Building Connections Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections

Building Connections

Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections news and events

Save the Dates: Seattle Home Fairs

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SDCI will be hosting our popular Seattle Home Fairs online on Saturday, January 39, 2022, and Sunday, January 30, 2022. Our virtual home fairs will be full of useful information about our permitting process, code requirements, renting in Seattle, and much, much more.

Improved Public Comments Feature Coming Soon

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SDCI will be launching an improved method for our customers to submit public comments for some land use and early design guidance projects. Starting in mid-November, customers will be able to submit a public comment online and attach supporting photos, documents, etc., using the Seattle Services Portal. The new public comments feature will include a map view of land use and early design guidance records accepting comments.

New Plan Review Process Coming Soon

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SDCI will soon implement a new plan review process using the Bluebeam software application. We will stop sending out standard letter-based corrections for plan-based reviews and begin providing marked-up documents created using Bluebeam. This transition aligns us with many of our neighboring jurisdictions in regard to plan reviews.

New Seattle Laws Impact Tenant Relocation Assistance License Process

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Several recent changes to Seattle laws impact residential properties that require a Tenant Relocation License. The Right of First Refusal, SMC 7.24.030.J, requires owners to offer a lease renewal to existing tenants when their term lease is expiring unless there is just cause. To obtain just cause for development activity, you must obtain a Tenant Relocation License. Therefore, all properties that are tenant-occupied at the time of the permit application need to go through the Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance (TRAO) process regardless of whether the tenants have a term lease or are month-to-month. We highly recommend that you submit a service request for TRAO when you receive the notification that your project may require a license. If you wait until the end of the permitting process, your permits may be significantly delayed. You can submit a service request by calling (206) 615-0808.

New Code Interpretation for Fire Wall Continuity

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SDCI recently published a new code interpretation, 706.5 Fire Wall Horizontal Continuity, to clarify our policy for fire wall continuity. To encourage the development of more affordable housing, the Seattle Building Code was amended in 2018 to allow an additional story of Type IIIA wood construction. This is allowed as long as additional safety measures are provided, including fire walls to subdivide the building into compartments.

Reminder: Time to Apply for a Grading Season Extension

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The rainy season is rapidly approaching, which means it’s time to think about whether you will be doing any grading between November 1 and March 31. If your project includes Geotechnical Special Inspections AND if your project is in an environmentally critical area or involves a large quantity of earth-moving, check your special inspection permit record for an item called “Monitor Grading Season Restriction.” If you see “Monitor Grading Season Restriction” on your record, this means that grading between November 1 and March 31 is prohibited unless you apply for and receive a Grading Season Extension. 

Storm Drain Insert Reminder

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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.

SDCI Staff Directory

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Recently, the City had to remove the citywide staff directory from our website because the platform hosting the directory was failing and it posed some security risks. We understand that the directory’s removal has been inconvenient for our customers. While the City is working on a replacement directory, SDCI has developed an interim solution by posting all SDCI staff contact information on the Seattle Open Data website. The SDCI staff directory dataset includes staff names, titles, phone numbers, emails, work group, and supervisor’s name.

Update: New Plan Review Process

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In August, SDCI announced that it will implement a new plan review process using the Bluebeam software application. We will stop sending standard letter-based corrections for plan reviews and begin providing marked-up documents created with Bluebeam. This transition will align our plan review process with many of our neighboring jurisdictions’ process.