King County, WA
King County electrical permit cost
There is no such thing as a King County electrical permit:
in unincorporated King County, electrical work is permitted by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, and the county's own residential fee guide says so in its margin. The fee comes from WAC 296-46B-906 and is charged by amperage, circuits and devices — a 200-ampere altered service in a home is $109.90, an eight-circuit residential panel is $95.20, and adding permanent transfer equipment for a portable generator is another $109.90.
How this fee is calculated
These are the components the schedule defines for this permit, as they applied on 2026-09-28. A component only applies to your project if its conditions match — read that column before assuming a figure. Want a figure for your own project? Estimate this fee with the permit fee calculator.
| Component | Formula | Applies when | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Altered residential service or feeder, 0 to 200 amperesPermit fee | $109.90 flat fee | schedule item is altered service and service amps over 0 and service amps up to 200 | — |
| Altered residential service or feeder, 200 to 600 amperesPermit fee | $161.00 flat fee | schedule item is altered service and service amps over 200 and service amps up to 600 | — |
| Altered residential service or feeder, 600 amperes and overPermit fee | $242.70 flat fee | schedule item is altered service and service amps over 600 | — |
| Commercial circuits, $100.50 for the first five and $8.20 each afterPermit fee | $100.50 for the first 5 circuits, plus $8.20 for each additional circuit | schedule item is commercial circuits | — |
| Residential circuits only, $78.80 for the first four and $8.20 each afterPermit fee | $78.80 for the first 4 circuits, plus $8.20 for each additional circuit | circuits over 0 and schedule item is not provided | max $109.90 |
| Altered commercial service or feeder, circuits excluded, 0 to 200 amperesPermit fee | $129.40 flat fee | schedule item is commercial altered service and service amps over 0 and service amps up to 200 | — |
| Altered commercial service or feeder, circuits excluded, 200 to 600 amperesPermit fee | $303.60 flat fee | schedule item is commercial altered service and service amps over 200 and service amps up to 600 | — |
| Altered commercial service or feeder, circuits excluded, 600 to 1000 amperesPermit fee | $457.90 flat fee | schedule item is commercial altered service and service amps over 600 and service amps up to 1000 | — |
| Altered commercial service or feeder, circuits excluded, 1000 amperes and overPermit fee | $508.60 flat fee | schedule item is commercial altered service and service amps over 1000 | — |
| Transfer equipment for a portable generatorPermit fee | $109.90 flat fee | generator transfer is true | — |
| Low-voltage and telecommunications system, first 2,500 square feetPermit fee | $69.10 flat fee | schedule item is low voltage | — |
| Signs and outline lighting, $59.50 for the first and $27.90 each afterPermit fee | $59.50 for the first sign, plus $27.90 for each additional sign | signs over 0 | — |
| Temporary service, 0 to 60 amperesPermit fee | $69.10 flat fee | schedule item is temporary service and service amps over 0 and service amps up to 60 | — |
| Temporary service, 60 to 100 amperesPermit fee | $78.80 flat fee | schedule item is temporary service and service amps over 60 and service amps up to 100 | — |
| Temporary service, 100 to 200 amperesPermit fee | $100.50 flat fee | schedule item is temporary service and service amps over 100 and service amps up to 200 | — |
| Temporary service, 200 to 400 amperesPermit fee | $119.90 flat fee | schedule item is temporary service and service amps over 200 and service amps up to 400 | — |
| Temporary service, 400 to 600 amperesPermit fee | $161.00 flat fee | schedule item is temporary service and service amps over 400 and service amps up to 600 | — |
| Temporary service, 600 amperes and overPermit fee | $182.60 flat fee | schedule item is temporary service and service amps over 600 | — |
| Over 600 volts surcharge, per permitSurcharge | $100.50 flat fee | over 600 volts is true | — |
A real permit fee is these components added together. The department’s final calculation is the one that applies — this is the schedule it will be based on.
A worked example
Follow the arithmetic by hand. Every line is produced by the engine from the rules above, so the total cannot drift away from the schedule behind it.
Worked example
A 200-ampere service change at a single-family home in unincorporated King County, with permanent transfer equipment for a portable generator installed at the same time.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Service amps | 200 |
| Schedule item | altered_service |
| Generator transfer | Yes |
Example total
$219.80
An estimate, not an official fee. It is calculated from the published fee schedule as it applied on 2026-09-28. The permit office’s own calculation is the one that applies, and your project may fall under rules this schedule does not describe.
Fee schedule as of 2026-09-28Rules applied 2Rules considered 19
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Altered residential service or feeder, 0 to 200 amperesPermit feeWAC 296-46B-906(1)(c)(i), single or multifamily altered services or feeders including circuits: "0 to 200 amperes — $109.90".Show the working
| $109.90 flat fee | $109.90 |
Transfer equipment for a portable generatorPermit feeWAC 296-46B-906(5)(g): "Portable generators: Permanently installed transfer equipment for portable generators — $109.90". The note above it sends a permanently installed generator to the service and feeder rows instead. A boolean rather than a named job, because a transfer switch is added to a service change rather than replacing it, and the section charges both.Show the working
| $109.90 flat fee | $109.90 |
| Total | $219.80 |
Fees that do not apply here
Listed so you can see what was considered and left out, rather than wondering whether something is missing. A rule can also be left out because it is not published for this permit at all, and that is stated where it matters.
- Altered residential service or feeder, 200 to 600 amperes — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Altered residential service or feeder, 600 amperes and over — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Commercial circuits, $100.50 for the first five and $8.20 each after — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Residential circuits only, $78.80 for the first four and $8.20 each after — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Altered commercial service or feeder, circuits excluded, 0 to 200 amperes — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Altered commercial service or feeder, circuits excluded, 200 to 600 amperes — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Altered commercial service or feeder, circuits excluded, 600 to 1000 amperes — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Altered commercial service or feeder, circuits excluded, 1000 amperes and over — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Low-voltage and telecommunications system, first 2,500 square feet — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Signs and outline lighting, $59.50 for the first and $27.90 each after — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Temporary service, 0 to 60 amperes — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Temporary service, 60 to 100 amperes — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Temporary service, 100 to 200 amperes — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Temporary service, 200 to 400 amperes — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Temporary service, 400 to 600 amperes — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Temporary service, 600 amperes and over — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Over 600 volts surcharge, per permit — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
Assumptions
- Calculated from 2 fee rules in effect on 2026-09-28.
- Amounts are rounded to the nearest cent, once, at the end of each component.
The altered service is in the schedule's 0 to 200 ampere band at $109.90, and the transfer equipment is its own published row at another $109.90: "Portable generators: Permanently installed transfer equipment for portable generators — $109.90". The total is $219.80. A permanently installed (not portable) generator would instead be priced as a service or feeder for its own rating. Note what is not added: no plan review, because plan review is 35% of the permit fee only where plans are submitted, and no county fee, because the county does not issue or price this permit.
What is different in King County
Three schedules in this dataset price electrical work three different ways, and King County's is the one that is not local at all. Houston charges per device, Clark County charges per device with a fallback to its valuation table, Denver charges on the value of the electrical work — and here the price is set by a state regulation that applies identically in every county outside Seattle, Tacoma and Tacoma Power's service area. WAC 296-46B-906 opens by naming its own unit: "To calculate inspection fees, the amperage is based on the conductor ampacity or the overcurrent device rating."
That single sentence explains the shape of the whole schedule. Altered residential services are banded at 0–200, 201–600 and 601 amperes and over, at $109.90, $161.00 and $242.70. Altered commercial services are banded four ways at $129.40, $303.60, $457.90 and $508.60. Temporary services are banded six ways from $69.10 to $182.60. And where the work is circuits rather than a service, the schedule counts circuits: $78.80 for the first four on a residential panel and $8.20 for each one after, or $100.50 for the first five on a commercial panel and the same $8.20 each after.
Two features of this schedule are unusual enough to be worth stating plainly. The first is that the residential circuit row carries a published ceiling. Its note says: "Total cost of the alterations in an individual panel should not exceed the cost of a complete altered service or feeder of the same rating." That is the only place in this dataset where a schedule caps a sum rather than a line, and it is modelled here as a $109.90 maximum on the residential circuits rule — the 0–200 ampere altered service rate, which is the common case.
The second is that plan review is charged as a percentage, 35% of the electrical permit fee under subsection (9)(a), with a separate $100.50 submission fee and a $27.90 handling fee. It applies where plans are submitted, so it is quoted here rather than modelled.
Then there is the list of rows that make up an ordinary job, each with its own footing: $109.90 for permanently installed transfer equipment for a portable generator, a note above it sending a permanently installed generator to the service rows instead; $69.10 for a low-voltage or telecommunications system covering the first 2,500 square feet and $18.30 for each additional 2,500; $59.50 for the first sign and $27.90 for each additional one inspected at the same time; $59.40 to repair a meter or mast with no alteration to the service; $49.80 to inspect a hot tub alongside the service, $78.80 to inspect it separately.
One consequence of the county's split of authorities is worth a line of its own: because the same regulation prices electrical work in every county it covers, a permit that costs $109.90 here costs $109.90 in Spokane, while the building permit for the same project is priced by each county's own schedule and can differ by thousands.
What this figure does not include
Impact fees, utility connections and other departments’ permits are the usual omissions, and in some jurisdictions they are larger than the permit fee itself.
Not included in these figures
This estimate is the electrical inspection fees set by WAC 296-46B-906 for the item selected. It excludes:
- Plan review, which is 35% of the electrical permit fee under subsection (9)(a) wherever plans are submitted, plus its own $100.50 submission fee per submission and a $27.90 handling fee.
- The minimum the section imposes on progress inspections: the total fee "must not be less than the number of progress inspection (one-half hour) units times the progress inspection fee rate", which is $59.50 per half hour.
- Every hourly and per-trip charge: other inspections at $119.90 portal to portal, out-of-normal-hours inspections at a $151.10 surcharge, a requested inspection of an existing installation at $119.90, a trip for work that is not ready at $59.50, removal of a noncompliance notice at $59.50, and covered or concealed work at $59.50.
- The residential new-construction rows, which are charged by area and by item rather than by amperage: $119.90 for the first 1,300 square feet and $38.20 for each additional 500, $49.80 or $78.80 per outbuilding, $78.80 or $119.90 per swimming pool, $49.80 or $78.80 per hot tub depending on whether it is inspected with the service, $129.40 for a multifamily service at 0–200 amperes with $38.20 for each additional feeder.
- The remaining panel and circuit rows beyond the ones modelled: the commercial circuits rule here prices one branch-circuit panel, because the section charges per panelboard, and the residential rule is capped at a 0–200 ampere service.
- Annual permits and Class B labels: annual electrical permits from $2,913.90 for a plant with up to three electricians to $14,581.10 for more than 25, a block of 20 Class B basic work labels at $329.80, and provisional labels at the same price. Annual telecommunications permits are $240.70 for the first two hours and $119.90 per additional hour.
- Carnival, irrigation and marina rows, and the $100.50 surcharge for a permit over 600 volts, which is modelled as a surcharge rather than included in the item fee.
- The county's or the city's own charges, if any: an electrical permit in King County is not bought from the county, and an electrical inspection has no county fee attached to it.
- Illegal-work consequences, such as the notice of correction or penalty that follows work done without a permit. Those are not fees and are not modelled.
What you need before applying
- The state prices electrical work, not the countyRequired
Guide 02's own margin: "Electrical permits are issued by the WA State Department of Labor & Industries." WAC 296-46B-906 then fixes the amounts, and its opening sentence fixes the unit: "To calculate inspection fees, the amperage is based on the conductor ampacity or the overcurrent device rating." Plan review, where plans are submitted, is 35% of the electrical permit fee under subsection (9)(a).
Common questions
Who issues an electrical permit in unincorporated King County?
The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, not the county. King County's own residential fee guide says so in its margin: "Electrical permits are issued by the WA State Department of Labor & Industries." The amounts are set by WAC 296-46B-906, and the same schedule applies in every county outside Seattle, Tacoma and Tacoma Power's service area.
How much is a service change?
On a single-family or multifamily home, $109.90 for a service or feeder of 0 to 200 amperes, $161.00 for 201 to 600, and $242.70 for 601 and over. On a commercial job the altered-service row is higher: $129.40 for 0 to 200 amperes, $303.60 for 201 to 600, $457.90 for 601 to 1000 and $508.60 above that.
How does the state charge for adding circuits?
By the circuit, and per panel. A residential panel is $78.80 for the first four circuits and $8.20 for each additional one; a commercial panel is $100.50 for the first five and $8.20 each after. The residential row carries the schedule's own ceiling — the total for a panel should not exceed the cost of a complete altered service of the same rating — which this site models as a $109.90 maximum.
Is there plan review on an electrical permit?
Only where plans are submitted. Subsection (9)(a) makes plan review 35% of the electrical permit fee, with a separate $100.50 submission fee, $119.90 per hour for supplemental submissions and a $27.90 handling fee. The inspection fees on this page are the ones that apply to work permitted without plans.
Does the county add anything to the state's fee?
No. The county prices building, mechanical, plumbing and gas piping work, and the electrical permit is bought from the state at the state's rates. That is why the electrical figures here are identical in every county the state covers, while a building permit for the same project varies by county.
What does a generator cost to permit?
$109.90 for permanently installed transfer equipment for a portable generator, as its own row. A permanently installed generator is different: the note above that row sends it to the appropriate residential or commercial new or altered service section, so it is priced by amperage like a service. A permit for work over 600 volts carries a further $100.50 surcharge.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- State agencyStatePrimary source
WAC 296-46B-906 — Electrical inspection fees (Washington State Legislature)
The complete fee schedule for electrical work in every part of Washington outside Seattle, Tacoma and Tacoma Power's service area, published by the Legislature as a regulation rather than as a municipal document. Read 2026-09-24 from the official citation. The section states its own method in one sentence — "To calculate inspection fees, the amperage is based on the conductor ampacity or the overcurrent device rating" — which is why every rule taken from it is banded by amperage. Its most recent filing is WSR 26-10-060, effective July 1, 2026; no effective date is asserted for the version read here, because the citation page does not date the text it serves.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.