Finding permit history and property information often requires consulting multiple resources. Many excellent sources of data and documents are already available to you online on the SDCI Resources page and on other websites. To help you better navigate the range of available research tools, we have created a new webpage to centralize these resources. The page includes a description of what each resource offers so that you can understand what data is available, and so you can focus your site and permit history research on the best options.
Updated Earthquake Home Retrofit Plan Set
The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) has updated the prescriptive earthquake home retrofit plan set! We are now using an updated drawing plan set that has been approved by the Washington Association of Building Officials (WABO) and uploaded to our website. The same plan set is already being used in several local jurisdictions, including Auburn, Bellevue, and King County. Visit WABO’s website for more home retrofit resources.
Don’t Miss Our Hybrid Seattle Home Fair this January and February!
Once again, SDCI will be hosting our popular Seattle Home Fair! Six virtual lectures will be held in January and February leading up to an in-person event at the Filipino Community Center on February 25, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
These free events will be jam-packed with useful information about rental housing rules, our permitting and inspection process, emergency preparedness, and much more. With something for everyone, you won’t want to miss these events!
Closed Captioning and Translation Comes to SDCI’s Public Meetings
The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections is excited to announce we are adding closed captioning and translation to most online public meetings. Beginning in January 2023, our virtual Design Review Board meetings and land use public meetings will include closed captioning and will offer automatic translation into the languages spoken most often in our communities. SDCI will also offer these services for other online public events.
Reminder: Plan Review Response/Reply Process Refresher
In early 2022, SDCI transitioned to providing plan reviews via plan mark-up instead of traditional letters. This article is a refresher on the process for applicants responding to review comments.
The primary change that we are asking of applicants is that they document responses to comments directly in the plan set provided to them by SDCI at the end of each review cycle instead of sending response letters corresponding to each correction letter. (Note: You will still receive correction summaries from individual reviews as they are completed.) When all responses are documented, we ask that applicants upload the response plan set (as document type “Correction Response Plan Set” or “Correction Response Plan Set – Land Use”) along with the new plan set as (document type “Plan Set” or “Plan Set – Land Use”) for the next review cycle. We have a helpful video to help you learn how to navigate the new process.
SDOT Survey: Share Your Thoughts on Permitting Customer Support!
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) closed their permit counters to the public. Since then, we began providing online options for applicants to engage with our teams, but we know there are opportunities for improvement! With new public health guidance, we are making plans to offer in-person services again and we’d like to hear from you.
New Code Interpretation for Fire Wall Continuity at Offsets
Fire walls are the most robust form of fire-rated assemblies in the Building Code and have strict rules for their construction and continuity. In Seattle, fire walls are being used more frequently for a variety of reasons, including: Fire walls are required for compartmentalization when building 6 stories of wood construction using the Seattle amendment to promote more affordable housing (SBC 510.10); and Fire walls are used to subdivide a building into separate “buildings,” either to change the occupancy designation or to separate new construction from existing.
Don’t Forget to Inspect Storm Drain Inserts
With the onset of the rainy season, SDCI is reminding builders working in Seattle to inspect and maintain any temporary storm drain inserts they have installed as part of construction projects. The inserts, also known as storm drain socks, are used on many construction projects to catch sediment not captured by other required construction-related erosion control measures.
December Publication Updates
We updated Tips on tree code, mechanical permits, and registering rental property and published two new Tips about tree requirements. We published the final Director’s Rule on implementing the 2023 fee subtitle.
Virtual Applicant Services Center Available in Spanish and Chinese Languages
SDCI has added in-language assistance to our Virtual Applicant Services Center for customers who prefer to conduct business in Spanish, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese. Our live chat, support ticketing system, and coaching sessions are now available in these three languages. You can access these services by clicking the green chat icon on the bottom of our contact webpage and selecting your preferred language. If you know somebody who might be interested in using our in-language Virtual Applicant Services Center, please forward this information.
