Insights
How long does Seattle permit plan review take?
Based on 2,635 permits with recorded SDCI plan-review timing. "Plan review" is the time spent in review cycles before a permit is issued.
2,635
Permits analyzed
61 days
Median review
78 days
Average review
165 days
90th percentile
1.1
Avg review cycles
Half of permits clear review in 61 days or less, but the slowest 10% take 165+ days — the gap is where projects stall.
Distribution of plan-review time
0–30 days
670 · 25%
31–60 days
642 · 24%
61–90 days
409 · 16%
91–180 days
712 · 27%
181–365 days
202 · 8%
365+ days
0 · 0%
Average review time by permit type
residential
89 days · 1,912 permits
commercial
48 days · 676 permits
industrial
105 days · 36 permits
land
46 days · 11 permits
Review cycles per permit
0 cycles
2,904
1 cycle
1,016
2 cycles
1,281
3 cycles
638
4 cycles
168
5 cycles
48
6 cycles
10
7 cycles
5
8 cycles
1
Each correction cycle adds a round-trip with reviewers. Permits sit out for corrections about 24 days on average.
Slowest neighborhoods by average review time
Neighborhoods with at least 3 reviewed permits, ranked by longest average review.
Average review time by review level
Full +
61 days · 1,699 permits
Full C
103 days · 450 permits
Dependent Building
136 days · 383 permits
Full
34 days · 82 permits
Unknown
10 days · 21 permits
Raw numbers available as JSON at /api/plan-review.