Seattle Permit Review Times: How SDCI Tracks Them and What Slows a Permit

Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections tracks every construction permit from intake, when SDCI accepts the application, to issuance. Its Construction Permit Timeline tool shows, permit by permit, when an application sat with the City and when it sat with the applicant, with data back to 2018.

How a Seattle permit moves

1. Intake, when SDCI accepts the application.

2. Review by multiple City teams for safety, environmental, land use and other requirements.

3. A correction notice once every review in the cycle is complete.

4. Your consolidated response and corrected plans.

5. Repeat until the issues are resolved, then issuance.

SDCI says the number of correction rounds depends on project complexity. Its stated target for reviewing corrected plans is two weeks.

Land use permits have state clocks

Since 01-01-2025, RCW 36.70B.080 as amended by 2SSB 5290 sets final decision periods for project permits of 65 days without public notice, 100 days with notice and 170 days with notice and a hearing, counted from completeness. Time waiting on the applicant after a written request is not counted. The same law took building permits out of the definition of a project permit, so those periods govern land use decisions, not building plan review.

What slows a Seattle permit

• Responding before every review in the cycle is complete. SDCI will not accept it.

• Answers that skip a comment, or plans that are not clouded, complete and combined into one PDF.

• Uploads that never finish because Continue Application was not clicked through to the Thank You screen.

• Significant changes between cycles, which can restart a land use clock or add review fees.

• Critical area sites, which need a pre-application site visit before applying.

Using the data

Look up recent permits of the same type and size in the timeline tool. The split between City time and applicant time shows how much of the calendar a well run response can save.

Common questions

How long does a Seattle building permit take?

It depends on the project type and how many correction cycles it needs. SDCI's Construction Permit Timeline tool shows actual timelines for permits back to 2018.

How long does SDCI take to review corrected plans?

SDCI's stated target is two weeks for corrected plans.

Do state permit deadlines apply to Seattle building permits?

The 65, 100 and 170 day periods in RCW 36.70B.080 apply to land use project permits. Building permits were removed from that definition on 01-01-2025.

What is the fastest way to cut review time?

Answer every correction in one consolidated response, on one plan set, with every change clouded and a complete set uploaded.

How SASHKOV handles it

• Checks SDCI timeline data for similar permits before a schedule is promised.

• Prepares a complete set and handles critical area pre-application visits early.

• Consolidates every correction response with the licensed consultants in one cycle.

• Tracks each review in the Seattle Services Portal through issuance.

Where a building requires a licensed architect or engineer of record, SASHKOV brings them into the contract.

Permit already in corrections? Read How to Respond to a Seattle SDCI Correction Notice or see Corrections and Permit Recovery.

Planning a Seattle permit? Send the address and scope, and SASHKOV will map the review path and the timeline in business days.