BEBuild Eastside

Bellevue permit data

What 503 new-home permits reveal.

See how long recent Bellevue permits took, which city teams responded first, how often plans needed changes, and where active permits are waiting. Filter by builder for more context, but remember that every project is different.

503 qualifying new-home permitsApplications from Aug 2024 through Aug 2026Updated Aug 24, 2026
5 days

to the first dated response from any city department where activity data is available.

34.5 days

for every assigned department to finish the first review where the full round is public.

2.6 revision rounds

across permits with complete public review activity.

160 days

median application-to-issuance time among 322 permits with both dates.

Showing the full 503-permit sample. 291 permits currently have a reviewed custom or spec builder label.

Permits analyzed503322 issued
Average time to issue183.3 daysIssued permits only
First city response5 daysEarliest department response
Complete first review34.5 daysAll assigned departments
Revision rounds2.6Observed public rounds
Final approval to issue27.3 daysEstimated proxy

Builder comparison

Timing across the full sample

Custom and spec groups use reviewed builder labels and recalculate with every weekly snapshot. Spec builders often repeat teams and processes, but the public data cannot isolate why one group was faster or slower.

Average time to issue
Selected
183.3 days
All builders
183.3 days
Complete first review
Selected
34.5 days
All builders
34.5 days
First city response
Selected
5 days
All builders
5 days
Revision rounds
Selected
2.6
All builders
2.6

Project mix

What is being built

Normalized from the public project description so unlike projects can be separated.

New single-family house385 permits
Duplex or middle housing60 permits
New house with ADU56 permits
Multi-building development2 permits

Construction

Issued permit to final approval

Based on 101 permits with both issued and finaled dates.

Median construction duration289 daysIssued through finaled
Average construction duration309.6 daysCalendar days

Location context

Where projects are concentrated

Neighborhood names come from the public parcel geocoder and are directional rather than formal boundaries.

Lake Hills5 permits
Newport5 permits
West Bellevue5 permits
Northwest Bellevue4 permits
Bridle Trails3 permits
Northeast Bellevue1 permits
Somerset1 permits
West Lake Sammamish1 permits
Willburton1 permits

Supplemental parcel context

Most common assessor zoning labels

These labels support broad comparisons only and are not city zoning determinations. Confirm current zoning in Bellevue's official map.

SR-4296 permits
SR-278 permits
SR-350 permits
LL-127 permits
SR-127 permits
LL-221 permits
LDR-23 permits

Supporting permit records

Fees, inspections, and companion permits

These describe the public permit record, not total design, construction, utility, or professional costs.

Average listed permit fees$21,950503 permits with fee data
Median inspections9503 permits checked
Average related permits8.7Other records found on the parcel

Department timing

Average first-review response

Calendar days from application to each department’s first dated response.

Building structural79.8 days
12 permits with dated activity
Land use22.7 days
474 permits with dated activity
Clearing & grading22.7 days
481 permits with dated activity
Building21.4 days
483 permits with dated activity
Utilities19.8 days
474 permits with dated activity
Right-of-way10.2 days
485 permits with dated activity
Fire8.2 days
490 permits with dated activity

Active permits

Why permits are waiting now

A snapshot of the latest public review state, not proof that anyone forgot.

Revisions waiting on architect114
City review in progress32
Owner issuance steps31
One department still reviewing3
Reviews complete; awaiting city status1

Issued permits

How long issuance took

Distribution from application date to issued date for completed permits in this selection.

90 days or less28 permits
91 to 120 days53 permits
121 to 180 days110 permits
181 to 240 days64 permits
More than 240 days67 permits

Data quality

How much of the live sample is enriched

Coverage is published with each snapshot so missing optional data is not mistaken for zero activity.

Permit detail100%
People and builders100%
Review activity100%
Fees100%
Inspections100%
Related permits100%
Optional parcel context99.8%

Recent direction

The latest 90 days compared with the prior 90

Issuance timing is grouped by when a permit was issued. First-review timing is grouped by when that review finished, avoiding an unfair comparison with recent applications that are still open.

Latest 90 days

May 28, 2026 through Aug 25, 2026

Applications
63
Issued
57
Median time to issue
153 days
Median first review
26 days

Previous 90 days

Feb 27, 2026 through May 27, 2026

Applications
56
Issued
40
Median time to issue
181 days
Median first review
25 days

Comparable projects

Permit timing by project type

Separating a single house from an ADU or multi-building project makes the benchmark more relevant. Small groups should be treated as directional.

Project typePermitsIssued sampleMedian to issueAverage first reviewAverage revision rounds
New single-family house385285164 days36.2 days3
Duplex or middle housing609153 days30.2 days2.3
New house with ADU5628139 days26.3 days2.7
Multi-building development20Small sample25 daysNot enough data

Plan corrections

Timing by observed revision rounds

Median application-to-issuance time for completed permits. This shows an association and does not claim each revision caused all of the difference.

1 revision round125.5 days
52 permits in this comparison
2 revision rounds132.5 days
100 permits in this comparison
3+ revision rounds182 days
143 permits in this comparison

First-review bottleneck

Which department finished last

The department with the final dated response in a completed first review. A higher count does not mean that team performed poorly.

Land use141 permits
141 permits in this comparison
Clearing & grading112 permits
112 permits in this comparison
Building91 permits
91 permits in this comparison
Utilities82 permits
82 permits in this comparison
Fire6 permits
6 permits in this comparison
Right-of-way6 permits
6 permits in this comparison
Building structural4 permits
4 permits in this comparison

Who has the next action

City, design team, issuance, or unclear

Based on the latest public review state for active permits. Issuance requirements are kept separate from plan corrections, and incomplete activity records are labeled unclear rather than guessed.

Design team114 permits
City36 permits
Issuance requirements31 permits

Parcel permit history

Timing by other permit records on the parcel

Median time to issue grouped by how many other permit records MyBuildingPermit returned for the parcel. These can include unrelated historical work, so this is context rather than a true companion-permit count.

No other parcel records243 days
5 permits in this comparison
1 to 2 other parcel records173 days
15 permits in this comparison
3+ other parcel records159 days
302 permits in this comparison

Additional complexity signals

Timing by size, parcel, zone, and neighborhood

Project size and story count are extracted from public descriptions, while lot size, zone, and neighborhood come from matched parcel records. These are descriptive groupings, not proof that one characteristic caused a delay.

SignalGroupPermitsIssued sampleMedian to issueMedian revision rounds
Lot size7,000 to 9,999 sq ft248176157.5 days2
Lot size10,000 to 19,999 sq ft168103158 days2
Lot size20,000+ sq ft7235203 days3
Assessor zoning labelSR-4296196155 days2
Assessor zoning labelSR-27849179 days3
Assessor zoning labelSR-35031148 days3
Assessor zoning labelLL-12719Directional sample185 days3
Assessor zoning labelSR-12712Directional sample168.5 days3
Assessor zoning labelLL-22111Directional sample208 days4

Groups with fewer than ten issued records are withheld; groups with 10 to 19 are directional. Project-size and story comparisons appear only when the current parser can classify at least 60% of issued permits. Missing description or parcel fields are not inferred.

Repeat-builder experience

Timing by permit volume in this sample

Median time to issue based on how often the same normalized builder name appears. This measures observed volume, not whether the same staff or plans were used.

Builder appears once206.5 days
46 permits in this comparison
Builder appears on 2 to 4 permits156.5 days
64 permits in this comparison
Builder appears on 5+ permits154 days
173 permits in this comparison

Slower-permit patterns

Share that took longer than the upper quartile

Overlapping project characteristics among issued permits. These are descriptive flags, not a prediction that a future permit will be slow.

Duplex or middle housing33.3%
9 permits in this comparison
2+ revision rounds28.1%
270 permits in this comparison
Custom home builder26.3%
19 permits in this comparison
New single-family house26%
285 permits in this comparison
3+ other parcel records24.2%
302 permits in this comparison
Spec home builder18.9%
185 permits in this comparison
New house with ADU14.3%
28 permits in this comparison

After issuance

Construction and inspection benchmarks

These measures describe the public inspection record after issuance. They do not include unrecorded jobsite work, contractor scheduling, or private quality-control checks.

Issue to first substantive inspection36 days268 permits with both dates
Typical inspection cadence8 daysMedian average gap between distinct inspection dates
Repeated correction checkpoint67.5%Same public checkpoint recorded with 2+ correction outcomes
Issue to final289 days101 finaled permits

Field-inspection timing excludes canceled, scheduled, preconstruction, job-conference, and job-start rows. A correction includes public outcomes containing “correction,” “failed,” or “denied”; “Not Ready for Inspection” is not counted as a city correction. A repeat requires two correction outcomes at the same normalized public checkpoint. The cadence metric calculates each project's average gap between distinct inspection dates, then reports the median project. Metrics with fewer than ten permits are withheld. These projects come from the same 24-month application cohort as the rest of this page.

Listed permit fees

Use the range, not just the average

Publicly listed permit fees only. These figures do not include architecture, engineering, construction, utility, or other project costs.

Lower quarter$13,54025th percentile
Median$23,421Middle of 503 permits
Upper quarter$25,97675th percentile
Average$21,950More sensitive to unusually large fees

Read this before comparing

Useful benchmarks, not promises.

The analysis starts with Bellevue BS “New House or Large Addition” permits published by MyBuildingPermit, then uses the public project description to retain 503 new-home permits and exclude identifiable large additions. This is a new-home cohort, not a count of every Bellevue building permit. Averages exclude records without the dates needed for that metric.

The dataset checks for newly filed projects daily, refreshes existing project details on a rolling monthly schedule, and rebuilds this analysis every Sunday. Inspection and status detail may therefore lag the public record by up to about a month.

Projects are classified from the public description and grouped by parcel, project name, and application year so multi-building developments can be identified. Custom and spec builder comparisons include only builders with a reviewed label and recalculate with each weekly snapshot. Builder names may be missing or incomplete, and small samples should not be treated as a quality ranking.

Bellevue does not publish the exact date a permit becomes Ready to Issue. “Final approval to issue” is therefore a proxy: issued date minus the latest final department approval date.

Construction measures use substantive dated inspections after issuance and exclude canceled, scheduled, preconstruction, job-conference, and job-start rows. Issuance-to-final timing includes only permits already finaled. Other parcel permit records can include unrelated historical work and are not treated as confirmed companion permits.

Build Eastside provides this benchmark analysis for free under its Terms of Use.