Establishing and using standard plans can save you time and money. Establish a set of plan drawings that you think you are likely to use more than once as a “Standard Plan,” and subsequent projects that use those plans will be fast-tracked through a shorter DPD permit review process, which includes a zoning review.

Permit fees for established Standard Plan projects are also reduced. All the details can be found in CAM 310, Standard Plans.

Approved standard plans remain valid until new relevant codes are adopted; they do not have a standard expiration date 18 months from approval as building permits do. Whenever revisions are made to the Seattle Residential Code (SRC), Seattle Building Code (SBC) or Seattle Energy Code (SEC), however, a new standard plan application and approval process will be required.

Standard plans are generally limited to new construction of:

• detached one- and two-family dwellings three stories or fewer (SRC)
• multiple single-family dwellings (townhouses) three stories or fewer (SRC)
• accessory structures such as detached garages, small pole buildings, swimming pools, etc.

However, other project types may be approved for standard plans on a case-by-case basis.