When a Commercial Permit Needs an Architect in Washington
Washington sets the line for when an architect must be on a commercial set. Here is where it falls, and what else a commercial permit takes.
Contractors often go looking for an architect to get a commercial permit. Sometimes that is exactly what the job needs. Either way, the architect is only one part of the permit.
Where Washington draws the line
Washington decides when an architect has to be on a commercial set. A building of any occupancy up to 4,000 SF total does not require one (RCW 18.08.410). Neither does an alteration of 4,000 SF or less inside a larger building, as long as it does not affect structural or life safety systems.
Life safety is broader than it sounds
Changing an exit or an accessible route affects life safety, and so does any change that raises the number of people the space holds (WAC 308-12-340). Project size is the combined area of the altered spaces, and simultaneous projects cannot exceed 4,000 SF together. Turning a 3,000 SF retail suite in a larger center into a restaurant raises the occupant count, so that set needs an architect.
Everything else a commercial permit takes
Beyond the drawings: the code analysis, the civil engineer if there is site work, the structural engineer if walls or the roof change, the fire marshal, the health department on food, and the sewer utility on grease. Each has its own review, and their comments have to agree with each other.
How SASHKOV handles it
SASHKOV works out what the city and the state require, brings in the architect of record when the job needs one and the engineers it needs, and runs the whole permit: the set, the reviews and every conversation with the city through issuance. One point of contact.
