Do you need a permit?

Building permits

Apply for a building permit if your project includes any of the following on a building or structure:

• Changing the occupancy
• Constructing
• Enlarging
• Altering
• Repairing
• Moving
• Demolishing

Unless your property contains critical areas, you do not need a permit for:

• A storage shed with a floor area of 200 square feet or less, as an accessory to a residential house or for agricultural use
• Fences 6 feet high or less
• Most retaining walls 4 feet high or less
• Replacement of roofing or siding for detached one and two-family houses
• Uncovered decks that are 30 inches or less above the ground
• Interior finishes (like carpet, hardwood flooring, tile, paint, and wallpaper)
• Replacing windows with new windows
  • Bring life safety concerns such as basement egress windows to current code where possible with a permit.
• Replacing doors with new doors  
• Roof-mounted solar photovoltaic panels that weigh less than 4 pounds per square foot on residences

Fire and special events permits

You need a fire system or event permit for:

• Working on fire sprinklers, alarms, or fire department connections including:
  • Installing
  • Enlarging
  • Altering
  • Replacing
• Putting up temporary tents or canopies that are larger than 400 square feet and certain special events
• Firework stands and displays or shows

You may also need an operational permit for hazardous storage or assembly.

Land use

You need a land use/clearing and grading permit for the following:

• Grading within a critical area.
• Excavations greater than 5 feet deep or 100 cubic yards.
• Any fill greater than 3 feet deep or 100 cubic yards.
• Creation of more than 2,000 square feet of new impervious surface.
• Hazard Trees
  • A tree is considered an "imminent hazard," if it could fail at any moment in an area often used by people. If this is true, the tree can be removed without a clearing permit as it is exempt per King County Code chapter 16.82. If you use the imminent hazard provision you should take before and after pictures, and keep them as a record of the removal.
  • If a tree is a "hazard," meaning it has disease, structural defect, lean, and it is not imminent, then the hazard needs to documented by a certified arborist and a clearing permit is required.

Mechanical

You need this permit if mechanical equipment is:

• Installed
• Enlarged
• Moved
• Replaced

Examples include installing a new:

• Fireplace
• Wood-burning stove.
• Furnace
• Air conditioner
• Heat pump

Temporary use (gatherings/events)

You need a temporary use permit for uses, like gatherings or events, not usually permitted in a given zone.

This may be for limited times and/or frequencies. It could also be for limited expansion of any use otherwise allowed in the zone, but outside the scope of what the land was originally approved for.

Other agency permits

If you don’t see what you are looking for, you may be looking for other permits offered by other groups within or outside King County.

View other agency permits