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

Under Walla Walla County Code § 15.04.030, the county has adopted the State Building Code consisting of the International Building Code, International Residential Code, ICC/ANSI A117.1, International Mechanical Code, the LP-Gas and National Fuel Gas Codes, the International Fuel Gas Code, International Fire Code, Uniform Plumbing Code, International Existing Building Code and the Washington State Energy Code, each as amended by the state. Those adopted codes are what trigger a permit requirement for construction, additions, site grading, plumbing, mechanical systems and gas lines within the unincorporated area. § 15.04.031 makes the requirement concrete: any person who commences work on a building, structure, site grading, plumbing, mechanical system, gas line, or other regulated activity before obtaining the permit required by the code is subject to an investigation fee equal to the normal permit fee under Chapter 3.08, doubling the total cost. § 15.04.036 separately requires an application fee and a permit fee deposit at the time a plan-review application is submitted to community development, and the application vests once that fee is paid; if the application is later withdrawn or expires, neither fee is refunded. Fees themselves are calculated from construction valuation published in the ICC's Building Safety Journal magazine, updated twice a year, under § 15.04.050.