Submit the SDCI Addition/Alteration permit

This is the big submittal — the moment everything you've paid for over the last few months finally goes to SDCI for review. The mechanics are your designer's job; your job is to fund the intake fee and brace for the correction loop in step 3.5. "Plan review" just means SDCI's discipline reviewers (zoning, structural, energy, drainage) reading your set and writing back questions. Two to four rounds of those questions is normal — it's a conversation, not a rejection.

Which permit type

A second-story addition is filed as an Addition or Alteration to Existing Building building permit (not the new-SFR (Single-Family Residence) permit). Two filing tracks:

1. Standard building permit — for any addition with full plan review. This is what you'll use.
2. Subject-to-Field-Inspection (STFI) — for very small alterations. Not applicable to a second-story addition.

What's in the submittal

A typical second-story addition submittal contains:

• Architectural drawings (existing and proposed plans, elevations, sections).
• Structural drawings + calculations (stamped).
• Energy code compliance narrative.
• Site plan (from the boundary survey).
• Existing and proposed gross floor area calc (FAR).
• A copy of the SDCI Tip 314 checklist if substantial-alteration trigger is in play.
• The lead/asbestos report from step 0.4.
• Geotech report (if Phase 1 produced one).

How fees work

SDCI charges based on project valuation, with 75% of the building permit fee due at intake and 25% at issuance. Other reviewing departments (Side Sewer, Energy, etc.) bill their own fees on top.

For a typical Seattle second-story addition:

• Building permit: $5,000–$15,000 total.
• Intake (75%): $3,750–$11,250.
• Issuance (25%): $1,250–$3,750.

If the review goes long beyond standard hours, SDCI bills additional time at the published hourly rate (currently around $292/hr).

Timeline

• Intake: 1–2 weeks.
• First review: 4–8 weeks for straightforward projects, 8–12 weeks for complex ones.
• Correction loops: see step 3.5.

How you submit

Through the Seattle Services Portal. Your designer typically handles the portal mechanics and the back-and-forth with reviewers — that's part of their fee.