Permit records research

Instructions on how to research building and land use permits which have been finalized, closed or are still active in unincorporated King County can be found below. Code Enforcement case files may also be made available after they have been reviewed by staff for attorney/client privilege or confidentiality.

For records on property located within city limits, you must contact the city directly. Permitting Records Center does maintain some records for properties that are annexed or incorporated into a city after finalization of a King County permit.

Research available records online or submit a records request for property in unincorporated King County.

How to submit a request for permit records

To request a record online, please create an account and submit your request here. You will be provided with tracking details regarding your request and is the fastest way to get available records related to permits with King County.

Confirm jurisdiction

By email:

Complete the Permitting Research Request form to request records for property in unincorporated King County.

Send the form by e-mail as follows:
- Complete the fill-in fields and save.
- Create an e-mail message and attach your completed Research Request Form. Please include your contact information in the body of the email.
- Send to Permitrecords@kingcounty.gov.

By phone:

Call the Permitting Records voicemail request line at 206-296-6696

Please note:

Most records for property located within city limits (Seattle, Bellevue, etc.) require contacting the city not King County Permitting. Check jurisdiction of a property to see if it's in unincorporated King County or is inside the city limits.
Check the types of building permit records and land use permit records maintained by the Permitting Records Center and the approximate historical availability of files. The location of a record depends on its type and date.
For older (prior to the 1970s) records, and for property surveys and other property-related files not available at the Permitting office, see other records resources.

Fees

Customers can review any file free of charge. For copying services, the standard County rate is charged.

Records Access

For information on other types of records related to property within unincorporated King County, please see below.

To request public records from the King County Permitting Division under the provisions of the Washington State Public Records Act (RCW 42.56)

Please provide:

Requester's name, address, and phone. Please include e-mail address and/or fax also if available.
A clear and detailed description of the specific records being requested.
One or all of the following:
- permit number(s)
- site address
- parcel number

By email: send your public records request to the King County Public Records Program.

By US Mail: send your written request to

Public Records Program

201 S Jackson Street, Suite 320

Seattle, WA 98104

A written response to your request will be issued within five business days of receipt.

Research on specific parcels or permits in unincorporated King County

Washington State Archives

For newer (1972 to present) property records in King County, search the Washington State Archives available resources. For older King County property records (1937 - 1972 and Tax Assessment Rolls prior to 1937), contact the Puget Sound Regional Branch of the State Archives in Bellevue, 425-564-3940. Annexations, Deeds, Easements, Land Titles, Liens, can also be found with the Washington State Archives.

King County historical records and archives

For older King County property and land use records, see the King County Archives for historical county government records.

King County Recorder's Office - Property surveys

For property surveys recorded since 1973 (often used to determine property boundary lines), contact the King County Recorder's Office at 206-477-6620. Recorded Plats, Short Plats, Condominiums, and Planned Unit Developments for all of King County are available for viewing and printing at the Recorder's Office.

King County Assessor's property search systems

See the King County Assessor's site for their property search systems for finding assessment information.

King County Roads Services Map and Records Center

See the King County Road Services Division Map and Records Center for mapping and historical survey data on roadway establishments, drainage plans, plats, and road construction plan and profiles. Various other maps are also available, such as topographic maps from the USGS and engineers' maps.

Seattle - King County Public Health

Vital statistics (birth and death records)

Environmental Health (food safety, public pools, plumbing, wells and septic)

Residential and commercial records

The Permitting Records Center can access residential building permits back to approximately 1970. Some of the associated plans/architectural drawings for permitted residential structures also may be available back to 1987.

Homeowners looking to reproduce building plans/architectural drawings that are not available at Permitting will need to hire a private architect to develop new drawings.

Residential

In addition to single family homes, other types of residential permits available back to 1970 and some associated architectural drawings/building plans available back to 1987 include:

decks
retaining walls
garages and carports
additions
storage buildings
pools
modular and mobile homes.

For all of these permit types, plans are forwarded to the Records Center as soon as the permit is issued. The associated permit is then forwarded to the Records Center once the project has completed the inspection phase.

Commercial

For commercial structures, the Permitting Records Center can access the building permit, as well as some associated architectural drawings/plans, and also review notes from various review disciplines (e.g., drainage, critical areas) back to approximately 1970.

Land use records

Access land use permits, including subdivisions (plats and short plats), grading permits, conditional use permits, lot line/boundary line adjustments, binding site plans, and other records.

Subdivisions (plats and short plats)

Subdivisions, also known as plats and short plats, are the most commonly requested land use files.
On any plat or short plat, the Permitting Records Center receives and stores a Permitting review file after each review phase, e.g., preliminary approval, engineering review, final review, and completion of the inspection phase.

Short Plats. Usually retrieved for customer review within one business day.

Plats. The Permitting Records Center requests these files from its inactive records facility; retrieval may take up to a week.

Grading Permits

All grading permits are forwarded to the Record Center as soon as the inspection phase is complete.

Conditional Use Permits (CUP)

Stored in the Records Center as far back as the mid 1960s.

Lot Line/Boundary Line Adjustments

Stored in the Records Center back to the late 1980s.

Binding Site Plans

Stored in the Records Center back to the 1970s.

Other

Records for unincorporated King County also available from the Records Center:

Certificates of Occupancy
Code Enforcement
Exemption-Innocent Purchaser
Rezone
Right-of-Way Use
Shoreline
Title Elimination
Variance

Records stored off-site

Urban Planned Development/Fully Contained Communities/ (UPD/FCC). To review files pertaining to the Redmond Ridge UPD/FCC, contact Permitting at 206-296-6600.