Construction Permit Performance

Performance Goals

As of October 1, 2025, the City has specific goals for how quickly SDCI and other permitting departments should issue construction permits. These goals are based on project complexity and range from 30 to 180 days.

The goals shown below represent the Calendar Days in City Control that we aim to achieve for 75% of reviews. These are aggressive goals set by the Mayor. However, they are within reach of past performance in Seattle and bring us closer to alignment with benchmarks from peer cities.

If you are applying now, the Current (75th Percentile) values are a better indicator of expected timelines than the Goals.

Goals for Permit Intake to Issuance by Calendar Days in City Control

The values in the table above are the number of calendar days in City control it takes SDCI to issue a permit once the application has been formally accepted. The total number of calendar days to obtain a permit experienced by the applicant is roughly twice the calendar days in City control.

Meeting these goals won’t happen overnight. It will take steady work from SDCI and other departments to make the improvements our permitting system needs. To drive that work, the City created the Permitting Accountability and Customer Trust (PACT) team. PACT is designed to improve the speed, predictability, and transparency of permits for housing and small businesses. This page compiles several datasets to track our improvement toward meeting the City’s goals.

What do the numbers mean?

The performance graphs and goals measure how long it takes a construction permit application to move from intake (when the City accepts an application) to issuance (when the City issues a permit).  

Most permits typically involve several review cycles:

1. The City reviews the application and issues a correction notice.
2. The applicant updates their plans and resubmits their application.
3. This process repeats until all issues are resolved and the permit is ready to be issued.

The graphs and goals use two different measures:

• Total Calendar Days: includes both City review time and applicant time spent preparing a response.
• Calendar Days in City Control: counts only the days when the City is reviewing or taking action. It excludes time when the application is with the applicant (e.g. waiting for a resubmission after a correction notice or waiting for a fee to be paid).

The goals table and performance graphs report two kinds of numbers:

• 75th Percentile: 3 out of 4 permits take less time than the 75th percentile value while 1 in 4 take longer. The 75th percentile answers the question: How long do most permits take?
• Median: half of permits take less time than the median and half take longer. The median answers the question: How long does a typical project take?

What are the project categories?

PACT is focused on improving permitting for housing construction and small businesses. Categories include:

• Multifamily: Middle – adding 1-6 housing units (e.g. replacing a single-family home with a duplex, townhouse, or single-family home plus an attached or detached accessory dwelling unit).
• Multifamily: Large – adding 7 or more housing units (e.g. large apartment buildings).
• Pre-Approved DADU Plans – building a detached accessory dwelling unit (DADU) using Pre-Approved DADU plans from ADUniverse.
• Single Family – replacing one standalone house with another.
• Single Family Addition/Alteration – expanding or renovating an existing house beyond what a “Subject-to-Field-Inspection” permit covers.
• Commercial Addition/Alteration – expanding or renovating existing commercial space beyond what a “Subject-to-Field-Inspection” permit covers.

What happens next?

The data on this page will be updated regularly to show current permitting timelines and progress toward our goals. The PACT team is also working with SDCI and other departments to bring the same level of transparency to additional permits for housing and small businesses.

Additional Performance Data

The graphs below provide additional data describing specific components of the construction permit review process. Issuing permits in a more timely manner will likely require reductions in each of the measures shown below. The graphs begin in 2020 as that is the earliest available data for individual steps in the process.   

Calendar Days in Plan Review, City Control

Plan review is typically the largest phase in the construction permit process. The graph below shows the Calendar Days in City Control that a permit spent in plan review. The goals from the table above are included on this graph as both the goals and this graph use the same basis.

Total Calendar Days in Plan Review 

Plan review is typically the largest phase in the construction permit process. The graph below shows the total clendar days (including both City and applicant time) that a permit spent in plan review.

Calendar Days in Initial Plan Review, City Control

Initial plan review is the City’s first review conducted after SDCI accepts a permit application. The graph below shows the calendar days in City control that a permit spent in initial plan review.

Re-Review Cycles

A permit’s plan review typically involves several review cycles. Each additional cycle improves application quality but requires additional time from both the City and the applicant.