City — Wayne County seat. Not on your own driveway or lot. In a Detroit street, alley or on the sidewalk, the City requires a DPW right-of-way permit, pulled by the hauler under City Code Sec. 42-2-54 from City Engineering at 2 Woodward Avenue, Suite 642, (313) 224-3935. We handle it when you book.
Where We Deliver
Service Area
Detroit and the three counties around it
We deliver across the City of Detroit, from downtown, Midtown and Corktown to the east side, the Grosse Pointes and the west side, north into Oakland County (Ferndale, Royal Oak, Southfield) and Macomb County (Warren, Sterling Heights), and west and south through Wayne County to Dearborn, Livonia and Taylor, along I-75, I-94, I-96, the Lodge, I-696 and the mile roads. Each page below covers the local dumpster rule, the office to call, the neighbourhoods we work in and the roads we use to get there.
City — Wayne County, surrounded by Detroit · about 5 miles from downtown Detroit. Not on your own driveway or lot. In a Hamtramck street, City Code § 50.032 requires a bulk refuse container permit pulled by the hauler ($25 for five days, $5 a day after, City Hall (313) 800-5233 ext. 814), with $2 million insurance and set distances from hydrants, crossings and stop signs. We file it.
City — Wayne County, surrounded by Detroit · about 6 miles from downtown Detroit. Not on your own driveway or lot. In a Highland Park street, the Building Department issues a dumpster permit (12050 Woodward, (313) 252-0050 ext. 209): $25 for five days, $5 a day after. We help you sort it, but a driveway spot is quicker.
City — Wayne County · about 10 miles from downtown Detroit. Dearborn’s code (Ch. 11 Div. 13) allows a temporary dumpster on private property for seven cumulative days in a 180-day period, one at a time, out of the front setback and tarped when not in use; six months with a construction permit, and a street or front-setback placement only with written approval from the Chief of Police or the Economic Development director. We plan around it.
City — Macomb County · about 13 miles from downtown Detroit. Warren publishes no dumpster permit for a driveway or the street. Its code bars building materials left on a sidewalk after sunset without written permission (Sec. 34-58) and fines street litter $100 to $1,000, and most Warren drives are long enough that you never need the street.
City — Oakland County · about 10 miles from downtown Detroit. Not on your own driveway. For a Ferndale street or parking space, the City’s Permit Center takes a Dumpster/Storage Container Placement application: $50 plus $22.10 per parking space per day on the current fee schedule (City Hall 248-546-2525). Most jobs here avoid it with a 10 or 15-yard on the drive.
City — Oakland County · about 14 miles from downtown Detroit. Not on your own driveway. In a Royal Oak street, the Engineering Division (248-246-3260) requires a right-of-way permit ($130), a $2,000 cash bond, $1 million liability cover, lighted barricades and a tarp, plus $25 a day for a metered space. We file it for you; downtown drives are short, so we suggest a 10 or 15-yard on the property wherever it fits.
City — Oakland County · about 17 miles from downtown Detroit. Southfield publishes no street permit for dumpsters; its zoning covers permanent bins and exempts a temporary construction dumpster from screening until the final occupancy certificate. Most jobs here sit on private lots and parking areas, placed clear of fire lanes. Planning (248) 796-4150 signs off office-site locations.
Five cities — the City, Park, Farms, Woods and Shores, Wayne County · about 8 miles from downtown Detroit. Five cities, five rules: Park allows a driveway roll-off five days (ten non-residential) by permission of Public Services; Shores ten days with a City permit, driveway only; Woods needs a DPS permit and $200 deposit for the street; the City needs a building-inspector permit, deposit and insurance for the street; Farms publishes no permit and keeps everything off the street. Tell us which Pointe and we plan it.
City — Wayne County · about 20 miles from downtown Detroit. Not on your own driveway. In a Livonia street, Code 12.04.260 requires a City permit ($35, with $1 million insurance) from Engineering, (734) 466-2655. Livonia drives are long enough that you almost never need it.
City — Macomb County · about 20 miles from downtown Detroit. Sterling Heights publishes no dumpster permit for a driveway or the street; its right-of-way permit covers contractor work, not containers, and its zoning bin rules are for permanent receptacles. Almost every driveway here is long enough to avoid the street entirely.
City — Wayne County (Downriver) · about 18 miles from downtown Detroit. Taylor publishes no dumpster permit for a driveway or the street; its code covers moving pods (seven days, never in the right-of-way) and permanent commercial bins, not construction roll-offs. Most Taylor drives are long enough that the question never comes up; the Building Department (734-287-6550) is the office to ask.
Dumpster permits in Detroit
On a private driveway or lot, no permit. In a City street, alley or on the sidewalk, Detroit requires a Department of Public Works right-of-way permit; “Dumpster” is one of the categories City Engineering lists, and under City Code Sec. 42-2-54 the vendor, meaning us, is the one who has to obtain it for any container of two cubic yards or more before it goes on the right-of-way, paying a fee set by City Engineering. The Permit Office is at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, 2 Woodward Avenue, Suite 642, (313) 224-3935. Sec. 43-8-2 makes an unpermitted obstruction an offence, Sec. 43-8-36 keeps building waste off sidewalks and roadways altogether, and Sec. 43-8-1 carries up to $500 and 90 days, each day a separate violation. No fee amount or maximum duration is published. Our permit guide walks through the whole process.
Outside the city the rules change at every boundary, which is why each town page above states its own. In short: Hamtramck and Highland Park charge $25 for five days in the street; Royal Oak wants a $130 permit, a $2,000 bond and $1 million of insurance; Ferndale takes a placement application at $50 plus a daily parking fee; Livonia a $35 street permit; Grosse Pointe Woods, Park and the City each require a permit and a deposit for the street while Grosse Pointe Farms publishes none; Dearborn caps a driveway dumpster at seven cumulative days in 180 unless a building permit is open and allows a street placement only with the Police Chief’s written approval; and Warren, Southfield, Sterling Heights and Taylor publish no dumpster permit at all. Where a place publishes nothing, we say so and keep the container on private property.
