Our Seattle trades are mechanical, electrical, solar and roofing work on single-family and duplex homes; remodels, additions and new homes have no Seattle cost page, so they are not in this guide.
What each job was filed at
"Usual" is the middle permit: half were filed for less, half for more. "Middle half of firms" takes every firm with three or more permits in the trade, finds each firm's usual job, and shows the band the middle 50% of firms sit in; it is the number to hold a quote against.
| Job | Usual filed value | Middle half of firms | Permits (share priced) | Usual days to final | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Furnace & heating | $7,550 | $6,500–$14,000 | 18,668 (96.7%) | 66 | cost · compare firms |
| Heat pump & AC | $8,000 | $6,000–$15,000 | 15,441 (96.4%) | 105 | cost · compare firms |
| Stairlift & home elevator | $12,345 | $6,750–$41,000 | 342 (99.7%) | 51 | cost · compare firms |
| Boiler | $15,000 | $10,600–$21,943 | 428 (91.6%) | 24 | cost · compare firms |
| Solar & battery | $15,040 | $5,000–$19,200 | 2,013 (92.1%) | 43 | cost · compare firms |
| Fire sprinkler | $16,000 | $11,875–$17,800 | 277 (83.4%) | 413 | cost · compare firms |
| Roof replacement | $19,345 | $15,000–$23,183 | 633 (99.8%) | 67 | cost · compare firms |
Electrical, EV-charger and alarm and low-voltage permits have compare pages but no cost page: too few of them carry a value (71.5% of 20,201 electrical permits and 77.1% of 3,347 EV-charger permits). The electrical and EV charger compare pages still rank firms by permits and finished share.
What moves the price in Seattle
The home. Each cost page splits firms into thirds by the usual value of the homes they work on (King County Assessor appraised values). Seattle's single-family value figure is $1,020,000.
| Job | Firms on the least expensive third | Firms on the most expensive third |
|---|---|---|
| Stairlift & home elevator | $6,045 | $45,948 |
| Heat pump & AC | $6,000 | $15,000 |
| Boiler | $14,000 | $20,000 |
| Furnace & heating | $8,000 | $10,000 |
| Roof replacement | $17,360 | $20,000 |
| Fire sprinkler | $21,750 | $10,211 |
Figures from each cost page, data of 17 October 2026. Stairlifts and home elevators share a permit type and jump more than sevenfold; heat pumps go up 2.5 times. Roofs and furnaces move little, and fire sprinklers run the other way.
The firm. In heat pumps the ten busiest firms usually file $8,500 a permit, while the 139 firms with fewer than ten permits usually file $11,000 (Seattle heat-pump cost page). Solar runs the other way: $19,200 for the ten busiest installers against $8,295 for 50 smaller ones (Seattle solar cost page).
The season. Heat-pump permits peak in June (index 130, where 100 is an average month) and are fewest in January (80); furnace permits peak in October. We have no prices by month, so this is about installers' calendars, not discounts.
What a Seattle permit costs
From SDCI's 2026 Fee Subtitle, Seattle Municipal Code Chapter 22.900, effective 1 January 2026 (read 23 October 2026):
| Permit | Fee |
|---|---|
| Furnace, heat pump, wall furnace or woodstove insert, without plans | $60.35 per unit |
| New gas or oil burner | $75.50 per unit |
| Boiler, smallest size (up to 250 sq. ft. heating surface or 200 kW) | $400.70 installation fee |
| Solar (renewable energy system) below 12 kW | $438, plus a $55.48 administrative fee |
| Demolition | 1.5 times the $292 base fee ($438) |
| Building work charged by value | $325 for the first $1,000 of value plus $1.60 per additional $100 up to $25,000 (Development Fee Index) |
Every fee carries a 5% technology fee. Systems at 12 kW and above need a plan-review electrical permit charged on value.
Filed value is not the price
- Most trade fees ignore it. A heat pump or furnace pays per unit and small solar a flat fee, so those values have no fee reason to be trimmed.
- It is what the applicant wrote down. Some installers write the full contract price, some only the permitted part; the middle half of heat-pump installers run from $6,000 to $15,000.
- Solar mixes jobs. Solar & battery is one permit type, and the busiest installers file more than double what smaller ones do.
Check a quote in five minutes
- Find your job in the table and open its cost page.
- Put your quote against the "middle half of firms" band. Inside it is normal here; above it, ask what the extra covers.
- Open compare firms, find the contractor, and read its usual filed value, permit count and finished share.
- Ask whether the price includes the SDCI permit and the final inspection; the usual heat-pump permit here took 105 days to reach final.
Single-job guides: heat pump vs furnace in Seattle, HVAC replacement cost, roof replacement cost. To check a Washington license, see Seattle contractor license lookup.
How we know this
Every row is a permit type with a cost page: SDCI issued at least 100 priced permits of it on single-family and duplex homes in the window 2023-10 to 2026-09, making up at least 80% of the type. Usual = median of the permits that carry a value; middle half of firms = 25th to 75th percentile of the usual value of firms with three or more permits in the trade (shown when at least eight firms qualify); days = median from permit issue to final inspection. Home-value thirds and busiest-firm figures are copied from each job's cost page and dated. Fees are quoted from SDCI's 2026 Fee Subtitle linked under Sources.
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.
Compare every Seattle heat-pump installer by usual job and finished share →
Questions
- What does heat pump installation cost in Seattle?
The usual heat-pump and AC permit in Seattle was filed at $8,000, across 15,441 permits, and the middle half of 207 installers usually file between $6,000 and $15,000. Installers on the most expensive third of homes usually file $15,000, against $6,000 on the least expensive third (Seattle heat-pump cost page, data of 17 October 2026).
- How much does furnace replacement cost in Seattle?
Furnace and heating permits were usually filed at $7,550 (18,668 permits), with the middle half of 215 HVAC firms between $6,500 and $14,000. Home value moves it less than for heat pumps: $8,000 on the least expensive third of homes, $10,000 on the most expensive.
- How much does roof replacement cost in Seattle?
The usual roofing permit was filed at $19,345 across 633 permits, with the middle half of 12 roofers between $15,000 and $23,183. The usual roofing permit took 67 days from issue to final inspection.
- How much does electrical work cost in Seattle?
Electrical has no cost page because only 71.5% of Seattle's 20,201 electrical permits carry a value; among those, the usual figure is $4,067. One permit type covers a circuit and a panel upgrade, so treat it as a rough guide and ask what a quote covers.
- How much is a permit for a heat pump in Seattle?
SDCI's 2026 Fee Subtitle charges $60.35 per unit for a furnace or heat pump installed without plans, plus a 5% technology fee on all fees. A solar system below 12 kW is a $438 electrical permit plus a $55.48 administrative fee.
Build your own list
Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.
Related guides
- How to finance a roof, heat pump or solar: FHA, USDA, PACE and state loans compared
- Seattle building permit search: Services Portal, permit history tool and old microfilm
- Seattle contractor license lookup: which license, where to search, and what the permits show
- Home improvement costs in Boulder County, CO (2026): what 10 kinds of jobs were filed at