Who Does What on a Permit: Consultant, Architect, Engineer, Surveyor

The short version

• Permit consultant: researches the rules, prepares permit documents within the exemptions below, coordinates the licensed professionals and carries the permit through review. Neither state licenses this role.

• Architect: required for most commercial buildings above the exemption limits.

• Engineer: required when the structural design goes beyond the building code's standard (prescriptive) methods, and for civil, geotechnical and other engineering work.

• Land surveyor: the only professional who can establish property lines and prepare a survey and plat for a land division.

When you need an architect

Oregon (ORS 671.030)

A non-architect may prepare plans for a single-family dwelling or farm building, structures auxiliary to them such as a garage, barn or shed, and buildings with a ground area of 4,000 sq ft or less and no more than 20 ft in height. Alterations are also exempt when they do not involve the structure and do not change the building's occupancy or construction type. Firms that are not registered may not call themselves architectural.

Washington (RCW 18.08.410)

Anyone may design a residential building of up to and including four dwelling units, regardless of area, and any building up to 4,000 sq ft in total. Alterations up to 4,000 sq ft are exempt when they do not affect life safety or structural systems.

When you need an engineer

Oregon's engineering law (ORS 672.060) exempts the same small buildings and single-family homes, so the trigger comes from the building code. Portland, for example, requires a licensed design professional when a design does not meet the prescriptive path, and calculations for any beam over 10 ft long or carrying a point load.

Washington's engineering law (RCW 18.43) has no small-building exemption; local rules set the stamp triggers. Seattle's STFI permit rules, for example, require an engineer's stamp for long header spans, garage door headers over 16 ft, decks more than 14 ft above grade and every dormer addition.

When you need a land surveyor

In Oregon, locating property lines and surveying a division of land is the practice of land surveying, and the survey and plat of a subdivision or partition must be made by a registered professional land surveyor (ORS 672.025, ORS 92.050). In Washington, establishing corners, lines and boundaries and laying out a subdivision is land surveying under RCW 18.43, which only registered surveyors may practice.

Where SASHKOV fits

SASHKOV is a permit and building planning consultant. It is not an architecture or engineering firm and does not seal drawings. SASHKOV prepares permit documents within the exemptions above and, when a project needs an architect, engineer or surveyor, brings that licensed professional into one contract and coordinates their work through permit issuance. SASHKOV prepares documents and manages permits; it does not build.

Common questions

Do I need an architect for my house?

Usually not. Both states exempt single-family homes, and Washington exempts residential buildings of up to four units.

Do I need an engineer for my house?

Only for the parts the building code's standard methods do not cover, such as long beams, point loads, steep sites or retaining walls. The jurisdiction's plan reviewer decides.

Can a consultant do my boundary survey or partition plat?

No. Only a licensed land surveyor can.

Is a permit consultant licensed?

Neither state has a license for permit consultants or expediters. The licensing laws for architects, engineers, surveyors and contractors set what a consultant may and may not do.