Olympia, WA Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- Shed exemption ceiling
- Floor area not greater than 200 square feet (18.58 m2)
- Exempt uses
- One-story detached tool and storage sheds, playhouses, similar uses
- Permit expires
- Not commenced within one hundred eighty days of issue
- Stop work charge
- $204.38 per hour, minimum charge one hour
- Who applies
- Property owner or the owner's authorized agent
Summary
In the City of Olympia, Washington, building work needs a permit under the adopted International Building and Residential Codes unless an exemption applies. OMC 16.04.040(A)(1) amends Section 105.2 so one-story detached accessory structures used as tool and storage sheds, playhouses and similar uses with a floor area not greater than 200 square feet are exempt.
A. International Building Code Amendments. The following sections of the International Building Code (“IBC”), as adopted by this Ordinance, are amended as follows: 1. Amend Section 105.2 Work Exempt from Permit, item 1 to read: One-story detached accessory structures used as tool and storage sheds, playhouses, and similar uses, provided the floor area is not greater than 200 square feet (18.58 m2).
Full Breakdown
OMC 16.04.020 adopts the current State adopted International Building Code and International Residential Code for the City of Olympia, in Thurston County, and OMC 16.04.010 makes the codes adopted in the chapter collectively the Building Code. Olympia trims the permit chapter of the IBC: the IBC is adopted excluding Chapter 1, Section 105.2 "work exempt from permit", item 3, "Oil Derricks". OMC 16.04.040(A)(1) then rewrites item 1 of Section 105.2 so the exemption covers one-story detached accessory structures used as tool and storage sheds, playhouses, and similar uses, with a floor area not greater than 200 square feet (18.58 m2).
Permit mechanics are in OMC 16.04.020(B). The applicant must be the property owner or the owner's authorized agent. A permit expires if work is not commenced within one hundred eighty days, or is suspended or abandoned for at least one hundred eighty days. After expiry a new permit is required, with a fee based on the work left to complete and under the codes currently adopted at the time of issuance. The building official can extend a permit for up to one hundred eighty days, and every permit expires after eighteen months from issue unless the work is completed or an extension is granted.
Fees sit in OMC 4.36.010. Additional plan review is $204.38 (minimum charge one-half hour) or the total hourly cost to the jurisdiction, whichever is greatest, outside consultants are charged at actual cost, and a stop work issued for work being done without a permit is $204.38 per hour (minimum charge one hour).
Special cases: an owner or installer must obtain an installation permit from Community Planning and Development before installing a mobile home in a mobile home park, and a dealer may not deliver the home until the permit exists (OMC 16.04.410). For floating boat moorage, OMC 16.04.200 says no person shall do any construction without first having obtained a building permit from the building official. Under OMC 16.04.060, appeals may be made pursuant to OMC 18.70.170.
Violations & Fines
Under OMC 16.04.070, knowingly erecting, altering, repairing, moving, demolishing or occupying a building or structure in violation of the Building Code is a misdemeanor, with a fine not to exceed $1,000 and/or imprisonment not to exceed ninety days, and each day is a separate offense. Second and subsequent days of a continuing violation are a gross misdemeanor, with a fine not to exceed $5,000 and/or three hundred and sixty-five days. The concurrent civil infraction runs Class 3 ($50), Class 2 ($125), Class 1 ($250), and the violation is also a public nuisance subject to injunction and abatement.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Olympia
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