Michigan's Off-Grid Laws: Everything You Need to Know
Source: https://www.survivalsullivan.com/michigan-off-grid-laws/
It is typically legal to live off-grid in Michigan. Typically legal, and also only technically legal.
The reason why I say that is because no, there are no overt laws that make it plainly illegal to live disconnected from utility infrastructure at the state level…
However, you’ll find plenty of other laws both at the state, county and even municipal level that can make off-grid living so difficult as to be impossible. Assuming, of course, you want to do it legally.
You’ll have to contend with all sorts of Michigan building codes pretty much everywhere in the state, and although not all counties have identical laws, you’ll find enough overlap between various concepts that at some point an off-grid homestead becomes a functional impossibility.
Some of the most common laws in Michigan that will hamper off-grid homesteaders include the outright banning or regulating into obsolescence of non-traditional wastewater and sewage handling methods as well as mandates to be connected to septic or sewer lines if they are present, or even present on another property within a certain distance of your own.
Permitting is also a very big deal in Michigan, and you’ll need a permit to perform everything from basic plumbing and electrical work to installing a driveway or septic system and even for basic excavation.