Winter Is Permit Season: Planning a Spring Start in Washington

In the Northwest the building season is short. The planning season is everything else, and winter is most of it. The projects that start on time in spring are the ones that were planned out over the winter, before anyone mobilized.

The consultant line

Every consultant is waiting on someone else’s work. The land surveyor usually goes first, because nobody can design on a lot that has not been measured. The geotechnical engineer needs the survey to place borings. The structural engineer needs the geotechnical recommendations to design the foundation. The civil engineer needs the survey, the soils and the infiltration results to lay out grading, stormwater and utilities. When one report runs late, everyone behind it waits, and a surprise like a buffer that moves the building means redoing work downstream.

Wet season rules on slopes

Several Washington cities limit clearing and grading through the wet months. Seattle restricts grading in landslide-prone areas from November 1 to March 31. Sammamish requires an approved wet season work request from October 1 to April 30 in erosion hazard and wetland management areas. A hillside permit has to be issued before the dry window opens, not during it.

Utilities run on their own calendar

In Washington, a building permit for anything that needs drinking water requires proof of an adequate water supply (RCW 19.27.097). The sewer district confirms capacity, fire flow decides whether mains and hydrants are large enough, and the power company designs the service on its own queue. Any one of those answers can move the building, the budget or the start date, so availability requests belong at the start.

State stormwater coverage

A site that disturbs an acre or more needs Ecology’s Construction Stormwater General Permit on top of the local permits. The notice of intent goes in at least 60 days before stormwater leaves the site, a public notice runs, and the public gets 30 days to comment. Filed in April, the state process alone runs into June.

Change it while it is paper

After submittal, a change goes back through every reviewer it touches. After issuance it is a revision, and on site it is a change order. The floor plan, the structural system, windows and doors, mechanical layout and site layout should all be settled before the consultants draw.

How SASHKOV handles it

SASHKOV puts the plans together, coordinates every consultant in the order the work runs, and handles all communication and coordination with the jurisdiction, from the first meeting through corrections to issuance. The goal is an issued permit and a buildable set when the ground dries out. No agency timeline is promised, but the work that takes the longest gets started first.