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, noise, and other codes. We investigate your complaint and determine whether a property owner violated our codes.

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

• Make a Complaint

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

• Code Compliance Services 
• 合規檢查服務 
• 규정 준수 서비스
• Adeegyada U hogaansanaanta Xeerarka  
• Servicios de Cumplimiento del Código 
• Ang Code Pagtupad Paglilingkod
• Dịch Vụ Tuân Thủ Bộ Luật 

What It Isn’t

Your complaint does not always lead to an enforcement action. When we investigate, sometimes the owner has already fixed the problem or we discover that the owner has done nothing wrong or that the activity is not a violation under our laws. 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. Usually this means we need permission from the unit's occupant or the building's manager.

Your name and contact information. 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. Anonymous complaints do not receive feedback. If we have questions about an anonymous complaint but have no one to contact, we may not be able to process the complaint. We must have a resident contact to inspect a housing complaint.

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 3 ways:

1. Call our Violation Complaint Line at (206) 615-0808:
   • For time-sensitive complaints
   • If you don't have a valid email address
   • If you are unable to fully describe the potential violation using the online form
   • If you cannot provide an exact address on the online form
2. Visit our Seattle Services Portal for complaints that are not time-sensitive
3. Send a letter to:
   Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections
   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 SDCI
  Translations available in Spanish, Somali, and Vietnamese.

Following Up on Your Complaint

To track our investigation and findings of your complaint, you need either the address of the property or case number. We assign a case number after we have processed your complaint.

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