Kirkland, WA Swimming Pools & Spas: Pool Permits (2026)

Kirkland treats a backyard swimming pool as a regulated structure. 078 applies the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC) to any pool or spa designed and manufactured to be connected to a circulation system and intended for swimming, bathing or wading, including pools for the sole use of residents and invited guests at a single-family dwelling or a resident-owned duplex. 205, Article V of the construction administrative code, an owner must first apply to the building official and obtain a permit before work starts; a separate permit is required for each structure.

215(1)(K) exempts prefabricated swimming pools accessory to a one- or two-family dwelling or a Group R-3 occupancy that are less than twenty-four inches deep and installed entirely above ground from the permit requirement. Anything deeper than 24 inches, any in-ground pool, or any pool not entirely above grade still needs a permit and ISPSC compliance, regardless of how it's manufactured. Permit exemptions never authorize work that otherwise violates the technical codes or other city ordinances, and they don't apply within flood hazard areas or critical area buffers.

Public pools and other water recreation facilities outside these residential categories are instead regulated by the Washington State Department of Health under WAC 246-260 and 246-262, not the city's building code.