What is the permit turnaround in Auburn?

From issue to final inspection, the usual permit takes 63 days (middle half 23 to 184 days), from 1,343 permits issued Feb 2023-Jan 2024. The wait to get a permit issued is not in this file; ask the city for its current review times.

Which permits finish fastest in Auburn?

HVAC permits, at 34 days. The slowest are new home permits, at 217 days. Bigger jobs take longer; so does work where the final inspection is easy to forget.

How many permits actually get finished in Auburn?

69% of the 1,937 permits issued Feb 2023-Jan 2024 have finished; 6% expired without a final and the rest are still open.

Why does an open permit matter to me?

An unfinished permit stays with the property, not the contractor. It can hold up a sale or a refinance. Ask whoever does the work to call for the final inspection and show you the result.

How Long Do Permits Take in Auburn, WA? 63 Days Usual (2025)

Getting the permit vs finishing the work: two different clocks

“How long does a permit take?” can mean two waits. This page measures the second one.

Getting the permit (not measured): application → issue, the wait for the city to approve the plans. Ask the city for its current review times.

Finishing the work (measured here): issue → final. From the day the city issued the permit to the day it recorded the final inspection. We count only permits issued Feb 2023–Jan 2024, at least 12 months before the file ends, so slow jobs have had time to finish; a permit still open is not in the days.

By kind of work

Permits issued Feb 2023–Jan 2024. Usual days is the middle permit among those with a final date: half finished sooner, half later. Middle half is the range the middle 50% fell in. Kinds of work with fewer than 100 permits in that period are left out.

Kind of work	Permits	Finished	Expired	Usual days to final	Middle half (days)
HVAC	867	59.9%	1.7%	34	18–105
Plumbing	321	79.4%	1.2%	82	13–188
Solar	102	93.1%	6.9%	44	27–68
Other	406	72.4%	15.3%	102	48–195

Download this table (CSV)

How long each kind of permit takes

Each kind of work on its own, issue to the city's final.

How long does an HVAC replacement take in Auburn, from permit to final?

The usual HVAC permit in the City of Auburn takes 34 days from issue to final; the middle half take 18 to 105 days (518 permits with a final date, issued Feb 2023–Jan 2024). 60% of the 867 permits issued then have finished and 2% expired. Auburn HVAC permits →

How long does plumbing work take in Auburn, from permit to final?

The usual plumbing permit in the City of Auburn takes 82 days from issue to final; the middle half take 13 to 188 days (255 permits with a final date, issued Feb 2023–Jan 2024). 79% of the 321 permits issued then have finished and 1% expired. Auburn plumbing permits →

How long does a solar installation take in Auburn, from permit to final?

The usual solar permit in the City of Auburn takes 44 days from issue to final; the middle half take 27 to 68 days (95 permits with a final date, issued Feb 2023–Jan 2024). 93% of the 102 permits issued then have finished and 7% expired.

How long does building a new home take in Auburn, from permit to final?

The usual new home permit in the City of Auburn takes 217 days from issue to final; the middle half take 191 to 267 days (50 permits with a final date, issued Feb 2023–Jan 2024).

How Auburn compares with other cities

From our cross-city data studies: the same measure, read the same way, for every city we cover.

34 days for the usual HVAC permit here, issue to final, against 76 days across 34 cities (8th quickest of 35). How long permits take, city by city →
82 days for the usual plumbing permit here, issue to final, against 75 days across 35 cities (17th slowest of 36). How long permits take, city by city →
60% finished of HVAC permits a year or more old here, against 79% across 39 cities (9th lowest of 40). Permit completion rates by city →
38% still open of HVAC permits a year after issue here, against 21% across 39 cities (10th most left open of 40). Permits still open after a year, by city →

Nearby permit data

How long permits take for other places in Seattle and Puget Sound. Each permit office keeps its own file, so the numbers are not added together.

Seattle, WA Bellevue, WA King County, WA Everett, WA Tacoma, WA Pierce County, WA Kitsap County, WA

How these numbers are made

Source: City of Auburn open data, Permits (Socrata fted-8bve), read 19 Oct 2026. We count permits issued February 2023 through January 2025; denied and withdrawn permits are left out.

Building, mechanical, plumbing, side-sewer, demolition, fire-protection and sign permits issued by the City of Auburn for property inside city limits, in both its King County and Pierce County parts (Lea Hill, Lakeland Hills, West Hill and downtown). Electrical permits are issued by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries and are not in this file. Unincorporated King County permits (the separate King County page) and neighbouring cities such as Kent, Federal Way, Algona and Pacific are not in this file. Street, utility, storm, grading and right-of-way permits are left out.

The city's open-data file stopped updating on 25 February 2025, so the window ends in January 2025, the last full month on file. Statuses are as of that date: permits finaled later still show as open.
The file has no declared job value, so we show no costs.
Electrical permits in Washington are issued by the state Department of Labor & Industries, not the city, so there is no electrical count here.
A final date is the city's finaled date, used only when the permit's status says finaled. For permits that were not finaled the file repeats the extract date, which we ignore.
Over-the-counter mechanical permits (furnaces, heat pumps, gas piping and gas appliances) count as HVAC; they carry no description, so water heaters filed as mechanical permits count there too.
Over-the-counter trade permits count as homes when the county parcel record shows a house, duplex, townhouse, condominium or mobile home on the lot.

Counts are permits, not jobs: one job can need several permits. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can. Sources and definitions →

Cite this page

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Please credit Contractor Records and link to this page. Suggested citation:

Contractor Records, "How long do permits take in the City of Auburn, WA?", https://contractorrecords.com/auburn-wa/how-long-does-a-permit-take, data through January 2025, from City of Auburn Community Development building-permit records.

Link to a table: By kind of work · Each kind of permit.

Download the tables (CSV): Days to final by kind of work.

Common questions

What is the permit turnaround in Auburn?From issue to final inspection, the usual permit takes 63 days (middle half 23 to 184 days), from 1,343 permits issued Feb 2023–Jan 2024. The wait to get a permit issued is not in this file; ask the city for its current review times.
Which permits finish fastest in Auburn?HVAC permits, at 34 days. The slowest are new home permits, at 217 days. Bigger jobs take longer; so does work where the final inspection is easy to forget.
How many permits actually get finished in Auburn?69% of the 1,937 permits issued Feb 2023–Jan 2024 have finished; 6% expired without a final and the rest are still open.
Why does an open permit matter to me?An unfinished permit stays with the property, not the contractor. It can hold up a sale or a refinance. Ask whoever does the work to call for the final inspection and show you the result.

Auburn permit data →Auburn permit statistics →Browse Auburn permits →