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Permit records research
Instructions on how to research building and land use permits which have been finalized, closed or are still active in unincorporated King County can be found below. Code Enforcement case files may also be made available after they have been reviewed by staff for attorney/client privilege or confidentiality.
For records on property located within city limits, you must contact the city directly. Permitting Records Center does maintain some records for properties that are annexed or incorporated into a city after finalization of a King County permit.
Research available records online or submit a records request for property in unincorporated King County.
How to submit a request for permit records
To request a record online, please create an account and submit your request here. You will be provided with tracking details regarding your request and is the fastest way to get available records related to permits with King County.
Confirm jurisdiction
By email:
Complete the Permitting Research Request form to request records for property in unincorporated King County.
- Send the form by e-mail as follows:
- Complete the fill-in fields and save.
- Create an e-mail message and attach your completed Research Request Form. Please include your contact information in the body of the email.
- Send to Permitrecords@kingcounty.gov.
By phone:
- Call the Permitting Records voicemail request line at 206-296-6696
Please note:
- Most records for property located within city limits (Seattle, Bellevue, etc.) require contacting the city not King County Permitting. Check jurisdiction of a property to see if it's in unincorporated King County or is inside the city limits.
- Check the types of building permit records and land use permit records maintained by the Permitting Records Center and the approximate historical availability of files. The location of a record depends on its type and date.
- For older (prior to the 1970s) records, and for property surveys and other property-related files not available at the Permitting office, see other records resources.
Fees
Customers can review any file free of charge. For copying services, the standard County rate is charged.
Residential and commercial records
The Permitting Records Center can access residential building permits back to approximately 1970. Some of the associated plans/architectural drawings for permitted residential structures also may be available back to 1987.
Homeowners looking to reproduce building plans/architectural drawings that are not available at Permitting will need to hire a private architect to develop new drawings.
Residential
In addition to single family homes, other types of residential permits available back to 1970 and some associated architectural drawings/building plans available back to 1987 include:
- decks
- retaining walls
- garages and carports
- additions
- storage buildings
- pools
- modular and mobile homes.
For all of these permit types, plans are forwarded to the Records Center as soon as the permit is issued. The associated permit is then forwarded to the Records Center once the project has completed the inspection phase.
Commercial
For commercial structures, the Permitting Records Center can access the building permit, as well as some associated architectural drawings/plans, and also review notes from various review disciplines (e.g., drainage, critical areas) back to approximately 1970.
Land use records
Access land use permits, including subdivisions (plats and short plats), grading permits, conditional use permits, lot line/boundary line adjustments, binding site plans, and other records.
Subdivisions (plats and short plats)
- Subdivisions, also known as plats and short plats, are the most commonly requested land use files.
- On any plat or short plat, the Permitting Records Center receives and stores a Permitting review file after each review phase, e.g., preliminary approval, engineering review, final review, and completion of the inspection phase.
Short Plats. Usually retrieved for customer review within one business day.
Plats. The Permitting Records Center requests these files from its inactive records facility; retrieval may take up to a week.
Grading Permits
All grading permits are forwarded to the Record Center as soon as the inspection phase is complete.
Conditional Use Permits (CUP)
Stored in the Records Center as far back as the mid 1960s.
Lot Line/Boundary Line Adjustments
Stored in the Records Center back to the late 1980s.
Binding Site Plans
Stored in the Records Center back to the 1970s.
Other
Records for unincorporated King County also available from the Records Center:
- Certificates of Occupancy
- Code Enforcement
- Exemption-Innocent Purchaser
- Rezone
- Right-of-Way Use
- Shoreline
- Title Elimination
- Variance
Records stored off-site
Urban Planned Development/Fully Contained Communities/ (UPD/FCC). To review files pertaining to the Redmond Ridge UPD/FCC, contact Permitting at 206-296-6600.