Mason County, WA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Mason County Code Chapter 14.15 adopts the 1997 Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings and locally amends several of its sections. Section 14.15.015 defines the building official as the director of the department of community development or the designated building official appointed by the board of county commissioners, the person with authority over dangerous-building compliance countywide. When repair or demolition work is ordered under the abatement code, Section 14.15.020 requires the county to contract that work through private bid under Mason County Code Chapter 3.48, Competitive Bidding, rather than perform it in-house. Unpaid assessments for that abatement work become a lien on the property and, per Section 14.15.040, accrue interest under RCW 84.56.020 once thirty days delinquent, the same rate charged on unpaid property taxes.

Enforcement of the underlying dangerous-building violation runs through the county's general development-code enforcement chapter, Title 15.13. A notice of civil violation is issued and, if uncorrected, goes to the Mason County hearing examiner, who under Section 15.13.050 can impose a civil fine of up to $1,000 for each violation, with every day of continued noncompliance counted as a separate violation. Section 15.13.020 also makes an intentional, reckless or negligent violation of a notice and order or stop-work order a misdemeanor punishable by up to $500 or 90 days in jail, or both, with each day a separate offense. Unpaid fines are recorded on the county assessment roll as a lien and, under Section 15.13.055, the county can also recover its abatement and inspection labor costs directly from the owner.