Rooftop solar (PV) permit requirements across 16 Seattle-area cities
Side-by-side: which of Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, Issaquah, Renton, Kent, Federal Way, Mercer Island, Shoreline, Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, Everett, Lynnwood require a permit for a rooftop solar (PV), and what triggers one — each row quoted from the city's own code or permit page, with the source linked. Fees and review times appear where the city publishes them.
0 of 16 cities have authoritative rules on file · 16 always require a permit · 0 depend on the scope · 0 do not.
King County
| Jurisdiction | Permit? | Threshold | Fee | Review days | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
city | Always | A solar PV system needs an electrical permit. A rooftop system on a detached house meeting every criterion of BCC 23.05.090(B)(3)(t) needs no building permit. — | — | — | Portal |
city | Always | Grid-tied rooftop solar is electrical work and needs an electrical permit. Whether the mounting also needs a building permit depends on the city: Seattle waives it for a residential rooftop system that meets the criteria in SDCI Tip 420. — | — | — | Portal |
city | Always | A solar PV system needs an electrical permit from WA L&I. A rooftop system on a house meeting every criterion of the City's PV exemption needs no City building permit. — | — | — | Portal |
city | Always | Grid-tied rooftop solar is electrical work and needs an electrical permit. Whether the mounting also needs a building permit depends on the city: Seattle waives it for a residential rooftop system that meets the criteria in SDCI Tip 420. — | — | — | Portal |
city | Always | A solar PV system needs an electrical permit from the City of Kirkland. A rooftop system on a house meeting every criterion of KMC 21.06.215(1)(V) needs no building permit, except in a flood hazard area, a critical area or its buffer, or a wildland-urban interface (WUI) location. — | — | — | Portal |
city | Always | A solar PV system needs a City electrical permit. A rooftop system on a house meeting every criterion of MICC 17.14.010 §105.2 Building item 22 needs no building permit. — | — | — | Portal |
city | Always | A solar PV system needs an electrical permit from the City of Redmond, which administers electrical work instead of L&I. Redmond's exempt-work list has no exemption for solar panels. — | — | — | Portal |
city | Always | A solar PV system needs an electrical permit from the City of Renton. A rooftop system on a house, ADU or unit-lot townhome that meets every criterion of RMC 4-5-060 105.2(c)(xxi) needs no building permit. — | — | — | Portal |
city | Always | A solar PV system needs an electrical permit from the City of Sammamish; no exemption in SMC 16.20.200 covers rooftop solar, so the mounting is reviewed under a building permit too. — | — | — | Portal |
city | Always | Rooftop solar needs an SDCI electrical permit. SDCI waives the building permit for a residential rooftop system that meets its Tip 420 criteria. — | — | — | Portal |
city | Always | Grid-tied rooftop solar is electrical work and needs an electrical permit. Whether the mounting also needs a building permit depends on the city: Seattle waives it for a residential rooftop system that meets the criteria in SDCI Tip 420. — | — | — | Portal |
Pierce County
| Jurisdiction | Permit? | Threshold | Fee | Review days | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
city | Always | Grid-tied rooftop solar is electrical work and needs an electrical permit. Whether the mounting also needs a building permit depends on the city: Seattle waives it for a residential rooftop system that meets the criteria in SDCI Tip 420. — | — | — | Portal |
city | Always | Grid-tied rooftop solar is electrical work and needs an electrical permit. Whether the mounting also needs a building permit depends on the city: Seattle waives it for a residential rooftop system that meets the criteria in SDCI Tip 420. — | — | — | Portal |
city | Always | A solar PV system needs an electrical permit from Tacoma Power, not L&I. — | — | — | Portal |
Snohomish County
| Jurisdiction | Permit? | Threshold | Fee | Review days | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
city | Always | A solar PV system is electrical work and needs an electrical permit from the City of Everett, not L&I; the mounting follows the building code as adopted from the state. — | — | — | Portal |
city | Always | Grid-tied rooftop solar is electrical work and needs an electrical permit. Whether the mounting also needs a building permit depends on the city: Seattle waives it for a residential rooftop system that meets the criteria in SDCI Tip 420. — | — | — | Portal |
How this table is built
Each row reflects the most-recently-verified authoritative rule on file for that jurisdiction and project type. “Pending verification” means we have the jurisdiction in our database but haven't yet personally checked the city page for rooftop solar (PV) rules — those rows fall back to county or WA-state baselines until verified. Sources link directly to the city or county page we read on the verified-on date. See our data-quality leaderboard for how we keep these current.