Benton County, WA Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

BCC 3.04.018, adopted under Ord. 602 (2018) and amended by Ord. 629 (2021), lists the elements a Benton County building permit application must contain to be treated as complete: a SEPA checklist unless the Planning Department finds the project exempt; any required conditional use or shoreline substantial development permit, applied for with or before the building permit; a fully completed building permit application form; proof of an approved septic system or connection to a sewage system; evidence of adequate water availability under RCW 19.27.097 and BCC Chapter 15.18; a complete site plan and construction drawings meeting BCC Chapter 3.04 and the adopted International Building Codes; and, where a road approach onto a public road is needed, conditional approval to construct it.

Building permit fees are set by resolution of the Board of County Commissioners under BCC 3.04.028, with a separate plan-review fee under BCC 3.04.030 for occupancy groups A through M, R-1, S and U spaces over 4,000 square feet, plus a processing fee under BCC 3.04.034. Once issued, a permit expires two years from issuance under new Section 105.5.1 added by BCC 3.04.039; a written extension request filed before expiration and paid at 25 percent of the original fee buys one additional year, with only one extension allowed per permit and no work permitted after expiration without an entirely new permit and full fee. The Benton County Building Department, under the Building Official appointed by the Board of County Commissioners, administers this chapter per BCC 3.04.070.