Building Connections Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections

Building Connections

Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections news and events

City Seeks Designs for Pre-Approved DADUs

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To help more residents own and rent accessory dwelling units (ADUs), the City is currently seeking submissions of designs for detached ADUs, often called DADUs or backyard cottages. Pre-approved designs will offer a faster, easier, and more predictable path to permit and construct a DADU. Homeowners choosing a pre-approved plan will pay reduced permit fees and get their permit within 2-6 weeks for sites without protected trees or environmentally critical areas and that do not need drainage review. 

February and March Seattle Services Portal Trainings

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We are pleased to continue our monthly training sessions for the Seattle Services Portal. Our goal is to help Portal users understand more about the permits and licensing process via our online portal. We meet the third Tuesday of each month from 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. at 700 5th Avenue, Room 1928. Please join us in person or via Skype to have all your questions answered live.

Seattle Code Development

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SDCI is currently working on amendments for the 2018 Seattle Building Code, Residential Code, Existing Building Code, Fire Code, Plumbing Code, Mechanical Code, Electrical Code, Boiler Code, and Elevator Code. Amendments under current review are those adopted by the WA State Building Code Council, current amendments of the 2015 Seattle Codes continuing in the 2018 Codes, and newly proposed changes from various stakeholders.

Energy Code Development

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SDCI held four public meetings in January to review proposed 2018 Seattle Energy Code amendments, with over a hundred stakeholders participating. Participants considered three dozen proposed amendments during the ten hours of meetings. As a result, SDCI is making modifications to most of the proposals and will eliminate a few proposals.

New Hours for Seattle & King County Plumbing and Gas Piping Permitting

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The customer serving/walk-in hours are changing for the Chinook and Eastgate locations of Seattle & King County Public Health’s Environmental Health Services (EHS) division. These locations provide plumbing and gas piping permits and plan review to the public, among other services. The new hours will be: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday: 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Join Us at the Seattle Home Fairs

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Once again, the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) will be hosting our popular Seattle Home Fairs in January and February. These free events will be jam-packed with useful information about rental housing rules, our permitting and inspection process, emergency preparedness, and much more. We’ll have breakout sessions on landslide prevention, accessory dwelling units (ADU), and earthquake retrofits. With something for everyone, you won’t want to miss these events!

2020 Fee Changes

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The Seattle City Council recently adopted the 2020 budget, including legislation that implements SDCI fee changes in 2020 to cover wage increases that reflect our current cost of doing business.

On January 1, 2020, these service fees went into effect. As in past years, we are making inflationary adjustments to most fees. This year’s inflationary adjustment is 4.0 percent.

Upcoming Seattle Services Portal Trainings

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We are pleased to continue our monthly training sessions for the Seattle Services Portal. Our goal is to help Portal users understand more about the permits and licensing process via our online portal. We meet the third Tuesday of each month from 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. at 700 5th Avenue, Room 1928. Please join us in person or via Skype to have all your questions answered live.