Permit records research

Research available records online or submit a records request for property in unincorporated King County. 

How to submit a request for permit records

To request a record online, please create an account and submit your request here. You will be provided with tracking details regarding your request and is the fastest way to get available records related to permits with King County.

Confirm jurisdiction 

By email:

Complete the Permitting Research Request form to request records for property in unincorporated King County.

• Send the form by e-mail as follows:
  • Complete the fill-in fields and save.
  • Create an e-mail message and attach your completed Research Request Form. Please include your contact information in the body of the email.
  • Send to Permitrecords@kingcounty.gov.

By phone:

• Call the Permitting Records voicemail request line at 206-296-6696

Please note:

• Most records for property located within city limits (Seattle, Bellevue, etc.) require contacting the city not King County Permitting. Check jurisdiction of a property to see if it's in unincorporated King County or is inside the city limits.
• Check the types of building permit records and land use permit records maintained by the Permitting Records Center and the approximate historical availability of files. The location of a record depends on its type and date.
• For older (prior to the 1970s) records, and for property surveys and other property-related files not available at the Permitting office, see other records resources.

Fees

Customers can review any file free of charge. For copying services, the standard County rate is charged.

Records Access

For information on other types of records related to property within unincorporated King County, please see below.

Residential and commercial records

The Permitting Records Center can access residential building permits back to approximately 1970. Some of the associated plans/architectural drawings for permitted residential structures also may be available back to 1987.

Homeowners looking to reproduce building plans/architectural drawings that are not available at Permitting will need to hire a private architect to develop new drawings.

Residential

In addition to single family homes, other types of residential permits available back to 1970 and some associated architectural drawings/building plans available back to 1987 include:

• decks
• retaining walls
• garages and carports
• additions
• storage buildings
• pools
• modular and mobile homes.

For all of these permit types, plans are forwarded to the Records Center as soon as the permit is issued. The associated permit is then forwarded to the Records Center once the project has completed the inspection phase.

Commercial

For commercial structures, the Permitting Records Center can access the building permit, as well as some associated architectural drawings/plans, and also review notes from various review disciplines (e.g., drainage, critical areas) back to approximately 1970.