Seattle building permits
Department contacts, adopted codes, permit types, fees, and gotchas for Seattle, Washington.
Last verified 2026-09-15 · Source · Embed this page’s badge · Version history
Building department
- Address
- 700 5th Ave, Suite 2000, Seattle, WA, 98104
- Phone
- (206) 684-8600
- Office hours
- Mailing address: P.O. Box 34019, Seattle, WA, 98124-4019. Violation Complaint Line: (206) 615-0808. Counter hours are not published on the department pages read for this entry - confirm before travelling.
- Website
- Official site
Codes adopted
The State Building Code is in effect in every county and city in Washington, and its minimum performance standards may not be diminished locally. A local amendment that affects single-family or multifamily residential buildings is not effective unless the State Building Code Council approves it; amendments to non-residential provisions carry no such approval requirement.
- 2021 Seattle Building Code - SDCI publishes a read-only 2021 Seattle Building Code which contains substantial copyrighted material from the 2021 International Building Code. The 2018 Seattle Building Code is the prior cycle.
- 2021 Seattle Residential Code - SDCI publishes a read-only 2021 Seattle Residential Code which contains substantial copyrighted material from the 2021 International Residential Code. The 2018 Seattle Residential Code is the prior cycle.
- 2021 Seattle Energy Code - SDCI states it has adopted the 2021 Seattle Energy Codes and publishes a read-only 2021 Seattle Energy Code.
- Seattle Electrical Code - enforced by SDCI and listed on its Codes We Enforce (A-Z) page.
- Seattle Existing Building Code - listed on the Codes We Enforce (A-Z) page.
- Seattle Mechanical Code - listed on the Codes We Enforce (A-Z) page.
- Seattle Plumbing Code - listed on the Codes We Enforce (A-Z) page.
- Seattle Fire Code - listed on the Codes We Enforce (A-Z) page.
- Seattle Energy Code, Fuel Gas Code, Refrigeration Code, Elevator Code and Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code - each listed separately on the Codes We Enforce (A-Z) page.
- Seattle Land Use Code and Neighborhood Residential Code - the zoning instruments, listed separately from the construction codes.
- 2026 Fee Subtitle - Seattle Municipal Code Chapter 22.900, effective January 1, 2026, setting fees for all SDCI services.
Permit types & fees
Construction Permit - Addition or Alteration
Required to add to or alter an existing building in Seattle. Listed by SDCI under Permits We Issue (A-Z) as "Construction Permit - Addition or Alteration".
See fee scheduleConstruction Permit - Subject-to-Field-Inspection (STFI)
Seattle issues a Subject-to-Field-Inspection (STFI) construction permit for work that SDCI can verify by field inspection rather than through full plan review. STFI is a REVIEW ROUTE rather than a category of work: it describes how the permit is checked, not what is being built.
See fee scheduleRefrigeration Permit
Required for installation, addition, repair, replacement and alteration of refrigeration equipment and systems, under section 22.900D.100 of the 2026 Fee Subtitle.
See fee scheduleDemolition Permit - Building
Required to demolish a building in Seattle. Listed by SDCI under Permits We Issue (A-Z) as "Demolition Permit - Building".
See fee scheduleRe-Roof Permit
Listed by SDCI under Permits We Issue (A-Z) as "Re-Roof Permit". Required for qualifying roof replacement work in Seattle.
See fee scheduleElectrical Permit
Listed by SDCI under Permits We Issue (A-Z) as "Electrical Permit". Seattle enforces its own Electrical Code, listed on the department's Codes We Enforce (A-Z) page.
See fee scheduleMechanical Permit
Listed by SDCI under Permits We Issue (A-Z) as "Mechanical Permit".
See fee scheduleTree Removal
Listed by SDCI under Permits We Issue (A-Z) as "Tree Removal". Seattle enforces a Trees & Codes regime listed on its Codes We Enforce (A-Z) page.
See fee schedule
Property Access
Seattle's permit history is searchable by address
192,660 permits in our copy of Seattle's register — searchable by street address, with permit type, status, issued date and valuation where the city publishes them. This is what we hold, not a statement of everything Seattle has issued.
140,002 of these 192,660 permits — 72.7% — carry an issued date, and those run from 1986 to 2026. The remaining 52,658 have no date at all.
New residential construction activity
New privately-owned residential construction onlyHousing units authorized by building permits for new privately-owned residential construction — this is not total permit volume (no commercial permits or remodels).
- Latest month (2026-07)
- 327units
101 buildings · $50.6M valuation
- Trailing 12 months
- 4,827units
12 of 12 months reported · #1 in Washington coverage by units
- Year to date (2026 YTD through 2026-07)
- 2,112units
716 buildings · $422.7M valuation
7 month(s) reported to Census
- Full year 2025
- 4,366units
926 buildings · $1,058.4M valuation
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey (BPS), 2026-07 vintage. Census survey data — separate from the permit-requirements verification above. All Washington building activity
Tips & gotchas
- The most expensive surprise in Seattle is not the permit fee but the VALUATION that drives it. The 2026 Fee Subtitle sets the development fee from a Development Fee Index calculated from project value, beginning at "$325 for the first $1,000 of value or fraction thereof".
- Above $1,000 of value the index climbs per hundred dollars: "$325 for the first $1,000 of value plus $1.60 for each additional $100 of value or fraction thereof". A small change in stated valuation moves the fee.
- At higher valuations the basis changes again: "$709 for the first $25,000 of value plus $1.55 for each additional $100 of value or fraction thereof" applies in the next band.
- Add five percent to whatever you calculate. The technology fee applies "in the amount of five percent of all fees or charges required under the above chapters".
- Hourly work is not one rate. "The hourly rate for land use review is $551. The rate for all other hourly fees is $292 an hour" - so a land use question costs nearly twice what a building question costs per hour.
- Starting work before paying is enforced, not merely discouraged: "It is unlawful to proceed with any work or with any portion of any construction, installation, alteration or repair when the fee required in this subtitle has not been paid."
- And the Director can stop the job on the spot - "the Director may immediately order the suspension of such construction, installation, alteration or repair by posting a stop-work order on the structure or premises".
- The development fee is TWO fees, not one: "The development fee shall consist of a permit fee and, where plans are reviewed, a separate plan review fee. The permit fee and plan review fee shall be determined based on valuation".
- Filing mechanical work with a building permit rather than separately changes the charge - included in the building application rather than 100% of the index on its own.
- Seattle's codes are Seattle editions, not the International or Washington State ones. Quoting an IBC section number at an SDCI inspector is quoting the wrong book.