About this tool
How Michigan Permit Pathfinder works.
Choose the route closest to what you are opening, buying, moving, or changing. The tool turns your answers into a dated call sheet: who to contact, what to ask, what to gather, and what still needs an official answer.
What this is
Michigan Permit Pathfinder is a Michigan Porch tool. Michigan rules cross state agencies, local governments, health departments, and code offices. It is easy to miss a branch. Each route asks about the details that can change the answer and returns an ordered list of checks — before you sign, before you build, before you open, and after you open — with the official source behind each one.
It is a planning and routing tool, not an approval or a permit calculator. It never tells you that you are cleared, exempt, or done. Anything the tool cannot decide becomes a follow-up question for the agency or local office.
How the routes and sources are reviewed
Every route is written by hand from current official Michigan starting points — statutes, agency program pages, and guidance from the departments that actually make the decision. Each task is tied to a specific source, and the agency name and the date that source was last reviewed stay printed next to the task so you can open the current page and confirm before you act.
Rules change and agency web pages move. An automated check flags cited links that may no longer be reachable, sources are re-reviewed by hand, and a route only expands after its questions, decision rules, source list, and hard boundaries are researched and tested to the same standard. If you find a broken link or an out-of-date step, use the contact page. Reader reports are the fastest way a stale step gets fixed.
What it does not do
It does not decide your zoning, approve a plan, size equipment, classify a license, transfer a seller’s license, or replace a licensed attorney, accountant, or environmental professional. The agency or local office always makes the final call. See the Terms for the full disclaimer and the Privacy page for how your answers stay in your browser.
Independent by design
This site is published by Emma Rose Holdings LLC, doing business as Michigan Porch. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the State of Michigan or any Michigan agency. Return to the Michigan Porch business guide to compare all available routes.
Last updated July 28, 2026.