City of Puyallup building permits: fees, timelines & requirements (2026)
What needs a permit in the City of Puyallup 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.
18 of 23 project types have authoritative rules on file · 13 always require a permit · 10 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 Puyallup's source.
Permit department
Puyallup Development & Permitting Services
Adopted code cycles
2021 IRC w/ WA amendments · 2021 WSEC
Resources
Construction permits
| Project | Threshold | Fee | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen remodel Depends on scope | Under the state code cabinets, counters, paint and tile need no permit. Replacing a sink or faucet, even in the same spot, or moving or adding plumbing needs a plumbing permit: the state plumbing code exempts only clearing a stoppage or fixing a leak with nothing replaced. Gas or venting work, new circuits and moving a wall need permits too. 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 $819 for a $35,000 project, when a permit is needed | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Bathroom remodel Depends on scope | Under the state code tile, paint and other finish work need no permit. Replacing a toilet, sink, faucet, shower valve, tub or shower, even in the same spot, or moving or adding plumbing needs a plumbing permit: the state plumbing code exempts only clearing a stoppage or fixing a leak with nothing replaced. New circuits need an electrical permit, and moving a wall a building permit. 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 $583 for a $22,000 project, when a permit is needed | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Basement finish Always | Finishing a basement into habitable space needs a building permit; egress and ceiling height are the usual review items. 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 $902 for a $40,000 project | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Deck Depends on scope | A deck 30 in or less above grade that is not over a basement or story below needs no permit in Puyallup, attached or not. A higher deck, one over a story below, or a covered deck needs one. Permit required for uncovered decks >30in above grade or decks serving the exit door required by IRC Section R311.4. Covered porches and patios also require permit (counted as additions). | FeeAbout $490 for an $18,000 project, when a permit is needed | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Fence Depends on scope | A fence taller than 7 ft needs a building permit. Puyallup's zoning caps a fence in an RS zone at 3.5 ft within 20 ft of the front lot line (5 ft for open-wire, welded-wire, chain-link or split-rail), and at 6 ft in the rear and interior side yards (PMC 20.20.040(6)). 2021 IRC R105.2(1)(d) exempts fences ≤7ft high. Cities frequently extend (Seattle: 8ft) or require permits for fences in critical areas, flood zones, or with masonry components. | FeeAbout $213 for a $6,000 project, when a permit is needed | Cite verified 2026-09-07 |
| Siding Always | The state code exempts no siding replacement, and the local code adds no exemption: re-siding needs a permit. Patching a few boards without cutting into the wall is an ordinary repair. | FeeAbout $490 for an $18,000 project | Cite verified 2026-10-02 |
| Window replacement Always | The state code exempts no window replacement, and the local code adds no exemption: replacing windows needs a permit. Replacing broken glass is an ordinary repair. | FeeAbout $259 for an $8,000 project | Cite verified 2026-10-02 |
| Flooring Depends on scope | Floor finishes are exempt. Modifying the subfloor or joists, or installing radiant heat, needs a permit. 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 $213 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. Permit required for any new detached accessory building >200 sq ft. Sheds/outbuildings ≤200 sq ft do not require a permit. | FeeAbout $2,570 for a $200,000 project | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Roofing Always | The state code exempts no re-roofing, and the local code adds no exemption: replacing a roof needs a permit. A small repair can be an ordinary repair. Permit required for re-roof requiring sheathing on a single-family residence and/or garage/structure over 200 sq ft. Re-roof of residential structure over 200 sq ft requiring sheathing is issued over-the-counter (same business day). | FeePuyallup's fee schedule has no flat re-roof fee, so a re-roof that needs a permit is a building permit priced on the value of the work: $69.25 for the first $2,000 plus $14 for each $1,000 more up to $25,000, and $391.25 for the first $25,000 plus $10.10 for each $1,000 more up to $50,000, with plan review, where it applies, as set in the schedule's Exhibit A (2026 Municipal Fee Schedule). | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| HVAC Depends on scope | Installing or replacing heating, cooling or ventilation equipment needs a mechanical permit; a portable unit or a minor part replacement does not. 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. | FeePuyallup's mechanical permit is $40 to issue plus a fee for each unit: $19.55 a stand-alone A/C unit or a furnace up to 100,000 Btu/h, $19.40 a compressor up to 3 horsepower, $14.10 an air handler up to 10,000 cfm, $18.11 for a repair, alteration or addition to a heating or cooling system, $14.10 for duct work to 1 to 5 diffusers, and $6.30 for gas piping to 1 to 4 outlets. | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Electrical Depends on scope | Essentially all electrical work needs a permit; only like-in-kind replacement on the L&I minor list is exempt. WAC 296-46B (WA-adopted 2020 NEC) requires an electrical permit for essentially all electrical work. L&I issues them in most jurisdictions; some cities run their own program. L&I publishes the exemption list, and it is narrower and more specific than "ordinary repairs": travel trailers; plug-in household appliances; and the like-in-kind replacement of lamps, a single set of fuses, a single battery under 150 amp-hour, control components such as contactors, relays, timers, starters and circuit boards, one household appliance, circuit breakers (branch-circuit overcurrent protection only, per NEC 100), single-family residential luminaires, up to five snap switches, dimmers, receptacle outlets, thermostats, heating elements or identical luminaire ballasts, sign and outline-lighting components replaced on-site by an electrical contractor without modifying the system, and one motor of ten horsepower or smaller. An exemption from the permit is not an exemption from inspection: L&I requires an inspection request before any electrical work is covered, no later than 3 business days after the work is finished or 1 business day after any part is energized, whichever comes first, and failure to request one can carry civil penalties. | FeePuyallup charges no electrical permit fee of its own: L&I issues electrical permits in Puyallup and sets and collects their fees. | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| 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. | FeePuyallup's plumbing permit is $40 to issue plus $13 for each fixture altered or water heater, $8.50 for gas piping to the first 4 outlets and $2 each after, and $26 a backflow device; a one- or two-family dwelling's new plumbing is $160 with one bathroom, $200 with two and $240 with three. | 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 sq ft total floor area (RCW 43.21C). | FeeAbout $1,831 for a $120,000 project | Cite verified 2026-04-29 |
| Solar (rooftop PV) Always | Rooftop solar needs an electrical permit from L&I and a City building permit for the racking: Puyallup adopts the IRC's list of work exempt from a permit, amending only its deck item, and it names no solar installation (PMC 17.04.030, 17.04.050, IRC R105.2). | FeeThe electrical permit comes from L&I, at L&I's fees. Puyallup's building permit for the racking is priced on the value of the work: $25 up to $500, and $69.25 for the first $2,000 plus $14 for each $1,000 more, up to $25,000, with plan review added as set in the schedule's Exhibit A (2026 Municipal Fee Schedule, Resolution 2535). | 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 L&I; 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 or a motor of 1 hp or less does not need the mechanical permit. | FeePuyallup's mechanical permit is $40 to issue plus a fee for each unit; the schedule names no heat pump, and prices each compressor up to 3 horsepower at $19.40 and each air handler up to 10,000 cfm at $14.10 (2026 Municipal Fee Schedule, Mechanical Permit Fees). | 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 structure or a substantial part of one needs a permit; asbestos and lead notifications are separate. 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. | FeePuyallup's 2026 fee schedule names no separate demolition permit fee. | 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. | FeePuyallup's off-site construction permit, for work in the right-of-way, is an $80 permit fee, plus $130 for concrete work or $110 for public utilities, a $70 open cut charge, and an inspection fee of 3% of the work's cost on the Engineering Division's cost estimate form. | Cite verified 2026-09-06 |
| Side sewer Always | Where the City owns the sewer, a new connection or any change to an existing one needs the city engineer's permit; ask the City whether a repair on the lot that leaves the connection unchanged does. Where the City of Puyallup owns the sewer, the city engineer's permission is required to make any connection to the sanitary sewer or to alter an existing connection in any way, and a permit from the city engineer's office to connect a private sewer line to a sewer in a street or alley (PMC 14.08.090). The chapter names no minimum length, and it does not say whether a repair on the lot that leaves the connection unchanged needs a permit, so ask the City's engineering office before that work. Where a sewer district owns the main, that district issues the permit under its own code. WAC 51-56, the state plumbing code, governs how the building sewer is laid. | FeePuyallup's sanitary sewer service connection permit is $280 with the tap and on-site inspection, $170 for on-site inspection only and $30 for an on-site repair; capping a side sewer for a demolition is a $30 inspection (2026 Municipal Fee Schedule). | Cite verified 2026-10-24 |
| 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. | FeePuyallup's clearing, grading and filling permit is a $190 permit fee plus plan review, $70 for clearing only, $130 for up to 50 cubic yards, $240 for 51 to 100, $510 for 101 to 1,000 and $760 for 1,001 to 10,000, and an inspection fee of 3% of the work's cost on the Engineering Division's cost estimate form (2026 Municipal Fee Schedule). | Cite verified 2026-09-06 |
| 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 sq ft; many cities: design review only in designated districts). | FeePuyallup's variance, decided by the Hearing Examiner, is a $770 application fee; an administrative adjustment is $300, plus $60 for each further standard adjusted. | Cite verified 2026-05-02 |
| Tree removal Depends on scope | On a lot with one to four homes, Puyallup sets no tree permit outside a heritage tree, a native growth protection easement or greenbelt, and a critical area; on other land a significant tree, a healthy tree over 15 in across at 4.5 ft other than a black cottonwood or red alder, is protected as well (the City's tip sheet, 02/2026). A heritage tree on the City's registry may not be removed or altered without the City's approval: a heritage tree alteration permit, or taking it off the registry at the owner's request (PMC 20.58.025(3), (4)). Clearing in a native growth protection easement or greenbelt needs a permit (21.14.300(4)). In a wetland, stream or wildlife habitat area, a landslide or erosion hazard area, or their buffers, every tree is protected, whatever its size or species, dead and snag trees included: removing one needs the City's tree removal permit with a certified arborist's report, reviewed under the critical areas code; a hazard tree is replaced two for one, and vegetation that holds the soil of a landslide or erosion hazard area stays unless the City approves its removal (20.11.050(1); 21.06.320(4), 410(1)(e), 410(2), 1230(3)). A tree in the street right-of-way is a street tree. On a lot with one to four homes, Puyallup sets no tree removal permit for a tree outside a critical area, a native growth protection easement or greenbelt, or the City's heritage tree registry. In a wetland, stream or wildlife habitat area, a landslide or erosion hazard area, or their buffers, every tree is protected, whatever its size or species, dead and snag trees included, and removing one needs the City's tree removal permit with a certified arborist's report (PMC 20.11.050(1), 21.06.320(4); the City's tip sheet, Rev. 02/2026). A hazardous tree there comes down on the arborist's report with two new trees planted for each one felled, and the City confirms the exemption in writing before the work (21.06.410(1)(e), (2)); vegetation that holds the soil of a landslide or erosion hazard area stays unless the City approves its removal (21.06.1230(3)). On land other than a lot of one to four homes, a significant tree, a healthy tree more than 15 in across at 4.5 ft other than a black cottonwood or red alder, is protected as well. A heritage tree may not be removed or altered without a heritage tree alteration permit, or being taken off the registry at its owner's request (20.58.025(3), (4)), and clearing in a native growth protection easement or greenbelt needs a permit (21.14.300(4)). | FeePuyallup's fee schedule has no general tree removal fee: removing a tree from the right-of-way is a $50 authorization, a critical area review is $160, and listing a heritage tree $50 (2026 Municipal Fee Schedule). | Cite verified 2026-10-28 |
| Signs Always | A development services sign permit is needed to put up or structurally alter a sign; maintenance, a small home occupation sign, window signs and allowed temporary signs need none. Puyallup requires a sign permit from the development services department to install, construct, paint, structurally alter, post or apply a sign, unless its sign code exempts it; maintenance and repair of a lawful sign, such as repainting or refacing without adding sign area, needs none (PMC 20.60.025(1)). No permit is needed, though the sign must still meet the code, for one home occupation wall sign of up to 6 square feet in a residential zone, window signs covering no more than 25 percent of a facade, memorial plaques and cornerstones cut into masonry or built into the building, or temporary signs allowed by PMC 20.60.070 (PMC 20.60.015). | FeePuyallup's 2026 fee schedule lists no standard sign permit fee: it prices an innovative sign review at $300, and services it does not name may be billed at the department's $180 hourly rate, by the half hour. | Cite verified 2026-10-24 |
Review days: not published by the city for any permit in this table.
Building in the City of Puyallup?
Kolmo Construction is a licensed Washington general contractor — KOLMOL*753JS, bonded and insured — working throughout the City of Puyallup 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 Puyallup 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.