Engage a designer or architect

Hiring a designer is the moment the project starts feeling real, and it's also when most first-time owners freeze up — "do I need an architect, or is a designer enough?" The answer in Seattle is usually "a designer is enough, if they've done DADUs here recently." Here's how to tell.

Architect vs. designer in Seattle

For most SF DADUs that fit under SDCI's complexity thresholds, an unlicensed residential designer can produce the drawings as long as a structural engineer stamps the structural sheets. A WA-licensed architect (RCW 18.08) is required when complexity or site conditions push past those thresholds.

In practice, the title matters less than the designer's track record in Seattle.

What you're hiring them to deliver

• Site plan with setbacks, drip lines, ECA buffers, easements
• Floor plans, elevations, sections
• Energy code forms
• MEP coordination (drives engineer engagement in 2.3, 2.4, 2.5)
• Permit-ready set
• Construction administration during the build

Fee structures

• Full-service architect: 8–15% of construction cost
• Residential designer: 5–10% of construction cost
• Hourly: $125–$250/hr
• Fixed bid: $8K–$30K+ custom; $5K–$15K adapting a pre-approved plan

Where to find a designer or architect

Three reliable channels, in order of how the founder would actually shop:

1. Recent permit history. The SDCI Permit and Site History Research Tool — filter recent DADU permits in your neighborhood. Designers of record who appear repeatedly are local specialists. Single best discovery channel.
2. Pre-approved plan vendors. If you're working with one of Seattle's pre-approved DADU plan sets, the originating designer is already familiar with SDCI's review pattern.
3. AIA Seattle. AIA Seattle maintains a residential referral list — useful when you specifically want a licensed architect (vs. a residential designer).

What to look for: recent SDCI DADU submittals you can verify on the permit research tool; finished projects you can visit; clear scope and fee structure; willingness to describe what's NOT in the design fee (construction administration is the most commonly excluded).

The verification step

The single best filter: ask for three Seattle DADU projects they've completed in the last three years, with addresses. Pull the addresses on the SDCI Permit and Site History Research Tool and you'll see the actual permit history — corrections, holds, discipline, all of it.

A designer with three permitted Seattle DADUs is a different bid than one with zero, no matter how good the rest of their portfolio is.

License verification

• Architect: WA DOL Architect Search.
• Designer: No license to verify, so the SDCI permit history is the verification.

What goes in the contract

• Scope (basic / construction documents / construction administration — be explicit on each)
• Deliverables and milestones
• Number of design iterations included
• Coordination with structural / civil / energy (your fee or theirs?)
• Whether SDCI correction responses are in scope
• Hourly rate for out-of-scope work

Initial payment ("deposit")

Most architects and residential designers ask for an initial payment of 5–15% of their fee before producing drawings. Per AIA standard practice for architect compensation, this is a non-refundable initial payment held on account against the final invoices, not a refundable retainer — if you cancel mid-project, it's gone. Trades that order custom materials (cabinets, windows, specialty doors) also typically require a deposit at order time — often 30–50%, because those items aren't returnable.