King County, WA Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)
Key Facts
- Minimum heat
- 70°F in dwelling units, guest rooms, bathrooms
- Stove heat
- Cooking appliances don't count as heat source
- Enforcer
- Dept. of Local Services, Permitting Division
- Applies in
- Unincorporated King County only
- Citation
- K.C.C. 16.14.540 (amended IPMC 602.3)
Summary
Unincorporated King County's amended property maintenance code requires landlords to keep every dwelling unit, guest room, and bathroom heated to 70°F, and bars using the stove as a substitute heat source.
Dwellings units and guest rooms shall be provided with heating facilities capable of maintaining a room temperature of 70 F. (21.1 C), bathrooms and toilet rooms. Cooking appliances shall not be used to provide space heating to meet the requirements of this section.
Full Breakdown
King County rewrote International Property Maintenance Code section 602.3 into K.C.C. 16.14.540, dropping the model code's minimum-heat-source language and setting a flat standard: dwelling units, guest rooms, and bathrooms must have heating capable of holding 70°F, and a kitchen stove cannot count as that heat source. The Department of Local Services, Permitting Division enforces the requirement through notice-and-order and civil-penalty procedures under K.C.C. Title 23, and can placard a unit as unsafe under 16.14.150 if heat isn't restored. This only binds unincorporated King County. Seattle, Bellevue, Kent, Renton, and the county's other 25-plus incorporated cities run their own property maintenance codes.
Violations & Fines
Ignoring a heat notice and order under K.C.C. 16.14.110 escalates to civil fines and abatement action under Title 23, and the code official can placard the unit unfit for occupancy under 16.14.150 until heat is restored.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this heat rule apply inside Seattle rentals?
Can a landlord meet the rule with space heaters instead of a furnace?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in King County
Compare King County to another location·View the Washington rental property rules overview
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