Bothell, WA Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Under Bothell Municipal Code § 20.02.095(A), the permit duty reaches past the building itself. Installing, altering, repairing, removing, converting or replacing any electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system regulated by the code also requires an application to the building official first. The City of Bothell building department, headed by the building official under § 20.02.085, receives applications, reviews construction documents and issues the permits.

Subsection B lists what is exempt. A one-story detached residential accessory structure built under the IRC, such as a tool shed, playhouse or tree-supported play structure, is exempt up to 200 square feet of floor area, and the height above grade plane cannot exceed 12 feet except for tree-supported play structures. A one-story detached IBC accessory shed, not including vehicle storage, is exempt up to 120 square feet and 12 feet in height. Fences not over six feet high are exempt, as are retaining walls not over four feet measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, unless they support a surcharge or impound Class I, II or III-A liquids. Residential sidewalks, decks and driveways are exempt when not more than 30 inches above grade, not over any basement or story below, and not part of an accessible route. Finish work like painting, tiling, carpeting and cabinets is exempt, and so are prefabricated pools less than 24 inches deep holding no more than 5,000 gallons and installed entirely above ground. The subsection also exempts in-kind reroofing of one- and two-family dwellings when roof sheathing is not removed or replaced. An exemption never authorizes work that breaks any other provision of the code.

The application itself must follow § 20.02.110: a written form identifying the work, the land, the use, the valuation and the owner. For projects costing more than $5,000, it must add the prime contractor's name, address, phone and state registration number plus lender or payment bond details. Emergency equipment repairs need an application by the next working business day under § 20.02.100.