Which addresses this covers
Pierce County Planning & Public Works permits unincorporated land: Spanaway, Graham, Frederickson, Parkland, South Hill, Lake Tapps, the Key Peninsula, the Gig Harbor peninsula and similar places. Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, University Place, the city of Gig Harbor, Bonney Lake and the other cities run their own permit offices. Electrical permits in Washington come from the state Department of Labor & Industries, not the county.
| Tool | Search by | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| PALS Online permit search | Site specifics: address or parcel | Application status, completed inspections, documents |
| About My Property | Address or tax parcel number | Parcel information, alerts and PALS documents |
| Permits - Pierce County (open data) | Any field | Application type, status, parcel, valuation, issue and final dates, and a link to each permit's PALS Online page; our source |
How to look up the permits on a Pierce County address
- Open PALS Online and go to the permit search.
- Search by the site address, or by the 10-digit tax parcel number.
- Open each application on the parcel. A furnace, a water heater and a re-roof are separate permits; mechanical permits also cover gas piping and gas fireplaces.
- Select View Completed Inspections to see whether the final passed.
- Open the Documents tab for the permit card, plans or inspection records.
What the statuses mean
| Status in the county file | What it means | How we count it |
|---|---|---|
| Final, Administrative Final, Final Pending, Closed (or a final date) | Signed off | Finished |
| Issued and other active statuses | Work under way or not finaled | Open |
| Expired | Lapsed before a final | Expired |
| Cancelled, Denied, Withdrawn | Never went ahead | Left out |
Of permits issued October 2024 to September 2025, 68.9% had finished, 26.6% had expired and 4.4% were still open by our 20 October 2026 snapshot. Most of the expiries are small trade jobs: 37.0% of mechanical (HVAC) permits and 35.5% of plumbing permits expired, against 2.0% of new homes. If your furnace or water heater permit reads Expired, ask the installer to book the final.
When the record is not online
The county's Public Records page points Planning & Public Works requests to PALS Online first and then to the county's public records request portal, linked from the same page (read 24 October 2026). Requests are handled under the Washington Public Records Act (RCW 42.56).
What our Pierce County pages add
Our Pierce County page adds the county's permits up, October 2024 to September 2026:
| Kind of work | Permits (Oct 2024–Sep 2026) | Finished (issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025) | Usual days to final (issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| HVAC | 5,332 | 61.8% | 24 |
| Plumbing | 2,916 | 63.0% | 21 |
| New homes | 2,739 | 89.9% | 166 |
| Remodels and repairs | 1,233 | 66.3% | 65 |
| Garages, sheds and shade structures | 592 | 70.4% | 168 |
| Solar | 259 | 84.3% | 40 |
89% of the 15,087 permits were on homes, and the usual permit that reached a final took 74 days (issued October 2024 to September 2025). The permit statistics page has year and month counts, how long a permit takes has the ranges, and browse permits lists the rows. The additions, ADU, roofing and demolition pages cover the smaller kinds of work. To check a contractor's state registration, see How to check a contractor's license in Washington.
What this does not tell you
The county's open permit file names no contractor and no ZIP code, so there are no firm lists or ZIP pages for Pierce County. Its value is the building valuation the county works out to set the fee, largely from floor area and type of construction; it is not what the job cost, and mechanical and plumbing permits carry none.
How we know this
The PALS Online search route and records process are from Pierce County's PALS and Public Records pages, and the About My Property search fields from PALS Online itself, all read 24 October 2026. Our counts are Pierce County Open Data's Permits - Pierce County layer (from PALS Plus), read 20 October 2026: permits issued October 2024 to September 2026, unincorporated county only.
Numbers come from public permit records in 57 cities, data through October 20, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Questions
- How do I find out if a permit was pulled on my house in Pierce County?
If the house is in unincorporated Pierce County, open PALS Online's permit search and search using the site's address or 10-digit tax parcel number. Open the application, then View Completed Inspections and the Documents tab. About My Property in PALS Online also searches by address or parcel.
- Does Pierce County issue permits for Tacoma, Puyallup or Gig Harbor?
No. The county permits unincorporated land, such as Spanaway, Graham, Frederickson, Parkland, South Hill, Lake Tapps and the Key Peninsula. Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, University Place, the city of Gig Harbor, Bonney Lake and the other cities run their own permit offices.
- Where are electrical permits in Pierce County?
Not in PALS. In Washington, electrical permits and inspections are issued by the state Department of Labor & Industries, so electrical work does not appear in the county's permit file or on our Pierce County pages.
- How do I request an old Pierce County permit file?
The county's Public Records page says to check PALS Online first, since permit documents may already be there. If not, submit a request through the county's public records portal linked from that page.
- Why did my Pierce County furnace or water heater permit expire?
It was never given a final inspection. Of permits issued October 2024 to September 2025, 37.0% of mechanical permits and 35.5% of plumbing permits had expired by our October 2026 snapshot, far more than new homes (2.0%).
Build your own list
Pick your city and the kind of work. Every firm with a permit on record, sorted by what you value.
Related guides
- Adams County, CO building permit search: the e-Permit Center, statuses and CORA
- Alachua County building permit search: Citizenserve, statuses and old records
- Anaheim building permit search: Anaheim NEXT and the Building Permit Report
- Arlington, VA building permit search: Permit Arlington lookups and FOIA requests
- Tempe building permit search: how to look up permits on an address
- Thornton building permit search: the CityView portal, statuses and records
- PALS — Pierce County Planning & Public Works (2026-10-24)
- PALS Online permit search — Pierce County (2026-10-24)
- PALS Online About My Property — Pierce County (2026-10-24)
- Public Records — Pierce County (2026-10-24)
- Permits - Pierce County — Pierce County Open Data (ArcGIS) (2026-10-20)