer. Section 10-37 of the city's Code of Ordinances adopts the Michigan Residential Code "as most recently published as of the time of the inspection of a property" and names no code edition, and the Inspection Department page and Building Permit Application read for this record name no code edition.
Drip edge
Required — Required on asphalt shingle roofs by state law. Michigan makes no amendment to the drip edge rule of the 2015 International Residential Code, Section R905.2.8.5, which applies as published: "A drip edge shall be provided at eaves and rake edges of shingle roofs." Segments overlap by at least 2 inches, the drip edge extends at least 1/4 inch below the roof sheathing and at least 2 inches back onto the deck, it is fastened at no more than 12 inches on center, and underlayment goes over it at the eaves and under it at the rakes. A reroof is held to the same rule, because "Materials and methods of application used for re-covering or replacing an existing roof covering shall comply with the requirements of Chapter 9" (R908.1). Chapter 10 of the North Muskegon Code of Ordinances, the Inspection Department page and the Building Permit Application were read for a local rule and state nothing further on drip edge.
About drip edgeIce & water shield
Required — Required everywhere in Michigan by state law. Michigan fills in the climatic design table of the 2015 code once for the whole state (Rule 516, Table R301.2(1)), and its ice barrier underlayment column reads Yes. The state footnote calls for Yes "for areas where the average daily temperature in January is 25 degrees Fahrenheit" or less, or where ice damming has caused damage. The base code then requires an ice barrier "for asphalt shingles, metal roof shingles, mineral-surfaced roll roofing, slate and slate-type shingles, wood shingles and wood shakes," running "from the lowest edges of all roof surfaces to a point not less than 24 inches (610 mm) inside the exterior wall line of the building" (R905.1.2). Detached accessory structures without conditioned floor area are exempt. On a tear-off, an existing ice barrier that is adhered to the deck may stay and be covered with an additional layer (R908.3, Exception). Chapter 10 of the North Muskegon Code of Ordinances, the Inspection Department page and the Building Permit Application were read for a local rule and state nothing further on ice barrier.
About ice & water barrierImpact-resistant roofing
Not required — No impact-resistance requirement under state law. The 2015 Michigan Residential Code was searched in full and has no hail or impact rating rule for roof coverings: the words hail, impact and UL 2218 do not appear in it, and none of them appears in the roof assemblies chapter of the base 2015 International Residential Code either. Michigan applies one code statewide ("This act and the code apply throughout the state."), and the act gives the power to amend it to the state director, who adopts the model codes "with amendments, additions, or deletions as the director determines appropriate." Chapter 10 of the North Muskegon Code of Ordinances, the Inspection Department page and the Building Permit Application were read for a local rule and state nothing further on impact resistance.
Repair permit threshold
North Muskegon treats roof work as its own permit item. Its Building Permit Application lists "New Roofing" among the types of work, and its permit fee schedule effective January 1, 2024 prices roof jobs by the number of inspections: "All permits that require 2 (two) inspections" are $145.00 and give "Tear off and Reroof" as an example, and "All permits that require 1 (one) inspection" are $95.00 and give "Re-shingle" as an example. The application and fee schedule publish no size or cost point below which a reroof needs no permit. The state part: Michigan's construction code act says "A building permit is not required for ordinary repairs of a building or structure" and does not define ordinary repairs; the city has published nothing applying that relief to roof work.
Roof layer limit / recover
Two layers at most, under state law. 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." Locally, the city's own building ordinance, Chapter 10 of the North Muskegon Code of Ordinances (Buildings and Building Regulations), was read in full: it adopts the Michigan Building, Mechanical and Residential Codes by reference, adopts the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code, sets permit fees by council action, and covers the construction board of appeals, swimming pools, soil removal, rental dwellings and vacant property; it has no reroofing provision and amends nothing in Section R908. The Inspection Department page, Building Permit Application and fee schedule state no layer rule.
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). Chapter 10 of the North Muskegon Code of Ordinances, the Inspection Department page and the Building Permit Application were read for a local rule and state nothing further on roof sheathing.
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 City of North Muskegon Inspection Department page or Building Permit Application changes this.
Local roofing hub
More roof permit pages in Michigan
Related guides
The City of North Muskegon's Inspection Department issues building permits at City Hall, 1502 Ruddiman Drive in North Muskegon, and schedules building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing inspections. Its Building Permit Application has a "New Roofing" box and a published fee for tear-off and reroof jobs, and the city registers contractors. Michigan applies one residential code statewide, so the roofing rules below are state law.
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