Building, Plumbing & Mechanical Permits

The Planning and Development Services Department wants your project to come together as easily as possible, while helping to assure that it is safe and cost effective. Perhaps you are thinking about building a deck or a storage shed. Maybe you want to enlarge your home with a new addition or remodel the kitchen. 

We believe good communication in the early stages of design is critical for a smooth permit process, and encourage the submission of preliminary plans to identify potential code conflicts.

Technical Review Committee

For larger projects, Planning and Development Services offers weekly Technical Review Committee meetings. These meetings are available to discuss your project, answer questions and highlight code issues.

Details

University Place is:

• Seismic Design Category D1 for IRC constructed buildings or D for IBC structures
• 25 pounds per square foot snow load
• 80 miles per hour basic wind, the majority of the City is Exposure B, there are some areas facing Puget Sound that are Exposure C and D

Permit Turnaround

Here are some tips for fast permit turnaround:

• Make sure the permit application is complete and accurate. Visit our Applications and Forms page for checklists and applications specific to your project.
• Ensure that all plumbing, mechanical, energy and window details are included.
• Submitted plans should be complete, legible, and meet current codes.
• Your scaled site plan should show all property dimensions, utility and access easements, proposed and existing structures, and label street frontages (see Sample Site Plan on Applications and Forms page for details).

Call, visit, or email a member of the Planning and Development Services Department staff if you have any questions.