Before you buy or design
Can this lot work?
Get a free early study of what may fit, what could limit the project, and what still needs to be confirmed.
Check this propertyHow Build Eastside works
Free help at every stage of your home project.
Check whether a lot may support your plans, learn what to expect while you design and prepare permits, then keep a submitted permit from being forgotten.
Choose where you are
Start with the stage you are in
While you plan and design
Avoid common surprises
Use free homeowner guides to understand design choices, costs, city rules, permit steps, and common problems.
Browse free guidesAfter you submit
Keep the permit moving
Check a Bellevue, Kirkland, or Seattle permit, turn on free daily monitoring, and get an email when the public record changes.
Check and monitor my permitBefore you buy or design
See whether the property may support what you want to build.
An architect may charge hundreds of dollars for an early feasibility review. Build Eastside gives homeowners a useful first look for free.
Use a Seattle or Eastside address or King County property number. We match it to the right lot and city.
Tell us what you may build, your priorities, known site conditions, and up to three questions.
Get the likely limits, maps, source links, and questions to confirm with the city or your project team by email.
What the study covers
A focused first look at the property
What may fit
Review the rules that shape house size and placement, including setbacks, height, and lot coverage.
What may complicate it
Screen mapped slopes, water, trees, utilities, property records, and private neighborhood rules.
What to confirm
See which answers are well supported and which questions still need the city, a survey, or another professional.
Know the limits
A useful first look, not a final approval.
Identify likely constraints, organize better questions, and avoid overlooking public information before you commit to a design.
A survey, title documents, site visit, and project-specific work by an architect, arborist, geotechnical engineer, civil engineer, or other professional may still be needed.
While you plan and design
Learn about surprises before they cost time or money.
The free guides turn city rules and real project experience into clear questions and decisions for homeowners.
Find the local rules and permit process that apply to your property.
Learn about architects, builders, design choices, costs, permits, inspections, and common delays.
Bring the important issues to your architect, builder, or city before they turn into redesign or waiting time.
After you submit
See what changed and keep the permit from being forgotten.
Permit lookup and monitoring are free. You only need a free account to turn on daily checks and email alerts.
Build Eastside reads the latest public permit status and published milestones.
Bellevue and Kirkland include dependable review detail. Seattle shows official status and major milestones without guessing at reviewer assignments.
Build Eastside checks daily and emails you about meaningful public-record changes. Follow-up reminders appear only where the data supports them.
A typical dashboard answer
No action needed yet.
The city has the permit. Follow up only if the relevant departments have not responded by the recommended date.
Follow-up timing
Wait long enough. Not forever.
For Bellevue and Kirkland review records, the default reminder timing is 14 calendar days for the city and 7 for the architect. You can change both. Seattle monitoring sends milestone alerts without estimating reviewer wait time.
The clock starts when the application or latest revision reaches the city.
The clock starts when the city requests revisions.
No waiting threshold applies. The dashboard immediately shows owner issuance tasks.
How revision dates are handled
You can add the actual resubmittal date. Until then, Build Eastside shows a conservative minimum wait when another department's completion date provides one.
Built for homeowners
Useful monitoring, without pretending to be the city.
Read the public record, simplify review activity, identify responsibility, and alert you to meaningful changes.
Approve permits, guarantee city timelines, or replace your architect, contractor, or city permit technician.
Everything here is free
Start with the stage you are in.
Check a property, learn what to expect, or monitor a Bellevue, Kirkland, or Seattle permit.