Permit fees

Effective January 1, 2011, the fees and rates charged by the King County Department of Development and Environmental Services (DDES) for permitting services have changed as follows:

• To make permit fees more predictable in general, many fees have been converted from hourly charges to fixed fee amounts for new applications in 2011.

• For all applications or permits subject to hourly charges, the billing rate in 2011 is $170 per hour.

• A surcharge of 5% will also be added to each fee transaction beginning in 2011.

All fee changes were approved by the King County Council in November, per ordinance 16959.
For a list of current permits fees, see the 2011 Fee Schedule.

Basis for Fee Change

Fees were last comprehensively adjusted in 2004, and the fee changes are necessary to recover the cost of processing, reviewing, and inspecting permits in 2011. The surcharge was adopted to recover costs of implementing permitting technology and relocating DDES offices closer to the majority of permit applicants. The surcharge is set to expire in four years. More information here Surcharge.pdf (26KB) Surcharge.doc (27KB)

Determining Fee Requirements

Fees for permits issued by DDES for unincorporated King County depend upon:

• the type of permit

• the size of the project

• the scope of the project

• site issues, including drainage and critical areas.

DDES also serves as a “pass-through” agency for other agencies and collects mitigation fees for schools and roads for new residences.

The most common types of fees applicable to construction projects include:

1. Permit administration fees are charged when a permit application are accepted and when the permits are issued.

2. Building plan review and inspection fees are determined by the new square footage of the project and its value of construction, using cost estimates published by the International Conference of Building Officials. Applicants are required to submit the fee for plan review at intake; inspection fees are due at the time of permit issuance.

3. Mechanical review and inspection fees are charged when permit applications are accepted and when permits are issued.

4. Zoning and site conditions review is required on most commercial projects and on all new residences proposing over 2,000 square feet of impervious surface and may be required due to other site-related issues/conditions. A fixed review fee is due at application intake, the amount of which depends on the type of construction. For a new single family residence, the fee is $749.70 (including 5% fee surcharge). If site conditions require site engineering for drainage, road design, fire flow, or other review, additional site engineering review fees will be required. These additional fees will be due at the time of permit issuance.

5. Critical areas review may be necessary for some projects that show critical areas either on the project site or on an adjacent property. Additional review fees may be assessed and will be due at permit issuance. These fees can range from an initial site inspection charge of $392.70 (including 5% fee surcharge) to hourly fees $2,499 (including 5% fee surcharge) if the applicant chooses a preferred consultant to assist with the project.

6. Clearing and grading or forest practice review may be necessary for some projects. The review fees typically range from $357 to $714 (including 5% fee surcharge) and are due at permit issuance.

7. Shorelines. If the property is located within a designated shoreline jurisdiction, a review fee charged at $178.50 per hour will be due at permit issuance. If the construction work is related to repair or maintenance only, a fixed fee of $535.50 will be due.

8. New septic systems, permitted by the Public Health Department, may require first obtaining a Critical Areas Designation. Please refer to Customer Information Bulletin #21, Critical Areas Review, for more information. Improvements on properties serviced by an existing septic system are also required to be reviewed and approved by the Public Health Department prior to the issuance of a permit. (2011 Watewater Program fees can be found here)

9. School impact fees are assessed at the time of permit intake for all new residential dwelling units. Replacement residences are exempt from this fee for three years. In addition to the school impact fee, a nonrefundable administrative fee of $65 per dwelling unit is charged to those projects subject to a school impact fee and these fees are collected at permit issuance. Please refer to Customer Information Bulletin #46, School Impact Mitigation Measures, for a list of school districts and their impact fees. School impact fees are updated annually and are adopted by ordinance.

10. Road MPS (Mitigated Payment System) fees are also assessed at intake for all new residences. There are over 450 MPS zones within unincorporated King County. Customers can determine their MPS zone by using Parcel Viewer or iMAP (King County's online property search tools at http://your.kingcounty.gov/gis/Mapportal/iMAP_main.htm) to locate their property and then the property’s Districts Report where the Roads MPS Zone is listed. To find the fee per zone, go online to http://your.kingcounty.gov/kcdot/roads/planning/mps/feeschedule.cfm. Road MPS fees and an associated $60 administrative fee are due at permit issuance.

11. State Building Code. All building permits are assessed $4.50 for maintenance of the State Building Code.

12. Erosion Control Inspection Fee s due at issuance for any project requiring soil disturbance. The inspection fees range from $89.25 to $242.55 (including 5% fee surcharge) depending on the type of residential project.

Most permit fees charged by DDES are fixed amounts. To assist applicants in estimating the permits fee applicable to their projects, DDES is developing a fee calculator for public use on the DDES web-site. Installation of the on-line fee calculator is expected by the end of 2011.

Hourly Fee Estimates

For projects that are subject to hourly charges instead of fixed fees, applicants may request a pre-application conference with DDES staff for the preparation of a detailed and binding fee estimate.

2011 Fee Schedule

• Building Plan Review
• Clearing or grading investigation
• Clearing or grading permit
• Clearing or grading plan review
• Construction Inspection
• Critical area inquiries or designations
• Critical area review and inspection
• Current use permit review
• Extension of permits and approvals
• Fire safety inspection
• Fire system inspection
• Fire system review
• Forest practices and mining
• Land division
• Land division: subdivision
• Miscellaneous reviews: zoning and environmental
• Miscellaneous services
• Permit Administration
• Pre-Application Meeting
• Right of way use review and inspection
• Road variance review
• Site development and land use inspection
• Site engineering review
• Zoning/site conditions review

Be sure to also look at application materials and customer information bulletins where you can find application packets and helpful customer information for many of our permit types

Fee waivers

In accordance with 27.02.020 (PDF*, 295KB) of the King County Code, fee waivers are granted at the discretion of the DDES Director and are limited to criteria summarized as follows:

• if fees collected are for service not performed
• if fees duplicate another fee or charge for a service for which a fee has already been collected
• if fees are based on a professional error or unnecessary review by a DDES employee
• if a customer has incurred additional expenses due to a process error by DDES staff
• if fees are assessed to replace, repair, abate or demolish a structure due to property damage caused by a natural disaster.

Procedures for filing a fee waiver request are detailed on the Fee Waiver / Adjustment Of Fees Authorization form. To request a fee waiver, complete and submit the form, available in PDF* or fill-in Word* format.

Quality service to our customers is very important to DDES. If you are unable to find the fee information you are looking for, e-mail DDESWebInquiries@kingcounty.gov and we will respond to you quickly.

*Note: To view PDFs, free software from Adobe is required. Fill-in Word documents require Microsoft software. For assistance and fill-in instructions, see helpful hints.

To request this information in alternate formats for people with disabilities, call 206-296-6600 or TTY Relay: 711.

2011 Fee Schedule Table