Michigan Basement Waterproofing Rules for Royal Oak, MI Homeowners
This is a summary of public law, not legal advice. For a house in Royal Oak, MI, basement work answers to state law, the City's permit and sewer offices, and, one city over, that city's own.
In Brief
- The state licenses contractors. LARA issues them; check the number yourself.
- Plumbing stays with plumbers. Sump tie-ins, backwater valves and laterals need a licensed plumbing contractor and a plumbing permit.
- Signatures on everything. Every agreement and change goes on paper, signed.
- Sewers belong to each city. Royal Oak has no footing-drain or backwater-valve program.
Checking a Contractor's License
Under the Michigan Occupational Code, Article 24 (MCL 339.2401 and following), residential builders and maintenance and alteration contractors hold statewide licenses from LARA, Michigan's licensing department; cities only issue permits. "Waterproofing a basement" is a listed trade, and builder licenses cover it too.
Article 24's builder includes a paid party that "offers to undertake, or purports to have the capacity to undertake" home work; its salesperson is an employee or agent who, for pay, works to "solicit for" a licensee or "obtain … a contract or commitment" on its behalf.
Ask for the license number first. A residential builder's has 10 digits, the Attorney General says, and LARA treats a missing number or license copy as "a red flag". Look it up at lara.michigan.gov/colaLicVerify, LARA's online license verification, or at 517-241-9316. A licensee's ads must list the name, license number and actual business address on its license, not merely a post office box or a number to dial.
Owners doing their own homes are exempt, as are jobs under $600 total unless split or part of a bigger one. Working unlicensed is a misdemeanor; a first offense can bring a $5,000 to $25,000 fine, and the contractor can't sue in Michigan for payment.
Plumbing, under MCL 339.6101 and following, the Skilled Trades Regulation Act's plumbing article, includes sanitary and storm drainage; a licensed master or journey plumber does it for a plumbing contractor that pulls the permit first. Owners may plumb their own single-family house with a permit.
Some cities check at permit time: Berkley, MI collects copies of state licenses and liability insurance and notes that state law has a contractor pull its own permit; Ferndale, MI wants sewer and drainage construction done by a licensed professional; Madison Heights, MI requires plumbing permits for fixtures and underground pipes.
Basement Waterproofing Royal Oak MI doesn't do the things those definitions describe. It is a referral and advertising service, not a contractor, plumber, salesperson or anyone's agent, with no Michigan residential builder or maintenance and alteration contractor license; it makes no pitch, visits no homes, takes no deposits, signs nothing and names no contractor. It only passes your request to be contacted to one independent contractor, which may pay it a flat advertising fee; you never pay.
Contract Basics
R 338.1532 and R 338.1533, Michigan's administrative rules for builders and contractors, want every agreement and change written and signed by both sides, giving the price, what kind of work and how much, and the kind and grade of materials.
- Spell out the job. Walls, drain length, pump details and an outdoor discharge point.
- Pay in steps. Never everything up front, LARA warns.
- Waivers first. As a general precaution, get written lien waivers before the final payment.
- Permits named. Each permit, who pulls it, and inspections passed before the balance.
- Warranty on paper. Specific terms, and whether they pass to a buyer.
When You Can Back Out
Michigan's Home Solicitation Sales Act (MCL 445.111 and 445.112) reaches sales over $25 solicited and agreed to at your home. There, a buyer generally may cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing, unless, in a genuine emergency, the buyer waives that in a separate handwritten statement, dated and signed.
Whether that covers a contract signed at home after your own web request is unsettled, so it's a right you may have. The contract should explain how; canceling in writing and keeping a copy is sensible.
The Michigan Consumer Protection Act (MCL 445.903) bars confusing buyers about sponsorship, approval or certification, made-up ties and hidden material facts. Under Michigan's adjuster licensing law (MCL 500.1222), only license holders adjust a loss under an insurance policy; coverage questions go to your insurer or agent. Complaints: the Attorney General's Consumer Protection team, 517-335-7599 (toll-free 877-765-8388).
Public Programs for Basement Water
Royal Oak's City government has no program for footing-drain disconnection or backwater valves; none appears on its pages. A licensed plumbing contractor can judge whether a valve suits a house; it needs a plumbing permit.
Royal Oak and its five neighbors here sit in the George W. Kuhn drainage district, whose Retention Treatment Basin, the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner's, is in Madison Heights, MI at 12 Mile Road and I-75; the County says it "can hold and treat 150 million gallons," discharging only treated water to the Red Run Drain. The program, expanded in 2006, cuts the odds of flooded basements, not every backup.
The City's 2018 Stormwater Task Force report calls the sewers combined, carrying rain and wastewater together; when trunk lines fill "to capacity," some streets hold water on purpose.
Report Royal Oak basement flooding right away to the Department of Public Service (DPS), (248) 246-3300; outside DPS hours, the Police non-emergency line, (248) 246-3500, sends a sewer representative. Engineering Division: 248-246-3260. The owner's part runs up to and including the sewer connection, the City's is the main; private-side repairs go to a licensed plumbing contractor.
Under Public Act 222 of 2001 (MCL 691.1419), if you believe a city sewer caused a backup, written notice generally must reach the agency running it within 45 days of discovering the damage, limited to your name, address and a contact number, the property address, the discovery date and a short account. Royal Oak owners ask DPS where it goes; the step is yours alone.
Berkley, MI owners "may be eligible for reimbursement of permit fees" for a backwater valve; that program is Berkley's alone.
Towns use their own offices; Ferndale, MI, Berkley, MI and Clawson, MI call their sewers combined. For a backup, Huntington Woods, MI residents contact Public Works at 248-547-1888 and Berkley, MI residents 248-658-3490. Ferndale, MI uses DPW, 248-546-2519, or Police non-emergency, 248-541-3650, if DPW can't be reached. Madison Heights, MI: DPS, (248) 589-2679. Clawson, MI: DPW, (248) 288-3222; its after-hours DPW emergency line is 248-524-3477. Life safety: 911.
Checking Permits First
Royal Oak's Building Department, 203 S. Troy Street, 248-246-3210, issues residential permits; its pages don't say whether waterproofing, drain tile, a sump, a backwater valve or foundation repair needs one. Structural work may need a building permit, pipe connections a plumbing permit; your contractor confirms which.
- Clawson, MI. Community & Economic Development (formerly Building and Planning), City Hall, 425 N. Main St., 248-435-4500.
- Madison Heights, MI. CED, 300 W. Thirteen Mile Rd, (248) 583-0831, which issues plumbing permits for "Installing or altering plumbing fixtures, underground pipes."
- Ferndale, MI. 248-336-4117 ext. 115, Community and Economic Development, 300 E. Nine Mile Rd; lateral repairs need a permit.
- Berkley, MI. Community Development, 3338 Coolidge Hwy, 248-658-3320, takes contractors' license and insurance copies.
- Huntington Woods, MI. Contact the City's building department; egress windows in the Hill and Rackham historic districts go before its Historic District Commission.
What Homeowners Ask
Why doesn't this site name a contractor?
A licensee's ads must carry its licensed name, license number and business address. This site names no one, so none of that appears here; whoever gets in touch should give you all three to check.
Sources
Read 2026-10-11; state law carried over from 2026-10-10, with definitions re-checked 2026-10-11.
- State law. legislature.mi.gov (MCL 339.601, 339.2401, 339.2403, 339.2404, 339.2412, 339.6103, 339.6107, 691.1419, 500.1222, 445.903, 445.111–445.112); R 338.1532–338.1533; LARA releases (July 24, 2019; July 17, 2025); AG alert (April 4, 2025).
- Royal Oak. romi.gov Building Inspection, directory, "Responding to Street & Basement Flooding", 2018 Stormwater Task Force Report; OpenGov water and sewer overview.
- County and federal. Oakland County WRC "George W. Kuhn Retention Treatment Basin" and "Basement Flooding Claim" pages; NWS Detroit/Pontiac (August 11, 2014); FEMA DR-4195; MSU Geography; USGS (Ferris et al., 1954).
- Neighboring cities. cityofclawson.com; madison-heights.org (Guide to Development, history); ferndalemi.gov; berkleymich.org, berkleymi.gov; Huntington Woods' Historic District Commission application.
Ready for the Next Step?
This site can't answer for a particular basement. Send the short request form; one independent contractor near Royal Oak gets in touch, looks at the space and puts any proposed work and price in writing. The cost calculator gives a national ballpark, and the wet basement checker sorts likely sources.