Have you had that frustrating experience of being ready to submit your construction permit application only to find that you have to schedule an intake appointment that isn’t available for several weeks or months? Maybe you thought you would need to postpone your project because you couldn’t get an appointment. We’ve got good news for you … we have The Intake Express Lane, an easy path to a much earlier intake appointment!
Additional Land Use Staff Coming Soon
To support increased permit volumes and reduce turnaround times for the review of permit applications, Mayor Durkan’s office coordinated with the City Budget Office to approve 13 additional positions for SDCI’s Land Use Division.
We will be bringing on 11 Land Use Planners, 1 Land Use Supervisor, and 1 Permit Specialist to support increased workload and reduce turnaround times for the review of permit applications.
June Workshop for Landlords
Renting in Seattle is providing a free workshop for landlords on Saturday, June 22 at the Georgetown Campus of South Seattle College from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Register on Eventbrite early to ensure your space. These workshops fill up quickly.
Small Efficiency Dwelling Units: New Code Interpretations for Storage and Natural Light
Small Efficiency Dwelling Units are small dwelling units that do not meet minimum floor area requirements per the Seattle Building Code. Director’s Rule 9-2017 allows for efficiency units smaller than required by SBC 1208.4 when other amenities are provided.
B4B-Build for Broadband Initiative for Multi-Dwelling-Unit Buildings
If broadband planning isn’t already a key part of your multi-dwelling-unit (MDU) building design and investment planning, Seattle’s Office of Cable Communications says it’s a good time to make it a top priority. Your MDU broadband infrastructure decisions impact the fastest growing segment of residents. In Seattle, the number of residents living in MDUs now exceeds those living in single-family homes. And permitting records show nearly 81 percent of Seattle’s new housing builds are MDUs. MDU residents want access to abundant, high-speed internet and they rate it as the top amenity when considering a place to live – outranking an in-unit washer and dryer.
Updated Contractor Disclosure Form
State law requires local building departments, such as SDCI, to verify contractor licenses on every construction permit. Every construction applicant must identify the project contractor license or indicate why the application is exempt from requiring a contractor. To make this easier, we have updated our Contractor Disclosure Form.
URM Retrofit Funding Report
On May 23, SDCI, along with the Office of Emergency Management (OEM), released the National Development Council’s (NDC) report to the City of Seattle, Funding URM Retrofits.
Publication Updates
We released a new Tip and a new Director’s Rule, and we updated several Tips.
Increased Oversight of Vacant Buildings
New processes for inspection of vacant buildings took effect on June 1, 2019. The changes add a wider range of properties to the City’s Vacant Building Monitoring program, including all properties with active development proposals containing a vacant building. The frequency of inspections increased from once a quarter to once a month. We estimate that this will add approximately 1,200 new properties to the program this year and can reduce the risk of vacant buildings becoming a blight on the community. In the past, SDCI monitored around 100 properties each year with consistent vacant building violations.
New Vacant Building Monitoring Rules
New rules for vacant building monitoring take effect on June 1, 2019. The goal of the revised monitoring program is to help prevent the neighborhood blight commonly associated with vacant buildings.
