Puyallup building permits
VerifiedDepartment contacts, adopted codes, permit types, fees, and gotchas for Puyallup, Washington.
Last verified 2026-09-16 · Source · Embed this page’s badge · Version history
Building department
- Address
- 333 S Meridian, Puyallup, WA 98371
- Phone
- (253) 841-4321
- 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.
- NO EDITION YEAR IS NAMED FOR ANY STATE-ADOPTED CODE. PMC 17.04.030 opens: “The city of Puyallup hereby adopts the following codes by reference, which are incorporated herein, as they currently exist or are hereafter amended:” and then names each code only as “the current edition”.
- IBC — “The current edition of the International Building Code, published by the International Code Council, Inc., as adopted by the Washington State Building Code Council in Chapter 51-50 WAC.” Only one appendix is taken: “Appendix E: Supplementary Accessibility Requirements.”, “specifically adopted in its entirety”.
- IRC — “The current edition of the International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, Inc., as adopted by the Washington State Building Code Council in Chapter 51-51 WAC.”
- IMC — “The current edition of the International Mechanical Code … as adopted by the Washington State Building Code Council in Chapter 51-52 WAC, except that the standards for liquefied petroleum gas installations shall be NFPA 58 (Storage and Handling of Liquefied Petroleum Gases) and ANSI Z223.1/NFPA 54 (National Fuel Gas Code).”
- IFGC — “The current edition of the International Fuel Gas Code published by the International Code Council, Inc., as adopted by the Washington State Building Code Council in Chapter 51-52 WAC.”
- UPC — “Except as provided in RCW 19.27.170, the current edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code and Uniform Plumbing Code Standards, published by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, as adopted by the Washington State Building Code Council in Chapters 51-56 and 51-57 WAC.”
- WASHINGTON STATE ENERGY CODE — “The current edition of the Washington State Energy Code, as adopted by the State Building Code Council in Chapter 51-11 WAC.”
- NEC — “The current edition of the National Electric Code, published by the National Fire Protection Association, as adopted by the Department of Labor and Industries in Chapter 296-46B WAC, and Chapter 19.28 RCW.”
- ACCESSIBILITY — “The rules adopted by the Washington State Building Code Council establishing standards for making buildings and facilities accessible to and usable by the physically disabled or elderly persons as provided in RCW 70.92.100 through 70.92.160, as they now exist or are hereafter amended.”
THE ONE NAMED EDITION IN THE CHAPTER IS THE ONE CODE THE STATE DOES NOT ADOPT. Show full textShow less
THE ONE NAMED EDITION IN THE CHAPTER IS THE ONE CODE THE STATE DOES NOT ADOPT. “The 2012 Edition of the International Property Maintenance Code published by the International Code Council, Inc., effective July 1, 2013, and any subsequent editions published by the International Code Council, Inc., effective July 1st of the following calendar year.” That single sentence carries a real edition year (2012), an effective date (July 1, 2013) and a recurring rule (“July 1st of the following calendar year”) — three different temporal things.
- REPEALED, NOT ADOPTED: PMC Chapter 17.24 appears in the Title 17 contents as “UNIFORM HOUSING CODE” with no sections. Opening it resolves the question — the chapter body reads “(Repealed by Ord. 2370)”. Puyallup does not adopt the Uniform Housing Code.
Permit types & fees
Residential Building Permit (New Construction)
Required for new one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses in Puyallup, reviewed under whichever edition of the International Residential Code the Washington State Building Code Council currently adopts in Chapter 51-51 WAC.
See fee scheduleCommercial Building Permit
Required for commercial construction, alterations and additions in Puyallup, reviewed under whichever edition of the International Building Code the Washington State Building Code Council currently adopts in Chapter 51-50 WAC.
See fee scheduleMechanical Permit
Required for mechanical and fuel gas work in Puyallup, under the current editions of the International Mechanical Code and International Fuel Gas Code as adopted by the Washington State Building Code Council.
See fee schedulePlumbing Permit
Required for plumbing work in Puyallup, under the current edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code — not the International Plumbing Code — as adopted by the Washington State Building Code Council.
See fee scheduleElectrical Permit
Electrical work in Puyallup follows the National Electrical Code as adopted by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.
See fee scheduleAutomatic Fire-Extinguishing System Permit
Required for automatic sprinkler and fire-extinguishing systems in Puyallup under PMC Chapter 17.36, which sets local installation thresholds on top of the adopted codes.
See fee scheduleHouse Moving Permit
Moving a building into, out of or within Puyallup requires its own permit under PMC Chapter 17.13, with dedicated fee, bond and insurance provisions.
See fee schedule
Puyallup's permit history isn't searchable here yet
This page covers what the permit requires. What we don't have for Puyallup yet is the record of permits actually issued — the history you'd search by street address. That is a gap in our coverage, not a statement about any particular property.
Your email, and the place — never an address. We only use it to tell you when Puyallup lands. Privacy.
Tips & gotchas
- PUYALLUP WILL NOT CHECK YOUR SETBACKS. Both the building and residential codes are amended to add the same provision: “the building official shall have no duty to verify or establish lot lines or setback lines. No such duty is created by this code, and none shall be implied.” (PMC 17.04.040(2), 17.04.050(1)). A building permit is not evidence that your structure sits where it is allowed to sit — that remains yours to establish.
- The code names NO edition year for any state-adopted code. PMC 17.04.030 adopts “the current edition” of the IBC, IRC, IMC, IFGC, UPC, energy code and NEC, each by reference to a Chapter 51-xx WAC, “as they currently exist or are hereafter amended”. To find out which edition applies today you read the WAC chapter, not the municipal code.
- Fees are set by EXECUTIVE ORDER OF THE CITY MANAGER (PMC 17.04.080(1)), not by council resolution as in most of this Washington set, and no amount appears in the code. Ask for the current executive order rather than looking for a fee schedule ordinance.
- Two different 180-day clocks run, from two different starting points. An application expires 180 days after the city determines it COMPLETE; a permit expires if work is not commenced within 180 days of ISSUANCE, or if work stops for 180 days. A third, independent limit voids any permit two years after issuance “regardless of whether work is finished.”
- Extensions here are effectively unlimited, unlike most of this set: the building official may grant “one or more” extensions of 90 days for applications and 180 days for permits, on written request showing good cause. Edmonds, by contrast, allows exactly one extension and caps the whole life at three years.
- If a permit does expire, the city may issue a new one for the unfinished work on “payment by the project proponent of half of the original permit or approval fee” — but only on a showing of good cause, and the code contemplates that a materially changed law may apply to the new permit.
- Refunds have a hard deadline the neighbouring cities do not impose: “The building official shall not authorize refunding of any fee paid except on written application filed by the original applicant not later than 180 days after the date of fee payment.” (PMC 17.04.080(3)).
- A house here almost never needs fire sprinklers. PMC 17.36.020 triggers on 10,000 square feet gross floor area, 40 feet of height or four stories, and then excepts “a building that has three or less dwelling units”. Edmonds by comparison sprinklers any dwelling over 3,000 square feet of fire area.
- Chapter 17.24 still appears in the Title 17 contents as “UNIFORM HOUSING CODE” with no sections beneath it. Opening the chapter gives the answer: “(Repealed by Ord. 2370)”. Puyallup does not enforce the Uniform Housing Code.
- Moving a building is its own permit with its own fee section, bonds and insurance (PMC Chapter 17.13) — an unusual thing for a city this size to keep on the books.
- Flood hazard areas are adopted “as it currently exists or may be subsequently amended” with no study or map date stated (IBC 1612.3 as amended). Confirm the effective FIRM panel with the city rather than reading a date out of the code, because there is none to read.
- The code is published on ecode360 and states its currency as a bare date — “Includes legislation through 07-21-2026.” — with no ordinance number, so it cannot be compared like-for-like against cities whose publisher prints “current through Ordinance N”.