Where to search Seattle permits
| Tool | Search by | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle Services Portal | Address, record number | Permits since 2005: applicant team, description, status, inspections, related permits, documents |
| Permit & Site History Research Tool | Address or map | Links to every record in the Accela system and older systems, plans and historical permits |
| Permit and Property Records | Address, record number | Scanned permits and inspections, including microfilm back to about 1894 |
| Building, Trade and Electrical Permits (open data) | Any column, including ContractorCompanyName | Status, issued, expires and completed dates, estimated project cost |
| Our Seattle firm list | Contractor name | Each firm's permits, share completed and days to completion |
How to look up permits on a Seattle address
- Open the Seattle Services Portal and click Search All Records.
- Enter the address (SDCI suggests the % wild card if you aren't sure, and no punctuation) or the record number.
- Sort the results by column, then open each record number for status, inspections and documents.
- For the contractor, filter the open dataset for the address: building permits name the contractor rarely, trade and electrical permits usually do.
- Plumbing and gas piping permits are issued by Public Health – Seattle & King County, not SDCI.
What the statuses mean
Our pages count Completed and Closed as finished, timed to the completed date. Expired counts as not finished. Seattle's building permits name a contractor on very few home permits, so our Seattle pages cover trade and electrical work: heat pumps, HVAC, electrical, solar, EV chargers and roofing (Seattle about page; methodology).
| Trade | Permits | Firms | Completed (a year or more old) | Usual days to completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical | 20,201 | 899 | 94.5% | 42 |
| Heat pump | 15,441 | 272 | 85.6% | 105 |
| HVAC | 18,668 | 316 | 86.2% | 66 |
| EV charger | 3,347 | 385 | 94.0% | 20 |
| Solar | 2,013 | 81 | 97.1% | 43 |
| Roofing | 633 | 61 | 88.6% | 67 |
Heat-pump permits take the longest of these trades: the usual one is completed in 105 days. One open well past that is the time to ask the installer about the final inspection.
When the record is not online
SDCI says "All of the oldest permits (from approximately 1894 to 1970) and microfiche permits (1970-2004), except roll film have been scanned" into Permit and Property Records, listed under Historical Microfilm Permit. "Most construction plans (including trade, side sewer, electrical, etc.) from 2007-present are not listed but are available via request": send the permit number and project address to SCI_Microfilm@seattle.gov. Other records go through the City's Public Records Request Center (read 23 October 2026).
What our Seattle data adds
The portal is organised by record. Ours groups the same permits by firm: the Seattle permit statistics, and the compare lists for heat pumps, electricians, solar and roofers. The Washington L&I and City trade-license checks are in the Seattle contractor license lookup; which jobs need a permit is in Do I need a permit?
See every Seattle heat-pump installer by share completed →
How we know this
Search steps and record coverage are quoted from SDCI's Research a Project, Permit, or Property page, and column names from the City of Seattle's Building, Trade and Electrical Permits open datasets, all read 23 October 2026. Our counts are SDCI permits on Seattle homes, October 2023 to September 2026.
Numbers come from City of Seattle (SDCI) building, trade and electrical permits on single-family and duplex homes (the city's open-data exports), data through October 17, 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 Seattle?
On the Seattle Services Portal home page, click Search All Records and enter the address or record number. SDCI says this finds all permit activity from 2005 on, including status, inspections and documents.
- Are Seattle building permits public record?
Yes. Permits are in the Seattle Services Portal and SDCI's Permit and Property Records library, and the building, trade and electrical permit files are published as open data with the contractor's company name.
- How do I find old Seattle permits from before 2005?
Search the address in SDCI's Permit and Property Records library. SDCI says the oldest permits (about 1894 to 1970) and the microfiche permits (1970 to 2004) have been scanned and appear under Historical Microfilm Permit.
- How do I get the plans for a Seattle permit?
Most construction plans from 2007 on are not listed online. Email SCI_Microfilm@seattle.gov with the permit number and project address and SDCI will send approved plans by email.
- Can I search Seattle permits by contractor?
Yes, in the open data, which has a ContractorCompanyName column. Our Seattle pages group 63,674 permits from October 2023 to September 2026 under 2,266 firms.
Build your own list
Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.
Related guides
- Seattle contractor license lookup: which license, where to search, and what the permits show
- Anaheim building permit search: Anaheim NEXT and the Building Permit Report
- San Diego County building permit search: Accela Citizen Access for unincorporated areas
- The best month to start electrical, HVAC and solar work (by city)
- Home improvement costs in Seattle, WA (2026): what 7 kinds of jobs were filed at
- What a building permit record shows (and what "final" means)
For one city
- Research a Project, Permit, or Property — Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (2026-10-23)
- Seattle Services Portal — City of Seattle (2026-10-23)
- SDCI Permit & Site History Research Tool (2026-10-23)
- Permit and Property Records — SDCI (2026-10-23)
- Building Permits — Seattle Open Data (2026-10-23)
- Trade Permits — Seattle Open Data (2026-10-23)
- Electrical Permits — Seattle Open Data (2026-10-23)
- Public Records Request Center — City of Seattle (2026-10-23)