Cost is the question most permit websites dodge entirely. We won't give you a fake number, but we will show you exactly what goes into the cost of a residential permit in Seattle, so there are no surprises. There are three buckets: city fees, service fees, and the avoidable costs of getting it wrong.
City fees vs. service fees
City (SDCI/jurisdiction) permit fees are set by the government and billed at cost — we never mark them up. Service fees are what you pay a team like ours to prepare and manage the permit. Keeping these separate and transparent is the whole point.
Why flat-fee beats hourly
Hourly billing means the meter runs while the city reviews your plans — and while corrections bounce back and forth. A flat fee with revisions included aligns our incentives with yours: get it approved cleanly, not slowly.
- One number up front for the service scope
- Correction cycles included, not billed extra
- City fees passed through at cost
The most expensive line item is doing it twice
The real budget-killer is a rejected submittal that forces a redesign, or unpermitted work that has to be opened up and corrected. Getting the path and the documentation right the first time is the cheapest permitting strategy there is.