Building and Permit

Fund 104

Photo of Main Street in Duvall

About the Department

The Building and Permitting Department ensures the safety and welfare of those who live, work, and visit Duvall by regulating the construction, use, and occupancy of buildings and structures through regulation management and interdepartmental assistance. Building Department staff ensures that building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing standards and other codes for construction, are met through plan review, permit issuance and on-site inspections. These steps are vital to ensure the life house safety measures are met to protect the City.


The City partners with Eastside Fire and Rescue and King County Fire District 45 to conduct annual and operation inspections of commercial buildings while supporting permitting reviews and inspections.


The Permit Center is the location for finding and submitting applications and obtaining permits for development, right of way uses, and new water and sewer connections. The Permit Center is the permit processing conduit to the Building, Planning, and Public Works Departments. Permitting staff are dedicated to providing prompt and courteous service.

Staffing Levels

The 2023/2024 Building and Permit budget includes salaries and wages for 3.86 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees. This department was moved out of the General Fund to its own fund (Fund 104) for the 2021/2022 Biennium, with the goal of capturing revenue and expenditures associated with the cost of issuing permits. The 3.86 FTEs charged to the Building and Permitting Fund include a Building Official, a Plans Examiner, part of the salaries and benefits for 1.5 Permit Specialists and a small percentage of Administrative positions that perform financial services for the Building and Permitting Department including the City's Finance Director, Accountant, Financial Associates (Payroll, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable), Administrative Associate, Deputy City Clerk, City Clerk and City Administrator.


This budget includes the following changes to Building and Permitting staff in 2024:

  1. 0.5 FTE Permit Specialist I to 0.5 Permit Specialist II
  2. Plans Examiner I to Plans Examiner II



Use the scroll bar at the bottom of the table above to see how Building and Permit revenues and expenditures have changed since 2019. If you'd like to take a deeper dive into the data, click on the "View Report" icon in the lower right corner of the table.

Revenues

The estimated permit projection for 2023 is 179 residential units and 186 residential units for 2024. The increase for 2023 is due to developments that projected to final plat in 2021 and 2022 have not. This can shift the permit submittals and issuances to the next year depending on when final plats take place. Even with the large projection of permits we anticipate keeping the majority of the reviews and inspections in house.

Significant Changes to Expenditures

  • GIS services to keep the new OpenGov software up to date with new final plats.
  • Added internal promotions in 2024 for Permit Technician I to Permit Technician II and a Plans Examiner I to Plans Examiner II.
  • Increased continuing education, reimbursements of certifications, and travel due to increase of fee increases.
  • School Impact Fees, which are collected by the City and remitted to the School District, fluctuate depending on the issuance of new housing permits. The City estimates it will issue 179 new housing permits in 2023 and 186 in 2024.

2021 & 2022 Accomplishments

  • Successfully purchased, trained, and implemented permit tracking system that has improved building, planning and public works departments (2022).
  • Reformatted Title 10 of the DMC and amended the state building code.
  • Expanded the layers of our GIS system as part of the OpenGov permitting implementation.
  • Building Inspector completed residential plan review course and certification test
  • 2021/2022 (October) Total Building Permits Reviewed 1123 permits (building, TI, ROW, etc.) 2019/2020 was (720 permits)
  • Issued approximately 1,036 permits in 20121/2022. 2019/2020 was (651 permits.)
  • Inspections 2021/2022 (October) is 5,164.
  • Completed multiple code enforcement cases
  • Merged Fire permitting into OpenGov. All files now housed under one program.
  • Staff skills were enhanced to allow plan review and inspection to remain in house most of 2021/2022.
  • Answered technical questions related to building codes for the community, contractors, business owners and other public agencies
  • Trained and integrated the new Permit Specialist I into the Development Review Process and Permitting Counter Operations.
  • Internal Promotion of Building Inspector to Plans Examiner 2022.

2023 & 2024 Goals and Objectives

  • Utilize electronic tablets for building inspection, land use public inquiries, and code enforcement.
  • Expand the online building permit programs with a goal to include all land use/planning related permits by end of Fiscal year 2023.
  • Internal Promotion (Permit Specialist I to II in 2023.
  • Internal Promotion of Plans Examiner I to Plans Examiner II 2024.
  • Review and update policy and procedures for permit applications and inspections.
  • Continue to conduct in house residential and commercial reviews in a timely and productive manner
  • Draft, adopt, and implement amendments to the Building Code (2023)
  • Post Earthquake Structure Evaluation training and certification
  • Draft/revise Code Enforcement Municipal code.