SDOT Street Use Franchise and Utility Permits

Street Restoration
About the Franchise and Utility Permit Section
Utility Records
What's Under Our Streets?
Utility Permit Publications

Refer to our frequently asked questions for more information on utility permits.

Street Restoration
More than 4,000 openings are made in Seattle's streets every year, for example to connect or repair water, sewer, gas or other underground utilities. A Street Use permit is required prior to working in the right-of-way. The permit requires that the right-of-way be restored in accordance with City of Standard Plans and Specifications, and in accordance with the Pavement Opening and Restoration Rule. The permit-holder is responsible for the performance of the pavement restoration for the life of the pavement.

Most permittees prefer to have Seattle Department of Transportation restore the pavement for them. SDOT workers restore thousands of street openings every year, on a reimbursable basis, for public and private customers. When SDOT restores the street, then the permittee is no longer liable for future defects in the pavement. The rates that SDOT charges for this work are set by City Ordinance. The current rate sheet is available on-line. These rates can be used to estimate the total cost of restoration. Accurately measuring the size of pavement to be restored is necessary for proper cost estimate. Refer to the Pavement Opening & Restoration Rule to figure out the size of pavement that must be restored. For help, you can also contact the Street Use inspector assigned to the project.

About the Franchise and Utility Permit Section

The Franchise and Utility Permit Section issues permits to individuals or corporations or associations to construct, maintain and operate railroad or streetcar tracks, pipes, ducts, utility tunnels, vaults, maintenance holes, poles, fixtures, wires or any other appurtenants on, under or over the streets, alleys or public places of the City of Seattle. These installations include in part: gas mains and services; electrical manholes and conduits; telecommunication manholes and conduits; steam mains and services; water mains and services; utility poles; underground fuel storage tanks; and aerial CATV and telecommunications cables.

The applicant must submit an application and plan detailing the proposed utility to the Franchise and Utility Permit Section. The application and plan will be reviewed and any corrections noted before a permit will be issued.

Utility Records

Street Use maintains detailed maps, plans and construction notes of all work in street area. This Section transcribes the as-built field notes for the permitted work to the Section's utility maps and field books. Inspection and record keeping are a very important part of utility permits. The following image is a 10 scale drawing of the utilities at 3rd Avenue and Spring Street as maintained by Street Use. With the boom of telecommunications infrastructure over the past few years, the utility corridors have become very congested. Sometimes there is as little as six inches in width to construct a new utility.

"I have done a great deal of work for my company in the different streets of Seattle. During the old system there was no complete record kept of any streets or work done in the streets, i.e., there was no complete record of mains or ducts which would be a guide to any one wishing to do underground work.

To one not familiar with this kind of work it might seem that these things are of little value, but I deem it an absolute necessity for any City to know where all pipes, sewers, ducts, etc. are located. I find now a very different proposition when doing work in the streets. Since the creation of the Public Utilities Department I have always been able to get a true and direct location of the different pipes, ducts, etc. installed subsequent to that time. It seems that under the old system when a man got a permit to run a certain line or duct, he simply took the easiest route, not attempting to keep in the location laid out by the City, and the reason, no doubt, for this was that many locations as shown on the old maps were found to be faulty. I cannot help but think that the value of the Public Utilities Department in the City of Seattle cannot be estimated too highly as now every company is required to remain in its own location as given by that Department and in future years the records kept by this Department will be of great value to the City as well as to the public utilities of the City. It has been a great help to be able to get locations to enable us to do work in a satisfactory manner. The public does not realize that underlying the streets of Seattle is a network of pipes and ducts of all description of which there should be a true record for the benefit of those wishing to do underground work."

As you can see from this letter the importance of inspection and good record keeping cannot be emphasized enough. Today with the increasing density of utilities in the right-of-way it is more important than ever.

What's Under Our Streets?

Below is a 3D drawing, created in the 1960s, that depicts a typical downtown street.

Click on the image below to see a full sized image. (587kb)