Engineering & Permitting

This is the capability most builders don't have. We produce architectural plans and structural engineering in-house, then carry them through city submittal and approval — so your project never stalls in the handoff between a designer and a contractor.

Permitting is where remodels die. Plans get kicked back, corrections pile up, and the designer and builder point at each other. We keep it in one shop: we draw it, we engineer it, we submit it, and we answer the plan reviewer's corrections ourselves because we're the ones who'll build it. That means faster approvals and plans that are actually buildable.

What's included

• Architectural plan production

  Floor plans, elevations, sections and details drawn in-house by the team that will build from them — buildable drawings, not pretty pictures that get redrawn later.

• Structural engineering and calculations

  Beams, posts, footings, shear walls and hold-downs sized and stamped, including the retaining and soldier-pile walls that hillside lots need.

• Energy code and zoning compliance

  Washington State Energy Code compliance, setbacks, height and lot-coverage analysis documented before submittal so the plan reviewer has nothing to send back.

• City and county permit submittal

  We submit to your city or county — SDCI in Seattle, Development Services in Bellevue, Community Development in Federal Way and their counterparts across our four states — and track the application.

• Plan-review corrections and resubmittal

  When corrections come back we answer them ourselves, because we're the ones who will build it and we know what the reviewer is really asking.

• As-builts and final inspection sign-off

  Inspections scheduled and passed from footings to final, with as-built drawings where the jurisdiction requires them.

How it works

1. 1
   Free advice visit

   We look at the site or the house and talk through what you want to build and what the jurisdiction will ask for.

2. 2
   Feasibility and 3D model

   Zoning, setbacks, slope and utilities checked, and a 3D model when the project is a house, addition or ADU.

3. 3
   Drawings and engineering

   Construction drawings and stamped structural calculations produced in one shop.

4. 4
   Submittal and corrections

   The complete package filed, plan review tracked and corrections answered by us.

5. 5
   Inspections and sign-off

   Footing, framing, rough-in, insulation and final inspections scheduled around the build, through final sign-off.

The same ten-step process runs every project we build — see how we work.

What it costs

Design and permit fees are priced separately on every estimate because they scale with the project — a kitchen with a bearing-wall beam, an addition with a second-story tie-in and a hillside retaining wall with geotechnical input are very different engineering efforts. Jurisdiction fees, land-use review and geotechnical reports are passed through at cost.

Timeline

1. Feasibility

   Zoning and site check — days, not weeks, for most parcels.

2. Drawings and engineering

   Construction documents and structural calculations, iterated with you until the design is approved.

3. Plan review

   The part that varies most: a simple remodel permit is typically faster than new construction, an ADU or a project with land-use review, which can take several weeks to a few months depending on the city.

4. Inspections

   Scheduled as construction reaches each milestone, through final.

Permits and codes