City of Rhinelander
Oneida County, Wisconsin
Last verified September 17, 2026
City of Rhinelander is a jurisdiction in Oneida County, Wisconsin, with an online portal for searching and pulling active or historical building permits. 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
Certificate Holder Mailing Address
City of Rhinelander Inspection Department135 S. Stevens Street
Rhinelander, WI 54501
Use this address when the jurisdiction needs to be listed as a certificate holder on a contractor's insurance documentation.
Additional Notes
Confirmed via the City of Rhinelander's own official website (rhinelanderwi.us). Office hours Mon-Fri 8:00am-4:30pm. The city partners with SAFEbuilt for residential permitting/virtual inspection and uses DSPS E-Plan Exam for larger commercial projects per the same page; Ryan Berghammer is separately listed as Fire Inspector/Commercial Building Inspector at 715-499-3727, rberghammer@rhinelanderwi.us. Cross-checking the Wisconsin DSPS delegated-authority list (dsps.wi.gov, dated Aug 19, 2026) confirms City of Rhinelander, Oneida County (DOA 43276) as Delegated, main phone 715-365-8600 matches exactly, but that document lists a different named municipal contact (Austyn Zarda, Clerk, azarda@rhinelanderwi.us) and a different UDC inspector (Tom Waydick, RC Inspections, 715-439-4222, rcinspectionrequests@gmail.com) than the ones named on the city's own department page -- multiple contractors/staff appear to be involved; call the main line to confirm who is currently assigned to a given project.
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 Rhinelander'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 Oneida County
See Oneida County property and court records →
Other building permit jurisdictions in Oneida County: