State coverage

Washington Building Permit Data

Washington building permit data is the public record of construction authorized by Washington's counties and cities. Builty holds 8.3M+ structured Washington permit records from 82 issuing jurisdictions across 26 counties, covering 1986 to the present, matched to addresses and normalized to a single schema.

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8.3M+
Structured permit records
82
Issuing jurisdictions
26
Counties covered
1986 to today
Sustained coverage
Coverage

Where the records are

Seattle alone holds roughly 18% of state records. Volume then spreads across the Puget Sound counties and the Spokane metro on the eastern side of the state.

JurisdictionShare of state recordsNotable for
Seattle17.9%Dense multifamily, and the state's largest single stream
Pierce County9.6%Unincorporated growth around the Tacoma metro
Spokane9.2%Eastern Washington's main urban record
Spokane County5.6%Unincorporated county, distinct from the city authority
King County3.7%Unincorporated county, distinct from Seattle
Bellevue3.3%Eastside commercial and high-rise residential

Coverage continues across the remaining 76 jurisdictions. Ask for the full jurisdiction list →

What's in the data

What's in the Washington data

FieldCoverageNotes
street_address + geoCompleteCounty, locality, ZIP, CBSA and FIPS codes on every record
descriptionNearly completeThe free text the jurisdiction published
projectsMost recordsBuilty taxonomy labels across ten categories
record_type / work_typeNearly completeStandardized across every issuing authority
attributesMost recordsParsed detail such as utility type, dwelling type, structure type
DatesMost recordsSubmitted, issued, finaled, on one timeline

Records outside the usable window are flagged, so a date is either real or explicitly unknown.

Roughly 0.1M of these records come from 5 retired permitting platforms that Washington jurisdictions have since replaced. That history stays in the data when a locality changes systems.

Use cases

What Washington data answers

Seismic retrofit
Unreinforced masonry and soft-story work across the Puget Sound stock.
Multifamily & density
Upzoning-driven multifamily and ADU construction, with unit counts.
Wildfire mitigation
Roof and defensible-space work east of the Cascades.
Housing supply
New residential construction by county and locality.
Property condition
Roof, systems, and structural history at address level.
Market research
Four decades of history, in the same schema as every other state.
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Are Washington building permits public record?
Yes. Building permits issued by Washington jurisdictions are public records. Each one publishes them in its own format and its own system, which is why a statewide view requires collecting and standardizing them jurisdiction by jurisdiction.
How do I look up a building permit in Washington?
For a single property, the issuing jurisdiction's permit portal is the place to start, since permits are issued locally rather than by the state. For many properties at once, or for analysis across jurisdictions, a standardized dataset is the practical route: Builty holds 8.3M+ Washington permit records in one consistent structure.
How far back does Washington permit data go?
Washington carries sustained coverage from 1986 to the present. Individual jurisdictions reach back further, and some records carry placeholder dates from legacy systems; those are identified as placeholders, so the stated window is the one the data actually supports.
Which Washington city has the most building permits?
Seattle, at roughly 18% of all state records. Pierce County and the City of Spokane follow.
Is eastern Washington covered, or only the Puget Sound?
Both. Spokane and Spokane County are among the largest streams in the state, and coverage continues across the remaining counties.
Can I get data for a single county or city?
Yes. Delivery can be scoped to any set of Washington jurisdictions, project types, or date ranges, by API, bulk file, or ongoing feed.
Related

Keep reading

Infrastructure
Data Centers & Power →
Structure & Materials
Multifamily →
Overview
US Building Permit Data →

Get the Washington dataset

Statewide, or scoped to the jurisdictions and project types you care about.

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