City of Frankfort
Benzie County, Michigan
Last verified September 17, 2026
City of Frankfort is a jurisdiction in Benzie County, Michigan, which does not currently list an online permit database — contact the department directly by phone or email. Use the contact information below to reach the local building department, or the mailing address if the jurisdiction needs to be listed as a certificate holder on a contractor's insurance documentation.
Contact
- Phone
- (231) 352-7117
- sspencley@cofrankfort.net
- Department Site
- City of Frankfort Building/Zoning Permits (opens in a new tab)
Permit Search
No online permit database on file — contact the department directly by phone or email.
Certificate Holder Mailing Address
City of Frankfort412 Main St., P.O. Box 351
Frankfort, MI 49635
Use this address when the jurisdiction needs to be listed as a certificate holder on a contractor's insurance documentation.
Additional Notes
The City of Frankfort's official site is frankfortmich.com; the confirmed staff contact email (sspencley@cofrankfort.net) uses a different domain (cofrankfort.net) than the main city website, which is a common but slightly inconsistent pattern for small Michigan cities -- both appear to be City of Frankfort-controlled domains but this was not exhaustively cross-verified. As an incorporated city, Frankfort appears to administer its own land use/demolition/sign/site-plan/variance permits directly (forms available via the city's Document Center) rather than through Benzie County's Building Safety & Code Enforcement Department, which is a separate confirmed county source (231-882-9673, building@benzieco.gov, 448 Court Place Suite 149, Beulah, MI 49617) that did not explicitly list Frankfort among its served jurisdictions. Whether actual building/electrical/mechanical/plumbing construction-code permits (as opposed to zoning/land-use permits) are issued by the city itself or routed through the county was not definitively confirmed in this session -- flagged as a hedge.
What You Need Before Applying for a Permit
Most building departments ask for the same core package before they'll issue a permit: a completed application naming the property owner and contractor, the contractor's state license number and proof of insurance (general liability, and workers' comp if employees are on the job), a notice of commencement or equivalent recorded filing for larger jobs where the state requires one, and scaled plans or a site plan for anything beyond minor repairs. Roofing, fence, pool, and solar permits typically have their own simplified checklists — City of Frankfort's department (above) can confirm exactly what applies to your project.
Why this matters for insurance: permit history is one of the first things an underwriter or adjuster checks. Unpermitted work — a finished basement, an added bedroom, a rebuilt roof — can complicate a claim or even void coverage for that portion of the loss, and it routinely surfaces during a home inspection. Pulling the right permit up front, and keeping the closed-permit record on file, protects both the property's value and its insurability at resale.
More in Benzie County
See Benzie County property and court records →
Other building permit jurisdictions in Benzie County: