Edmonds building permits
VerifiedDepartment contacts, adopted codes, permit types, fees, and gotchas for Edmonds, Washington.
Last verified 2026-09-16 · Source · Embed this page’s badge · Version history
Building department
- Address
- 121 5th Ave N, Edmonds, WA 98020
- Phone
- (425) 775-2525
- Website
- Official site
Inspection guide
See how inspections work in Edmonds — sequence, scheduling & re-inspection fees.
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.
- THE 2021 IBC, NAMED, WITH A ROLLING WAC CLAUSE. ECDC 19.00.020: “The International Building Code (IBC), 2021 Edition, published by the International Code Council, as amended by the Washington State Building Code Council in Chapter 51-50 WAC, and as subsequently amended by this chapter, is hereby adopted along with Appendix Chapters E, G, H, I, J and P.”
2021 IRC. ECDC 19.05.000: “The International Residential Code (IRC), 2021 Edition, published by the International Code Council, as amended by the Washington State Building Code Council in Chapter 51-51 WAC, and as… Show full textShow less
2021 IRC. ECDC 19.05.000: “The International Residential Code (IRC), 2021 Edition, published by the International Code Council, as amended by the Washington State Building Code Council in Chapter 51-51 WAC, and as subsequently amended by this chapter, is hereby adopted along with Appendix Chapters E, F, K, Q, T, U and Y.” Chapter 1, Chapter 11, Part VII (Plumbing) and Part VIII (Electrical) are NOT adopted (ECDC 19.05.010, 19.05.015).
- 2021 IMC. ECDC 19.15.000: “The International Mechanical Code (IMC), 2021 Edition, published by the International Code Council, as amended by the Washington State Building Code Council in Chapter 51-52 WAC, and as subsequently amended by this chapter is hereby adopted.” Chapter 1 is not adopted.
- 2021 IFGC. ECDC 19.15.010: “The International Fuel Gas Code, 2021 Edition, published by the International Code Council, as amended by the Washington State Building Code Council in Chapter 51-52 WAC inclusive of NFPA 54 and 58, and as subsequently amended by this chapter, is hereby adopted.”
2021 UPC — NOT the IPC. ECDC 19.20.000: “The Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC), 2021 Edition, including Appendices A, B, I and M, published by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, as amended by… Show full textShow less
2021 UPC — NOT the IPC. ECDC 19.20.000: “The Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC), 2021 Edition, including Appendices A, B, I and M, published by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, as amended by the Washington State Building Code Council in Chapter 51-56 WAC, and as subsequently amended by this chapter; provided, that any provisions that affect fuel gas piping are not adopted, is hereby adopted.” Chapter 12 (fuel piping) and Chapter 14 (firestop protection) are deleted.
- 2021 WASHINGTON STATE ENERGY CODE. ECDC 19.30.000: “The Washington State Energy Code, 2021 Edition, as adopted and amended by the Washington State Building Code Council in Chapters 51-11C and 51-11R WAC, is hereby adopted.”
2021 IFC, ON ITS OWN ORDINANCE CYCLE. ECDC 19.25.000: “Under the statutory authority of RCW 19.27.031 and 19.27.074, the International Fire Code (IFC), 2021 Edition, as published by the International Code Council… Show full textShow less
2021 IFC, ON ITS OWN ORDINANCE CYCLE. ECDC 19.25.000: “Under the statutory authority of RCW 19.27.031 and 19.27.074, the International Fire Code (IFC), 2021 Edition, as published by the International Code Council including amendments set forth in Chapter 51-54A WAC, and subsequently revised by this chapter, is hereby adopted, including Appendices B, C, I, and L.” Its ordinance trail leads with Ord. 4407, 2025 — newer than the Ord. 4350, 2024 that re-adopted the rest of Title 19.
- 2021 IWUIC — uncommon in this set. ECDC 19.52.000: “The International Wildland Urban Interface Code, 2021 Edition, published by the International Code Council, as amended by the Washington State Building Code Council in Chapter 51-55 WAC, and as subsequently amended by this chapter, is hereby adopted.” The chapter carries a single-ordinance trail (Ord. 4350, 2024), making it the newest chapter in Title 19.
2021 ISPSC — THE ONE STATIC BINDING IN THE TITLE. ECDC 19.35.000: “The International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, 2021 Edition, published by the International Code Council, is hereby adopted.” Unlike every sibling chapter… Show full textShow less
2021 ISPSC — THE ONE STATIC BINDING IN THE TITLE. ECDC 19.35.000: “The International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, 2021 Edition, published by the International Code Council, is hereby adopted.” Unlike every sibling chapter it carries NO “as amended by the Washington State Building Code Council” clause. Public swimming pool barriers are instead regulated by WAC 246-260-031(4), and other “water recreation facilities” as defined in RCW 70.90.110 under Chapters 246-260 and 246-262 WAC.
ELECTRICAL IS DELEGATED, WITH NO EDITION YEAR AT ALL. ECDC 19.55.000: “Under the statutory authority of RCW 35A.70.050 and 19.28.141, the city of Edmonds may enforce the same permitting and inspection standards… Show full textShow less
ELECTRICAL IS DELEGATED, WITH NO EDITION YEAR AT ALL. ECDC 19.55.000: “Under the statutory authority of RCW 35A.70.050 and 19.28.141, the city of Edmonds may enforce the same permitting and inspection standards applicable to basic electrical work as are enforced by the Department of Labor and Industries, including but not limited to the version of the National Electrical Code that the Department of Labor and Industries has most recently adopted by rule.” ECDC 19.55.005 supplies a fallback if the state ceases to inspect.
Permit types & fees
Residential Building Permit (New Construction)
Required for new one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses in Edmonds, reviewed under the 2021 IRC as amended by the Washington State Building Code Council and by Chapter 19.05 ECDC.
See fee scheduleCommercial Building Permit
Required for commercial construction, alterations and additions in Edmonds, reviewed under the 2021 IBC as amended by the Washington State Building Code Council and by Chapter 19.00 ECDC.
See fee scheduleBuilding Permit — Earth Subsidence and Landslide Hazard Area
A separate and substantially heavier permit track for any site lying wholly or partly within the North Edmonds earth subsidence and landslide hazard area or its buffer, governed by Chapter 19.10 ECDC.
See fee scheduleDemolition Permit
Required before the partial or complete demolition of any building or structure in Edmonds, interior or exterior. The requirement is a local addition: Edmonds deleted the IBC's Annual Permit section and wrote a demolition permit in its place.
See fee scheduleMechanical Permit
Required for mechanical and fuel gas work in Edmonds, reviewed under the 2021 International Mechanical Code and the 2021 International Fuel Gas Code.
See fee schedulePlumbing Permit
Required for plumbing work in Edmonds, reviewed under the 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code — not the International Plumbing Code — as amended by the Washington State Building Code Council.
See fee scheduleSwimming Pool, Hot Tub and Spa Permit
Required for permanent swimming pools, hot tubs and spas in Edmonds, under the 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code plus a locally written set of location, cross-connection and inspection rules.
See fee scheduleElectrical Permit
Electrical permitting and inspection in Edmonds tracks the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries rather than a city-adopted code edition.
See fee schedule
Edmonds's permit history isn't searchable here yet
This page covers what the permit requires. What we don't have for Edmonds 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 Edmonds lands. Privacy.
Tips & gotchas
- Edmonds publishes NO permit fee amount in its code. Chapter 19.70 ECDC is titled “Fees” and contains none; ECDC 19.70.010 says “Fee schedules are on file in the city clerk’s office.” and the one pointer that leaves the chapter, ECDC 15.00.020(A), ends at a hyperlink: “Fees are established by resolution of the city council”. Get the current schedule from the city before budgeting.
- The building title is Title 19 of the Edmonds Community Development Code, and ECDC is not a second code — ECDC 15.00.000 states “ECC Titles 15 through 21 may be referred to as the community development code.”
- Title 19 contains TWO genuine code edition years and only one of them is operative. ECDC 19.10.010 amends “the 2003 Edition of the IRC/IBC and all subsequent revisions” and ECDC 19.30.010 refers to the “2009 Washington state energy code”, but the codes actually in force are the 2021 editions adopted at ECDC 19.00.020, 19.05.000 and 19.30.000. Amending sections cite the baseline they were written against; only the adopting sections state what applies.
- Any site touching the North Edmonds earth subsidence and landslide hazard area or its buffer leaves the ordinary permit track entirely for Chapter 19.10 ECDC — geotechnical report, licensed survey, civil plans, recorded covenant with Snohomish County, site bond, $1,000,000 contractor liability insurance, and applicant-funded peer review whose recommendation is binding on the building official.
- Permits expire two years after issuance, not the more common one. A single third-year extension costs one quarter of the original permit fee, and three years is an absolute ceiling after which all prior code vesting is negated.
- Permit exemptions are wider for single-family than for everything else: a detached shed is exempt up to 120 square feet generally but up to 200 square feet for a single-family dwelling — though the single-family version caps the eave at 12 inches and the height at 15 feet, and expressly excludes garages and carports.
- Exemptions stop applying in two mapped areas. ECDC 19.00.025(G) states permit exemptions “shall not apply to work that is not entirely within a building when located in areas of flood hazard or areas within the designated Wildland Urban Interface”, and ECDC 19.10.010(A)(2) switches off a further list inside the landslide hazard area.
- Edmonds adopted the 2021 International Wildland Urban Interface Code at ECDC 19.52.000 — uncommon for a Puget Sound city and the newest chapter in Title 19, added by Ord. 4350 in 2024.
- Snow load is 25 psf non-reducible for both ground and roof, and the city amended the IBC and IRC separately to say so, at ECDC 19.00.025(V) and ECDC 19.05.020(A)(1). Basic wind speed is 98 mph and the Seismic Design Category is D1.
- The flood hazard basis is the Flood Insurance Study for Snohomish County dated June 19, 2020, with FIRMs of the same date — stated in prose at ECDC 19.07.010(B) and again as “Date of current FIS 6/19/20; FIRM maps 6/19/20” in the design criteria table at ECDC 19.05.020(A)(9). NFIP adoption dates to 8/8/78.
- Fire is on a separate ordinance cycle from the rest of the building title: Chapter 19.25 ECDC leads with Ord. 4407 (2025) while the other chapters were re-adopted by Ord. 4350 (2024), so check the fire chapter independently.
- Sky lanterns are unlawful to sell, use, transfer, discharge or ignite anywhere in the city (ECDC 19.25.005(I)).