Make a Property or Building Complaint

What Is It?

We rely on complaints from the public to identify potential violations of our housing, land use, construction, and other codes. We investigate your complaint and determine whether a property owner violated our rules.

Life-threatening emergencies and / or after-hours noise complaints should be reported to 911.

If you’ve received notice of a violation on your own property, see What Should I Do If I’m Cited?

What It Isn’t

Your complaint does not always lead to a citation. When we investigate, sometimes the owner has already fixed the problem or we discover that the owner has done nothing wrong. Sometimes we may not be able to see the violation.

What Information We Need

The property address of the potential violation.

• If our inspectors cannot find a potential violation, we cannot investigate or act to correct it.
• If you’re unsure of the address, give us the address of the property next door or a description of the location (such as SE corner of 5th Avenue and Columbia Street).
• If the violation is inside a house, apartment or building, our inspector will need to be able to get inside to see it.

Your name and number. We use your contact information in case we have follow-up questions and to tell you about the outcome of your complaint. If you choose, you can submit a complaint anonymously or request your identity remain confidential.

Description of the possible violation.

• Where is it on the property?
• What is it?
• How long has it been happening?

Ways to File your Complaint

You can file a complaint in one of four ways:

1. Call the our Violation Complaint Line at (206) 615-0808 for time-sensitive complaints
2. Use our online Code Violation Complaint Form for complaints that are not time-sensitive
3. Visit us in person at 700 Fifth Ave, 19th floor
   M,Tu, Thu, F: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
   W: 10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
4. Send us a letter to:
   Department of Planning and Development
   Code Compliance
   700 Fifth Ave., Suite 2000
   P.O. Box 34019
   Seattle, WA 98124-4019

• Tip 612, When and How to Report a Code Violation to DPD

Following Up on Your Complaint

To track our investigation and findings of your complaint, you need either the address of the property or our case number. We give you a case number when you file your complaint.

• Check complaint status
• Call the complaint line at (206) 615-0808
• Call or email the DPD inspector assigned to the case