Property Maintenance in Washington (2026)

In unincorporated Grant County, the Development Services code official can order the owner of any structure so…

Kennewick orders unfit or substandard buildings demolished or vacated once repair costs cross set thresholds, under the…

Kirkland enforces property maintenance under KMC 21.41 and 1.12. Prohibited: junk, inoperable vehicles, overgrown…

Pierce County Code Chapter 8.08 declares accumulated solid waste, junk vehicles, unpermitted salvage sites and…

Auburn's public nuisance code, ACC 8.12.020, declares junk-covered yards, unsightly or dangerous buildings, junkyards…

Bellevue's Abatement of Dangerous Buildings Code lets the building official declare a structurally unsound…

Bellingham's locally adopted Construction Administrative Code lets the building official declare a structure unsafe for…

Unincorporated Benton County enforces dangerous and substandard buildings under BCC 3.04.010(c), which adopts the 1997…

Everett's health officer can declare an occupied building an unsafe public nuisance over insanitary conditions and…

Federal Way deems a property "dangerous or unfit" and a public nuisance if it has trash or junk that attracts rats…

Kent's code enforcement officer, improvement officer, or hearing examiner may declare a dwelling, building, structure…

In unincorporated King County, any building the code official finds unsafe, unfit for occupancy, or unlawful is…

Unincorporated Kitsap County declares a building a public nuisance once inspection shows it meets any of 19…

Lynnwood's building official and hearing examiner may declare a structure unfit for habitation or substandard under LMC…

A Marysville building found structurally unsafe, fire-damaged or unfit for habitation must be repaired, vacated or…

Pasco declares decayed, damaged, or unsafe buildings and premises public nuisances under PMC 16.70.020 and can order…

Puyallup's public officer, the director of development and permitting services, can declare a decayed, fire-damaged…

Renton code compliance can order an unfit or dangerous building repaired, vacated or demolished under RMC 1-3-3. A…

Sammamish's Building and Property Maintenance Code lets the code official condemn a structure the moment it is found…

Seattle's Housing and Building Maintenance Code declares that substandard, deteriorating buildings 'in danger of…

Spokane Valley's city manager can declare a dwelling, building, structure, or premises unfit for human habitation or…

Tacoma declares any building scoring 50 or more violation points a public nuisance under its Minimum Building Code…

Thurston County Code Chapter 14.22 declares any building the building official finds dangerous a public nuisance and…

Yakima code officials can order owners of deteriorated, dangerous or uninhabitable structures to repair or demolish…

Yakima County's Property Maintenance Code lets the code official declare a structure unsafe when fire hazards…

In unincorporated Clark County, accumulated junk, debris, and abandoned objects visible from adjacent property are a…

Unincorporated Cowlitz County abates substandard structures under the 1997 Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous…

Edmonds treats a decayed, damaged or disrepaired structure that poses a substantial threat of collapse as a public…

Franklin County enforces dangerous and blighted buildings through the 1997 Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous…

Lakewood, Washington requires every property owner or occupant, including on vacant lots, to keep their land free of…

Port Townsend requires historic-district owners to fix structural decay before a building becomes unsafe, under PTMC…

Accumulated junk, wrecked vehicles and repeated nuisance activity on unincorporated property are code violations. A…

In unincorporated Spokane County, letting your property fall into a blighting condition is a nuisance. SCC Chapter 6.13…

Whatcom County treats litter, debris and illegally dumped waste on private or public property as a civil infraction…

Auburn requires owners to register any property that sits vacant for more than 30 days under ACC 15.20.100, then keep…

Unincorporated Spokane County treats an unsecured, uncontrolled vacant lot or abandoned building as a nuisance under…

Bellevue caps weeds and turf grass at eight inches on vacant residences and abandoned construction sites in its…

Bellingham bars anyone, including the owner, from throwing or depositing litter on open or vacant private property in…

Vacant lot owners in Benton County must control noxious weeds and clear debris. State law (RCW 17.10) makes every owner…

Owners of vacant lots must keep them free of accumulated junk and debris under CCC 9.24.010 and must control noxious…

Edmonds bans junk, litter, unstacked salvage, broken furniture, junk vehicles, disorganized construction materials and…

Everett bars grass over twelve inches and non-flowerbed vegetation over forty-two inches on any property, including…

Federal Way declares filthy, littered, trash-covered, or overgrown premises a public nuisance, reaching vacant and…

Unincorporated King County requires owners to cut and destroy weeds once cited as a fire hazard, or face prosecution…

Vacant land in Kirkland isn't exempt from upkeep: KMC 21.41.301(c) requires vacant structures and vacant land to stay…

In unincorporated Kitsap County, a vacant or unimproved lot piled with trash, junk, litter, discarded lumber, old…

Lakewood, Washington requires owners of a vacant lot or building near an occupied home to keep the premises free of…

Lynnwood Municipal Code § 10.08.200(B)(12) declares uncut or unkempt vegetation a public nuisance whenever it creates a…

Marysville makes it a public nuisance to leave vacant land or a vacant structure in an unclean, unsafe or unsanitary…

PMC 9.90.040 declares a nuisance any "filthy, littered or trash-covered ... vacant lots" and any lot where dead…

Vacant and rural lots in unincorporated Pierce County fall under Code Chapter 8.08, which makes accumulated solid…

Port Townsend treats overgrown vegetation and noxious weeds on any lot, vacant or built, as a public nuisance, with…

Renton bans dumping or depositing litter on any open or vacant private lot, occupied or not, under RMC 6-14-20. If…

Seattle's weed nuisance chapter, SMC 10.52, applies to vacant and unplatted land as much as built lots. "property" is…

Owners of vacant unincorporated parcels must still control noxious weeds and cannot let others dump waste on the land…

Spokane Valley treats noxious weeds and toxic vegetation as a public nuisance on any parcel, vacant or built, under…

Vacant-lot owners in unincorporated Whatcom County must keep the parcel clear of dumped garbage and control…

Vacant land and vacant structures in Yakima must be kept in a clean, safe, secure and sanitary condition under YMC §…

Vacant land and vacant structures in unincorporated Yakima County must be kept clean, safe, secure and sanitary so they…

Owners of undeveloped Tacoma parcels over one acre can satisfy the city's overgrown-vegetation nuisance rule by…

ACC 12.40.010 gives every person occupying or controlling a lot in Auburn just 24 hours to clear all ice and snow from…

In the denser fringes of unincorporated Benton County, anyone occupying premises abutting a sidewalk must clear it of…

Edmonds makes ice and snow removal part of an abutting property owner's sidewalk maintenance duty under ECC…

Everett, Washington property owners, agents, or occupants must clear snow and ice from the sidewalk fronting their…

Federal Way gives property owners, lessees, and occupants 24 hours to clear snow and ice off the sidewalk fronting…

Kent property owners must not let ice or snow accumulate into a hazardous condition on the sidewalk fronting their…

Kirkland puts sidewalk snow and ice removal on the abutting property owner, not the city. KMC 19.20.020 requires the…

Lynnwood puts the job of keeping sidewalks clear of ice and snow on the abutting property owner. Letting a sidewalk…

Pasco puts the job of clearing snow, ice, litter, and debris off an abutting sidewalk on the private property owner…

Property owners and occupants abutting a public sidewalk in Port Townsend must keep it clear of snow, ice, and mud at…

Puyallup Municipal Code § 11.20.040 puts snow and ice removal squarely on the owner or occupant of the abutting…

Renton property owners must keep the sidewalk abutting their lot clear of ice and snow at all times under RMC 9-8-2…

Seattle puts snow-and-ice removal squarely on the property owner or occupant, not the City. SMC 15.48.010 requires…

Spokane Valley requires owners and occupants abutting a designated removal-area sidewalk to clear snow and ice over…

Tacoma property owners and occupants must clear snow and ice from the public sidewalk along their premises within 24…

Yakima property owners and occupants must clear snow and ice from sidewalks next to their building's main entrance by 9…

Property owners along local access roads in unincorporated Yakima County must clear snow and ice from sidewalks…