Open, buy, or expand a restaurant, café, or catering kitchen
Check the local food office, plan review, licensing, kitchen equipment, water and wastewater, property records, manager needs, and tax starting points.
Michigan Permit Pathfinder
Michigan business permits and site checks.
Choose the closest route for your business or site. You’ll get a dated call sheet with the right offices, questions, documents, and decisions to confirm.
Find my routeFree. No account. 3–13 minutes. Answers stay on this device for up to 30 days.
See a full sample call sheetAvailable now
Choose the closest business or project.
More than one route may apply. A gas station with food or alcohol service, for example, may need more than one check.
Food & drink
Buy, build, open, or change a food truck or mobile food unit
Check the likely food-license type, plan review, daily commissary or self-contained setup, water and wastewater, cooking and fire systems, each selling stop, vehicle records, and buyer handoffs.
Open, buy, move, or change a bar or alcohol-serving restaurant
Check the likely retail license type, live license and quota records, the seller’s file, ownership and financing, property control, local and MLCC approvals, closing steps, and added service areas or permits.
Auto, fuel & vehicles
Open, buy, move, or expand an auto repair or body shop
Check zoning, repair-facility registration, drains, coatings, shop waste, tanks, building work, and the separate activities you mention.
Open, buy, take over, or change a gas station or convenience store
Check fuel licenses, tanks and old releases, seller records, local and fire approvals, food, alcohol, tobacco, lottery, and the separate activities you mention.
Open, buy, take over, or change a fixed car wash
Check where washwater, drains, overflow, and reclaim-system waste go; then check sewer or groundwater approval, water supply, site work, chemicals, property history, and the extra services you mention.
Open, buy, move, or change a vehicle dealership or used car lot
Check the likely dealer class, lot and office rules, current license, seller records, ownership, bond and insurance, repair arrangement, inventory titles, financing, local approval, and separate activities.
Buy, open, move, or change an automotive recycler or salvage yard
Check the dealer class, operator and site records, vehicle titles and intake, dismantling, fluids, refrigerants, tires, batteries, outdoor storage, stormwater, fire review, and local land-use questions.
Property, land & building
Open, buy, move, or expand a small manufacturer or fabricator
Check local use, air and exhaust, waste, drains, stormwater, chemicals, equipment changes, property history, and the separate processes you mention.
Lease, buy, close on, or rework a commercial property
Check Phase I and BEA questions, property records, old uses, contamination, tanks, vapor, renovation, digging, and nearby land or water.
Clear, grade, fill, drain, cross water, or build on a business site
Check total dirt disturbed, larger-plan acreage, the 500-foot lake or stream line, runoff outlets, wetlands, drains, floodplains, shoreline work, and dewatering.
Open, buy, move, or change a contractor or landscape yard
Check local use, fleet and trailer parking, outdoor materials, salt, pesticides, plants, fuel, equipment washing and repair, drains, waste, workers, and the separate jobsite work you mention.
Advertise, bid, contract for, permit, or start a residential building job
Check the person and company named on the work, the license class and status, qualifying officer, limited craft scope, salesperson, contract, permit office, skilled trades, crew, and jobsite risks.
People & personal care
Open, buy, move, or expand a child care center
Check the license handoff, zoning, fire and health reviews, child-use space, lead, playground, staffing, background checks, and program changes.
Open, buy, move, or change a salon, barbershop, or nail studio
Check whether the work needs a cosmetology premises license, a barbershop license, or the narrow natural-hair-only path. Then check ownership, location, inspection, water, ventilation, chemicals, suites, and added services.
Open, buy, move, remodel, or change a body-art studio
Check the body-art facility path, local health plan review, owner and address, rooms and sinks, single-use or reusable instruments, sterilization, medical waste, records, workers, inspection, and separate salon or medical services.
Water & outdoors
Open, buy, expand, or reopen a campground or RV park
Check the five-unit line, group capacity, zoning, EGLE plans and licensing, buyer transfer, water, sewage, cabins, guest extras, wetlands, floodplains, and past site use.
Open, buy, take over, or change a marina or boatyard
Check dock and dredging records, water and bottomland approvals, pumpout, washwater, stormwater, fuel, repair work, and the records a buyer should ask for.
First employees & first trips
Hire your first employee or take over a seller’s team
Check the employer identity, Michigan withholding and unemployment setup, I-9 and new-hire reporting, pay and leave, workers’ compensation, posters, workplace safety, minors, and the seller-team handoff.
Buy, plate, load, or send a business vehicle on its first trip
Check the legal operator, title, plate, separate rated, actual, and registered weights, trailer and axles, driver, USDOT and authority, border-crossing registrations, passengers, special loads, and seller fleet records.
Your call sheet
Make the right calls in the right order.
- 01
Tell us what you know
Choose the facts you know about the site, work, equipment, records, and people involved.
- 02
See what to check and when
Tasks are ordered before signing, before building, before opening, and after opening.
- 03
Bring the right question
Each task names the office, question, documents, official source, and unresolved decision.
What the tool can and cannot do
A starting point, not a permit or approval.
Michigan rules are split among state agencies, local governments, health departments, and code offices. A route can organize the calls and documents, but the state or local office still decides whether a rule applies and whether an approval is issued.
No route is a close match? Start with the Michigan Business Roadmap and the State License Search, then ask the city, village, or township where the site sits and the county about local approvals.