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Unincorporated Pierce County, WA building permits

Data through September 2026 · updated 20 Oct 2026

15,087 building permits were issued in unincorporated Pierce County from October 2024 to September 2026, about 7,544 a year. HVAC permits lead with 5,332, then plumbing (2,916) and new homes (2,739). 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, when and how fast the county signed it off.

15,087permits issued
7,544a year
89%for homes
69%finished (Oct 2024–Sep 2025 permits)
74days, usual issue to final
Sep 2026records through

What gets built here

HVAC

5,332permits
2,649last 12 mo
24days to final

Plumbing

2,916permits
1,504last 12 mo
21days to final

New homes

2,739permits
1,354last 12 mo
166days to final

Remodels & repairs

1,233permits
651last 12 mo
65days to final

Garages, sheds & shade structures

592permits
298last 12 mo
168days to final

Solar

259permits
68last 12 mo
40days to final

Demolition

217permits
123last 12 mo
99days to final

Additions

214permits
118last 12 mo
257days to final

What this page can and can't show

  • ✓Permits the county issued, by kind of work and month.
  • ✓How long a permit takes from issue to the county's final inspection.
  • ✓Which permits finished, are still open or expired.
  • ✓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.
  • Where, by ZIP code. The file carries no usable ZIP code.
  • Street addresses or owners. We publish counts and permit rows without them.

Building, mechanical, plumbing, manufactured-home, demolition, pool and sign permits Pierce County Planning & Public Works issues for unincorporated land only: Spanaway, Graham, Frederickson, Parkland, South Hill, Lake Tapps, the Key Peninsula, Gig Harbor peninsula and similar places. Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, University Place, Gig Harbor city, Bonney Lake and the other cities run their own permit offices and are not in this file. Engineering, sewer and fire-prevention permits are left out.

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 L&I contractor lookup, 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
HVAC5,33235%2,649
Plumbing2,91619%1,504
New homes2,73918%1,354
Remodels & repairs1,2338%651
Garages, sheds & shade structures5924%298
Solar2592%68
Demolition2171%123
Additions2141%118
ADUs & casitas145under 1%82
Roofing139under 1%98
Other1,2008%580

Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: fences & walls (71), pools & spas (30).

Download this table (CSV)

Pierce County permit statistics →How long permits take in Pierce County →Pierce County building permit search: PALS Online, statuses and records →

Before you start a project

All guides →

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.

Seattle, WABellevue, WAKing County, WAEverett, WATacoma, WAKitsap County, WAAuburn, WA

How these numbers are made

Source: Pierce County Open Data, Permits - Pierce County (Permits_Pierce_County, from PALS Plus), read 20 Oct 2026. We count permits issued October 2024 through September 2026; denied and withdrawn permits are left out.

Building, mechanical, plumbing, manufactured-home, demolition, pool and sign permits Pierce County Planning & Public Works issues for unincorporated land only: Spanaway, Graham, Frederickson, Parkland, South Hill, Lake Tapps, the Key Peninsula, Gig Harbor peninsula and similar places. Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, University Place, Gig Harbor city, Bonney Lake and the other cities run their own permit offices and are not in this file. Engineering, sewer and fire-prevention permits are left out.

  • The county's open permit file names no contractor, so there are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages for Pierce County.
  • The value is the building valuation the county works out to set the permit fee (largely from floor area and type of construction); mechanical and plumbing permits carry none. It is not a final cost.
  • The file has no property ZIP code, so there are no ZIP code pages for Pierce County.
  • Electrical permits in Washington are issued by the state Department of Labor & Industries, not the county, so electrical work does not appear here; rooftop solar appears only when it needed a county building permit.
  • Mechanical permits cover furnaces, heat pumps and air conditioning, and also gas piping, gas fireplaces and water heaters; those last are counted as plumbing when the description says so.
  • A final date is the county's final date; permits the county cancelled are not counted.

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 Pierce County, WA building permits", https://contractorrecords.com/pierce-county/, data through September 2026, from Pierce County Planning & Public Works 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 Pierce County issue a year?About 7,544 a year in unincorporated Pierce County: 15,087 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026, 7,558 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 Pierce 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 L&I contractor lookup and ask the contractor for the permit number of a past job.
  • What do people build most in Pierce County?HVAC: 5,332 of the 15,087 permits (35%), then plumbing (2,916), new homes (2,739), October 2024 through September 2026.
  • How long does a building permit take in Pierce County?The usual permit took 74 days from issue to the county's final (middle half: 21 to 169 days), from 5,187 permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025 that reached a final. Each kind of work →
  • How do I look up a building permit in Pierce County?Filter the permit list on this page by month, kind of work 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 Pierce County →
  • How many permits were issued in Pierce County last month?598 in September 2026, the last full month on file; 7,558 over the last 12 months.

Browse the permits

Browse 15,087 permits

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

The list loads as you reach it (15,087 permits).

IssuedKind of workCounty permit typeStatus

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 2026598HVAC (196)
Aug 2026573HVAC (185)
Jul 2026649HVAC (255)
Jun 2026760HVAC (297)
May 2026675HVAC (238)
Apr 2026842HVAC (280)
Mar 2026618HVAC (228)
Feb 2026532HVAC (183)
Jan 2026608HVAC (214)
Dec 2025528HVAC (174)
Nov 2025542HVAC (176)
Oct 2025633HVAC (223)

Download this table (CSV)