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Unincorporated King County, WA building permits

Data through September 2026 · updated 23 Oct 2026

7,283 building permits were issued in unincorporated King County from October 2024 to September 2026, about 3,642 a year. HVAC permits lead with 4,999, then remodels & repairs (525) and new homes (380). 89% were for homes. The county's file doesn't name contractors, so we can't rank, compare or profile firms here: these pages show what was built, where and when.

7,283permits issued
3,642a year
89%for homes
Sep 2026records through

What gets built here

What this page can and can't show

  • ✓Permits the county issued, by kind of work, month and ZIP code.
  • ✓What the job was declared at on the permit.
  • Who did the work. The county's file doesn't name contractors, so we can't rank, compare or profile firms here.
  • Which permits were finished. The county's monthly report shows each permit's status only as of the month it was issued and never updates it.
  • Street addresses or owners. We publish counts and permit rows without them.

Building permits King County Local Services issues for unincorporated land only: homes, additions, remodels, heating and mechanical, demolition and commercial buildings. Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond, Kent, Renton and the other cities issue their own permits; Seattle and Bellevue have their own pages on this site. Fire, grading and right-of-way permits are not counted.

Hiring someone here?

The permit file can't tell you who does good work. Ask for the contractor's license number and look it up at the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries contractor search, then ask the county whether they pulled the permit for your job.

How to check a contractor's license in Washington →

Permits by kind of work

Permits issued October 2024 through September 2026, every kind of work with 100 or more. Last 12 months is Oct 2025–Sep 2026. Homes is the share issued as residential permits.

Kind of workPermitsShareLast 12 mo
HVAC4,99969%2,417
Remodels & repairs5257%212
New homes3805%148
Garages, sheds & shade structures3204%177
Additions2554%129
Demolition1262%62
Other6108%297

Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: ADUs & casitas (68).

Download this table (CSV)

Guides for King County

Local permit rules and lookups, each with King County's own permit numbers.

Nearby permit data

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

How these numbers are made

Source: King County Local Services, monthly Issued Permits Reports (Excel), read 23 Oct 2026. We count permits issued October 2024 through September 2026; denied and withdrawn permits are left out. The county's monthly report shows each permit's status only as of the month it was issued and never updates it, so no finished share is shown.

Building permits King County Local Services issues for unincorporated land only: homes, additions, remodels, heating and mechanical, demolition and commercial buildings. Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond, Kent, Renton and the other cities issue their own permits; Seattle and Bellevue have their own pages on this site. Fire, grading and right-of-way permits are not counted.

  • King County publishes its issued permits as a monthly spreadsheet; these pages stack the reports from October 2024 on.
  • Each permit is listed once, in the month it was issued, with its status as of that report, so the file can't say which permits were later finished, and there is no final date.
  • The county's file names no contractor (only the applicant, often the homeowner), so there are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages for King County.
  • Electrical permits in unincorporated King County come from Washington Labor & Industries and plumbing permits from Public Health, so there are no electrical or plumbing counts here.
  • Residential mechanical permits (heat pumps, furnaces, ducts) are over half of the county's permits and carry no declared value; values are the job value on the other permits.
  • Additions, accessory buildings and remodels are split out of the county's addition/improvement permits by their descriptions.

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, "Unincorporated King County, WA building permits", https://contractorrecords.com/king-county/, data through September 2026, from King County Department of Local Services, Permitting building-permit records.

Link to a table: By kind of work · Browse the permits · Permits each month.

Download the tables (CSV): Permits by kind of work · Permits in the last 12 months.

Common questions

  • How many building permits does King County issue a year?About 3,642 a year in unincorporated King County: 7,283 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026, 3,472 of them in the last 12 months. That counts the permits the county issued, homes and commercial, not denied or withdrawn applications.
  • Can I find a contractor's permits in King County?Not from this file: the county publishes its permits without the contractor's name, so we can't list or rank firms. Check a license at the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries contractor search and ask the contractor for the permit number of a past job.
  • What do people build most in King County?HVAC: 4,999 of the 7,283 permits (69%), then remodels & repairs (525), new homes (380), October 2024 through September 2026.
  • How do I look up a building permit in King County?Filter the permit list on this page by month, kind of work and ZIP code to see what was issued. For one property's permits, search the county's own records by address or permit number; we don't publish addresses. How to look up a permit in King County →
  • How many permits were issued in King County last month?266 in September 2026, the last full month on file; 3,472 over the last 12 months.

Browse the permits

Browse 7,283 permits

Every permit in the file issued October 2024 through September 2026, newest first. Pick a month, a kind of work or a ZIP code. Each row is one permit: no street address, no names.

The list loads as you reach it (7,283 permits).

IssuedKind of workCounty permit typeZIP

Permits each month, the last 12 months

Permits issued each month and the kind of work with the most. A month opens its permits in the list above.

MonthPermitsTop kind of work
Sep 2026266HVAC (189)
Aug 2026289HVAC (179)
Jul 2026334HVAC (237)
Jun 2026309HVAC (217)
May 2026273HVAC (191)
Apr 2026266HVAC (176)
Mar 2026289HVAC (184)
Feb 2026226HVAC (167)
Jan 2026244HVAC (184)
Dec 2025292HVAC (212)
Nov 2025301HVAC (222)
Oct 2025383HVAC (259)

Download this table (CSV)