Lacey building permits
Department contacts, adopted codes, permit types, fees, and gotchas for Lacey, Washington.
Last verified 2026-09-16 · Source · Embed this page’s badge · Version history
Building department
- Address
- 420 College St SE, Lacey, WA 98503
- Phone
- (360) 491-3214
- 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.
THE 2021 EDITIONS, NAMED, WITH SIX IBC APPENDICES. LMC 14.04.010 adopts "that certain code, known as the International Building Code, 2021 Edition, as amended by Chapter 51-50 WAC, including the Appendix Chapters E, G,… Show full textShow less
THE 2021 EDITIONS, NAMED, WITH SIX IBC APPENDICES. LMC 14.04.010 adopts "that certain code, known as the International Building Code, 2021 Edition, as amended by Chapter 51-50 WAC, including the Appendix Chapters E, G, I, J, Q, and T therein, and the International Residential Code, 2021 Edition, as amended by Chapter 51-51 WAC, as the building code and standards of the city". Six appendix chapters is the most named by any city in this guide.
- THE CODE HAS A LOCAL NAME. IBC Section 101.1 as amended: "These regulations shall be known as the Building Code of the City of Lacey, Washington, hereinafter referred to as 'this code.'" So a reference to "the building code" in Lacey's own documents means this adopted-and-amended composite, not the model code as published.
- PLUMBING IS ROUTED OUT TO ITS OWN CHAPTER. IBC Section 101.4.3 as amended provides that "The provisions of the City of Lacey Plumbing Code as adopted by Lacey Municipal Code Chapter 14.06 shall apply to the installation, alteration, repair and replacement of plumbing systems", with state requirements governing private sewage disposal.
- RCW 19.27 - the Washington State Building Code applies statewide.
Permit types & fees
Building Permit
Required for construction in Lacey. The city adopts the 2021 IBC and IRC as the Building Code of the City of Lacey, and gates ISSUANCE on a seventeen-item prerequisite list.
See fee scheduleVerify a Contractor Licence
Washington contractors register with the Department of Labor & Industries. Registration is a STATE record; Lacey does not issue it.
See fee schedule
Lacey's permit history isn't searchable here yet
This page covers what the permit requires. What we don't have for Lacey 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 Lacey lands. Privacy.
Tips & gotchas
- LACEY GATES THE START, NOT THE FINISH. Seventeen prerequisites must be met before the permit ISSUES (IBC 105.3.1.1 as amended).
- Fire apparatus access roads must be INSTALLED AND APPROVED and fire water supplies INSTALLED AND SERVICEABLE before the building permit exists.
- In a Planned Residential Development, at least 50% of the residences must be BUILT before any commercial permit can issue.
- A performance bond may substitute for completed public works improvements - but the choice is completed-or-bonded, not deferred.
- Transportation mitigation fees are paid before issuance, so they are not a later invoice.
- An assigned address under LMC 12.04 is one of the seventeen items.
- Design review, SEPA, flood and geologically sensitive areas are four separate chapters, each a prerequisite in its own right.
- The code is on the ICC's municipal.codes platform, as Sammamish's and Lakewood's are.
- Repealed chapters and sections are shown as "Repealed" in the contents rather than removed, so a gap in the numbering is expected.