Mountlake Terrace building permits
VerifiedDepartment contacts, adopted codes, permit types, fees, and gotchas for Mountlake Terrace, Washington.
Last verified 2026-09-16 · Source · Embed this page’s badge · Version history
Building department
- Address
- 23204 58th Avenue W, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043
- Phone
- (425) 776-1161
- Office hours
- Permit staff: Monday 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Tuesday to Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., closed Friday.
- 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.
- IBC — MTMC 15.05.030(A): “International Building Code, 2021 Edition, published by the International Code Council, with state of Washington amendments”. Its own adopting section, 15.05.040, also names 2021.
- IRC — MTMC 15.05.030(B): “International Residential Code, 2021 Edition, published by the International Code Council, with state of Washington amendments”. Its own adopting section, 15.05.060, also names 2021.
- IMC — MTMC 15.05.030(C): “International Mechanical Code, 2021 Edition, published by the International Code Council, with state of Washington amendments”. 15.05.080 agrees.
- IFC — MTMC 15.05.030(D) names the 2021 Edition “as adopted in Chapter 15.10 MTMC”, and 15.10.010 independently names “The International Fire Code (‘IFC’), 2021 Edition, as published by the ICC, together with any additions, deletions and exceptions currently enacted or as may be amended from time to time by the state of Washington, as set forth in Chapter 51-54A WAC”. The two agree.
- UPC — MTMC 15.05.030(E): “Uniform Plumbing Code, 2021 Edition, with state of Washington amendments, and Uniform Plumbing Code Standards, published by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials”. 15.05.090 agrees.
- International Performance Code for Buildings and Facilities — MTMC 15.05.030(F), 2021 Edition. 15.05.100 agrees.
- International Green Construction Code — MTMC 15.05.030(G) lists it at the 2021 Edition, BUT ITS OWN ADOPTING SECTION, 15.05.110, READS “Reserved.” A code reviser's note records that Ordinance 2621 removed the Uniform Housing Code provisions and reserved the section for the IGCC. The list names it; the section is empty.
- IFGC — MTMC 15.05.030(H): “International Fuel Gas Code, 2021 Edition, published by the International Code Council, with state of Washington amendments”. 15.05.120 agrees.
Electrical — MTMC 15.05.030(I) adopts TWO codes at TWO YEARS in one lettered item: “National Electrical Code, 2023 Edition, published by the National Fire Protection Association; and the Washington Cities Electrical… Show full textShow less
Electrical — MTMC 15.05.030(I) adopts TWO codes at TWO YEARS in one lettered item: “National Electrical Code, 2023 Edition, published by the National Fire Protection Association; and the Washington Cities Electrical Code, 2020 Edition, published by Washington Association of Building Officials”. 15.05.130 adds a third instrument, the state “Department of Labor and Industries, Electrical Inspection Section, Rules and Regulations for Installing Electric Wiring and Equipment”.
- IECC — MTMC 15.05.030(J), 2021 Edition.
- IEBC — MTMC 15.05.030(K), 2021 Edition. 15.05.155 agrees.
- Accessibility — MTMC 15.05.030(L): “Washington State accessibility provisions for physically disabled or elderly persons as provided in RCW 70.92.100 through 70.92.160”. No edition year, because the instrument is a statute.
- Uniform Code for Abatement of Dangerous Buildings — MTMC 15.05.030(M), “1997 Edition, published by the International Conference of Building Officials”. THE OLDEST EDITION YEAR ANY CITY IN THIS WASHINGTON SERIES NAMES.
- IPMC — MTMC 15.05.030(N), 2021 Edition.
- WSEC — MTMC 15.05.030(O) says “Washington State Energy Code (Commercial and Residential), 2021 Editions”, BUT 15.05.160 says “the Washington State Energy Code, 2018 Edition, with any amendments established by Chapters 51-11C and 51-11R WAC, as now exist or shall be amended”. BOTH ARE RECORDED AND NEITHER IS ADJUDICATED.
Permit types & fees
Residential building permit
Permit to build, alter, add to or change the occupancy of a house in Mountlake Terrace, under the International Residential Code adopted at MTMC 15.05.060.
See fee scheduleCommercial building permit
Permit for commercial and multifamily construction, alteration and change of occupancy in Mountlake Terrace, under the International Building Code adopted at MTMC 15.05.040.
See fee scheduleMechanical permit
Permit to install, alter, repair, convert or replace mechanical systems in Mountlake Terrace, under the International Mechanical Code adopted at MTMC 15.05.080.
See fee schedulePlumbing permit
Permit for plumbing installation, alteration, repair, conversion or replacement in Mountlake Terrace, under the Uniform Plumbing Code adopted at MTMC 15.05.090.
See fee scheduleElectrical permit
Permit for electrical installation, alteration, repair, conversion or replacement in Mountlake Terrace, under the codes adopted at MTMC 15.05.130.
See fee scheduleFuel gas permit
Permit for fuel gas piping and appliance work in Mountlake Terrace, under the International Fuel Gas Code adopted at MTMC 15.05.120.
See fee schedule
Mountlake Terrace's permit history isn't searchable here yet
This page covers what the permit requires. What we don't have for Mountlake Terrace 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 Mountlake Terrace lands. Privacy.
Tips & gotchas
- The Building Official, inspectors, planners and reviewers are at the counter only 8:00 to 9:00 a.m., Monday to Thursday, or by appointment. Permit staff keep longer hours but are closed Friday. A one-hour technical window four days a week is easy to miss if you plan around normal office hours.
- Kitchen and bathroom remodels may qualify for the city's streamlined “No Review” Minor Residential Remodel Permit, covering up to three spaces on a single permit — two bathrooms and a kitchen, or three bathrooms. It is conditional: no framing alterations, no floor plan changes, no structural modifications.
- That streamlining stops at the wall. The city states that any work “involving moving walls, modifying framing, or changing room configurations will still require a full plan review”, and that projects “must remain within existing layouts and walls”. Moving one wall converts the application.
- A shed over 80 square feet needs a permit here. The exemption in the amended IBC Section 105.2 stops at 80 square feet with no side wall over 6 feet — well below the 120 or 200 square feet common elsewhere in Washington, so a 10-by-10 shed is permit work in Mountlake Terrace.
- Starting work before the permit issues triggers a special investigation and an investigation fee equal to the permit fee. The code adds that paying it “does not vest the illegal work with any legitimacy, nor does it establish any right to a permit for continued development of that project.”
- Refunds are partial and time-barred. The Building Official may refund 100 percent of a fee erroneously collected, but only up to 75 percent of a permit fee where no work has been done, and up to 75 percent of a plan review fee if the application is withdrawn before review. Written application within 180 days.
- No permit fee amount appears in the municipal code. Fees are set by a schedule adopted annually under MTMC 3.150.090, rebuilt from a cost-of-service study every three years and adjusted each year by the Seattle Area Consumer Price Index. Ask for the current schedule rather than working from the code.
- Performance guarantees are 150 percent of a written estimate of the cost of construction, not a flat sum. MTMC 15.05.290 and Chapter 15.35 govern them, and Chapter 15.35 also lets the city recover its own costs of drawing on a guarantee. It is security, not a permit fee.
- Electrical work answers to three documents at once: the 2023 National Electrical Code, the Washington Cities Electrical Code 2020 Edition, and the state Labor and Industries wiring rules, all adopted together by MTMC 15.05.130, with city amendments in 15.05.140.