City of Lakewood building permits: fees, timelines & requirements (2026)
What needs a permit in the City of Lakewood and what triggers one — each row quoted from the city's own code or permit page, with the source linked and the source page checked weekly for changes. Fees and review times appear where the city publishes them. Covers kitchen, bathroom, basement, deck, fence, siding, windows, flooring, ADU, roofing, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, addition, solar and heat pumps, and the permits beside them: demolition, right-of-way, side sewer, drainage, land use, tree removal and signs.
15 of 23 project types have authoritative rules on file · 15 always require a permit · 8 depend on the scope · 0 do not.
Get your lot in 3D with zoning, setbacks, and the exact permits your project needs — cited to the City of Lakewood's source.
Permit department
Lakewood Planning and Public Works Department
Adopted code cycles
2021 IRC w/ WA amendments · 2021 WSEC
Resources
Construction permits
| Project | Threshold | Fee | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen remodel Depends on scope | No permit for cabinets, counters, paint or tile. A permit once you replace a sink or faucet, even in the same spot, move plumbing, add circuits, run gas or change walls. Cosmetic-only refresh (cabinets, countertops, flooring, paint) without structural/electrical/plumbing changes is generally exempt under 2021 IRC R105.2 (work exempt from permit). Any new circuit, fixture relocation, or structural change requires permits. | FeeAbout $1,160 for a $35,000 project, when a permit is needed | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Bathroom remodel Depends on scope | No permit for tile, paint or other finish work. A permit once a toilet, sink, faucet, tub or shower is replaced, even in the same spot, plumbing moves or circuits are added. Like-for-like fixture replacement in same location with no plumbing rerouting and no new circuits: typically exempt under 2021 IRC R105.2(2)(g). Any relocation, new fixture, new circuit, or shower-pan replacement triggers permits. | FeeAbout $855 for a $22,000 project, when a permit is needed | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Basement finish Always | Finishing or altering a basement needs a building permit. 2021 IRC R310: every sleeping room below grade requires emergency escape and rescue opening (egress window). Min sill height 44in, min net clear opening 5.7 sq ft (5.0 grade-floor), min width 20in, height 24in. Ceiling height min 7ft (R305). Entire newly conditioned area must comply with WSEC R402. | FeeAbout $1,267 for a $40,000 project | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Deck Always | Lakewood's building code gives no permit exemption for decks, so building a deck needs a building permit. Permit not required if all of: not attached + <30in above grade at any point + <200sqft + does not serve as main entry door + (for shoreline properties) not more than 18in high. Critical-area proximity always triggers permit. | FeeAbout $735 for an $18,000 project | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Fence Depends on scope | No permit for a fence up to 6 ft in a required setback or on a property line (4 ft in the front yard; 6 ft in the back half of a corner lot's front setback enclosing the rear, or on a lot fronting a principal arterial), or up to 7 ft elsewhere on the lot. A fence over 6 ft in a setback or on a property line needs a variance and a building permit. A fence in a critical area or its buffer, other than an aquifer recharge area, needs critical areas approval, and one in shoreline jurisdiction a shoreline exemption approval. In a flood hazard area every fence needs a building permit and zoning certification. Permit not required for: front yard fences ≤4ft (unless along a principal arterial); rear yard fences ≤6ft. Permit required if exceeding these heights, or if located near or within a critical area, critical-area buffer, or Ordinary High-Water Mark. | FeeAbout $391 for a $6,000 project, when a permit is needed | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Siding Always | Replacing siding needs a building permit in Lakewood. | FeeAbout $735 for an $18,000 project | Cite verified 2026-10-02 |
| Window replacement Always | Replacing windows or doors needs a building permit in Lakewood; same-opening work goes through the City's Like-for-Like permit type. Permit required for window or door replacement (a "Like for Like" permit type exists per Residential Applications Matrix). Bedrooms have specific egress sizing requirements per IEBC 702.5: where existing window does not meet egress requirements, replacement window must be the manufacturer's largest standard size that fits within existing frame/rough opening. | FeeAbout $435 for an $8,000 project | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Flooring Depends on scope | New flooring is finish work and needs no permit; changing the subfloor or joists, or adding radiant heat, does. 2021 IRC R105.2(1)(j) exempts floor finishes (carpet, vinyl, hardwood, tile). Permit required if subfloor structure is modified, joists altered, or radiant heat installed. | FeeAbout $391 for a $6,000 project, when a permit is needed | Cite verified 2026-10-02 |
| ADU / DADU Always | An ADU or DADU always needs a building permit, and usually trade permits with it. WA HB 1337 (signed 2023, code-adoption deadline mid-2025) requires cities ≥6,000 pop. to permit ≥2 ADUs per lot in SF residential zones, allow ADUs of ≥1,000 sq ft (state floor — cities may allow larger, e.g. Bellevue/Redmond/Sammamish 1,200), drop owner-occupancy requirements, and waive parking requirements within ½ mi of frequent transit. City adoption status varies; local size + design caps may exceed the state floor. | FeeAbout $3,498 for a $200,000 project | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Roofing Always | Re-roofing needs a building permit in Lakewood (the City's Re-Roof permit type). Lakewood's Residential Applications Matrix lists Re-Roof as its own permit type, requiring an application and construction plans. | FeeLakewood's re-roofing permit for a house is a $240 flat fee, plus the City's $90 administrative base fee and 4% technology fee (2026 Fee Schedule). | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| HVAC Always | Any equipment install, replacement or relocation needs a mechanical permit. WAC 51-52 (2021 IMC) and WAC 51-56 (2021 UPC) require mechanical permit for any equipment install, replacement, or relocation. WSEC R403 requires sizing per Manual J/S/D for new equipment. | FeeReplacing or adding heating and cooling equipment in Lakewood is priced on the City's equipment unit table: a $34 permit issuance fee plus, for example, $22 a furnace up to 100,000 BTU, $29 a compressor up to 3 horsepower, $22 for repairs or additions to an A/C system, $18 an air handler up to 25 tons, $12 a thermostat and $12 for gas piping of 1 to 5 outlets; a prescriptive residential mechanical permit is $240. | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Electrical Depends on scope | Electrical work needs a permit — from Tacoma Power where it serves the property, from L&I elsewhere; the City issues neither. Like-in-kind replacement on the issuer's exempt list is exempt. Who issues an electrical permit in Lakewood depends on the property's electric utility: Tacoma Power where Tacoma Power serves it, WA L&I elsewhere. The City of Lakewood issues neither. Lakewood adopts the NEC as adopted in chapter 296-46B WAC and chapter 19.28 RCW, "except that “Department” shall mean either the State Department of Labor and Industries or Tacoma Public Utilities, depending on geographic service area located within Lakewood’s City limits" (LMC 15.05.020(I)). The City's permit page: "Sewer, water, electrical, and fire safety permits, reviews, and inspections are done by outside agencies." Lakewood's electric utilities are Tacoma Power, Lakeview Light & Power and Puget Sound Energy (City of Lakewood, Local Utilities). Both issuers exempt only like-in-kind replacement of the items on their own lists (Tacoma Power under TMC 12.06A.210; L&I under WAC 296-46B), and where L&I issues, an exempt job still needs an inspection request. | FeeElectrical permit fees are Tacoma Power's (TMC 12.06A.250) or L&I's, by serving utility — not a City of Lakewood fee. | Cite verified 2026-09-25 |
| Plumbing Depends on scope | Under the state code stopping a leak or clearing a stoppage needs no plumbing permit. Replacing anything, even a faucet or a fixture in the same spot, or the water heater, needs one, and so do new or moved fixtures and piping. WAC 51-56 (2021 UPC) requires plumbing permit for installation, replacement, or relocation of any plumbing fixture, water heater, or piping. Like-for-like faucet replacement is exempt. | FeeLakewood prices a plumbing permit for added or replaced fixtures on its unit table: a $34 permit issuance fee plus $12 for each fixture on one trap, $12 for each water heater and vent, $22 for each building sewer, and $12 for gas piping of 1 to 5 outlets; a new house's plumbing is a $240 flat fee. | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Addition Always | Adding floor area always needs a building permit. 2021 IRC R105.1 requires permits for "construction, enlargement, alteration, repair, movement, removal, conversion, or demolition" of structures. Additions are never exempt under R105.2. Footprint additions trigger zoning compliance (setbacks, lot coverage, height); vertical additions trigger structural review for the existing foundation/wall framing. WSEC R402-R403 applies to new conditioned area. SEPA threshold typically ≥12,000 sqft total floor area (RCW 43.21C). | FeeAbout $2,503 for a $120,000 project | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Solar (rooftop PV) Always | Rooftop solar needs an electrical permit, from Tacoma Power where it serves the property and from L&I elsewhere, and a City building permit for the racking: Lakewood's list of work exempt from a permit, the IBC's, names no solar installation (LMC 15.05.040, IBC 105.2). | FeeLakewood's building permit for the racking is priced on the value of the work: $30 up to $500, and $90 for the first $2,000 plus $17.50 for each $1,000 more, up to $25,000, with plan review at 65% of that fee, the $6.50 state building code fee, the City's $90 base fee and a 4% technology fee (2026 Fee Schedule, Resolution 2025-14). | Cite verified 2026-11-07 |
| Heat pump Depends on scope | Installing or replacing a heat pump needs a City mechanical permit, and its circuit an electrical permit from Tacoma Power where it serves the property and from L&I elsewhere; a portable unit, work on the piping inside the equipment, a minor part replacement or a self-contained unit with 10 lb of refrigerant or less and a motor of 1 hp or less does not need the mechanical permit. | FeeLakewood prices replacing or adding mechanical equipment on its equipment unit table: $34 to issue the permit, plus $29 for each compressor up to 3 horsepower and $18 for each air handler up to 25 tons; the table names no heat pump. | Cite verified 2026-11-07 |
Review days: not published by the city for any permit in this table.
Ancillary & non-building permits
| Project | Threshold | Fee | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demolition Always | Demolishing a building or structure needs a permit. 2021 IBC Section 105.1 + WA-adopted IRC R105.1: demolition of any structure or portion thereof requires a permit. Tear-out of interior finishes only is generally treated as alteration. Asbestos / lead notification often required separately under WAC 173-303 / 296-62. | FeeLakewood's demolition permit for a single-family house or duplex is a $240 flat fee, plus the City's $90 administrative base fee and 4% technology fee (2026 Fee Schedule). | Cite verified 2026-10-02 |
| Right-of-way Always | Any work in or occupation of the public right of way needs a right-of-way permit from the city, or from the agency that owns the street. Issued by city public works (or SDOT in Seattle) under local ROW ordinance. Triggered by physical occupation of or work within the public ROW including driveway aprons, curb cuts, sidewalk replacement, utility tie-ins, hauling routes, and temporary construction staging. | FeeLakewood's right-of-way permit for minor construction, parking or other non-intrusive use is $240, plus staff time over 2 hours at $120 an hour; a street opening permit, for pavement cuts, excavation and utility work in the street, is $1,200 plus staff time over 10 hours at $120 an hour, and a pavement degradation fee applies to a cut, $33.25 to $111.25 a square yard by the street's condition. | Cite verified 2026-05-02 |
| Side sewer Always | A new side-sewer connection needs a permit from the utility that owns the main; many utilities also require one for any repair, however short, and for capping. The side-sewer permit comes from the utility that owns the sewer main (the city, a sewer or water district, or a regional utility), under that utility's own code. Which utility is a per-property fact: a lot can sit inside a city for permitting and outside its sewer district, so confirm the owner of the main before applying. The utility's code, not a statewide rule, decides which work needs the permit: a new connection does, and many utility codes also require it for any repair, however short, and for capping or disconnecting a side sewer, so check that code before digging. WAC 51-56, the state plumbing code, governs how the building sewer is laid. | FeeSet by the sewer utility that serves the lot. | Cite verified 2026-05-02 |
| Stormwater / drainage Always | New or replaced impervious surface and land disturbance are reviewed under the drainage manual this jurisdiction adopts; the threshold is the manual's. Ecology's Stormwater Management Manual for Western Washington (SWMMWW, 2024 edition) is the state floor. A municipal stormwater permittee may instead adopt a regional manual Ecology has determined equivalent, and most do — some counties publish their own, some cities publish their own, and others adopt Ecology's directly. Which manual applies is a per-jurisdiction fact and it changes the numbers: review thresholds for new plus replaced impervious surface and for land-disturbing activity differ between manuals, so read this jurisdiction's own adopting chapter before quoting one. Critical-area and closed-basin parcels get stricter review under every manual. | FeeLakewood's site development permit is $650 for land clearing or grading only of less than 500 cubic yards, and $1,000 for a residential project. | Cite verified 2026-05-02 |
| Land-use / zoning Always | A variance, conditional use, plat or design review is a land-use decision that precedes the building permit. Triggered when a project does not conform to the strict letter of the zoning code. Variances require a hardship finding under most city codes. Design review thresholds vary (Seattle: most multifamily + non-residential >4,000 sqft; many cities: design review only in designated districts). | FeeLakewood's variance (critical area, engineering, shoreline or zoning) is $520 as a Type I decision, $780 as Type II and $1,565 as Type III; one that goes to the Hearing Examiner adds a $2,500 deposit against the hearing's actual cost. | Cite verified 2026-05-02 |
| Tree removal Depends on scope | In Lakewood removing a significant tree, 9 in or more across at 4.5 ft, needs a tree removal permit, except on a lot under 10,000 sq ft in a single-family residential zone. An Oregon white oak (Garry oak) needs one at any size and on any lot, and so does a designated heritage tree. A smaller tree needs none, outside critical areas and their buffers, where the critical areas review applies; an aquifer recharge area, which takes in most of the City, does not count here. In a shoreline setback the small-lot exemption does not apply, and the shoreline rules keep native trees. Trimming that leaves the tree safe needs no permit. A tree in the street right-of-way is a street tree. Removing a significant tree in Lakewood needs a tree removal permit first (LMC 18A.70.320 D). A significant tree is one 9 in or more across measured 4.5 ft above the ground, 4 in or more for an Oregon white oak (Garry oak), or one the Director finds significant for its species or its wildlife habitat (320 A.1). Two things are exempt: removing a nonsignificant tree that nothing else protects (18A.70.310 B), and any tree on a lot of less than 10,000 sq ft in a single-family residential zone, the R1 to R4 districts (310 A, 18A.10.120). The lot exemption does not apply in a short subdivision or subdivision, on a lot whose Oregon white oaks LMC 18A.70.330 requires preserved, where SEPA mitigation requires trees kept, or where no permit is needed to establish the use (310 A.1 to A.4). Neither exemption reaches an Oregon white oak or a tree in a shoreline buffer (310). An Oregon white oak needs a permit at any size and on any lot (18A.70.330 B, 14.154.080), and so does a designated heritage tree (320 G.1, 2.48.040 D). In a critical area or its buffer, removing vegetation is a regulated activity that needs the City's critical areas review (14.142.060). An aquifer recharge area, which takes in most of the City (14.150.020 B), does not count here: LMC 14.150 regulates it by land use and asks a hydrogeological assessment only for the uses it lists (14.150.030, 14.150.040 A), and removing a tree is not one of them. Trimming that does not make the tree a safety hazard needs no permit (320). A hazardous tree may come down in an emergency, with the City told the next business day (310 D). A tree in the street right-of-way is a street tree: planting, removing or changing one needs a right-of-way permit (12.09.080 A). | FeeOn a single-family or mixed residential lot under 10,000 sq ft with no Garry oak, outside a shoreline setback and critical area, Lakewood requires no tree removal permit. | Cite verified 2026-10-27 |
| Signs Always | Putting up or structurally altering a permanent sign generally needs a city sign permit; which small or temporary signs are exempt differs by city. Each city's own sign code, usually a chapter of its zoning or development code, decides which signs need a permit and sets their size, number and placement by zone. Putting up or structurally altering a permanent sign generally needs a city sign permit, plus an electrical permit if the sign is lit, while repainting, ordinary maintenance and copy changes generally do not. Which small or temporary signs need no permit, and up to what size, differs from city to city, so check the city's own list before ordering a sign. | FeeLakewood's 2026 fee schedule names no separate sign permit fee. | Cite verified 2026-05-02 |
Review days: not published by the city for any permit in this table.
Building in the City of Lakewood?
Kolmo Construction is a licensed Washington general contractor — KOLMOL*753JS, bonded and insured — working throughout the City of Lakewood and Pierce County. We pull the building permits listed above and build the project. Electrical, plumbing and HVAC work, and those permits, go to licensed trade subcontractors that Kolmo manages.
How this page is built
Each row is the most-recently-verified authoritative rule on file for the City of Lakewood and the listed project type.
See the data-quality leaderboard for how we keep these current, or run an address-specific lookup on the main permits page.