How long does a heat pump permit take in Seattle?
In Seattle, the typical heat pump permit was issued the same day it was applied for: 97% of 15,465 permits issued from September 2024 to September 2026 were. After the permit, the typical finished heat pump installation took 87 days from permit to final inspection (16,801 finished of 19,677 permits issued from September 2022 to September 2024; 15% had no final inspection on record by September 2026).
87 daysfrom permit to final inspectionMiddle half: 24 days to 7 months
The two steps
The numbers behind the chart
| Step | Median | Middle half | Permits | Permits issued |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application to permit issued | same day | same day to same day | 15,465 | September 2024 to September 2026 |
| Permit to final inspection | 87 days | 24 days to about 7 months | 16,801 | September 2022 to September 2024 |
Heat pump installers with the most jobs in Seattle
| Rank | Contractor | Jobs | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greenwood Heating & Home Services Tukwila | Visit website | |
| 2 | Seatown Electric, Plumbing, Heating & Air Dba Seatown Services Mukilteo | Visit website | |
| 3 | Evergreen Home Heating & Energy Seattle | Visit website |
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Open your job roomPermit wait by year issued
| Year issued | Jobs | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2,498 | same day | same day to same day |
| 2023 | 10,339 | same day | same day to same day |
| 2024 | 8,981 | same day | same day to same day |
| 2025 | 7,996 | same day | same day to same day |
| 2026 | 5,297 | same day | same day to same day |
Why it takes this long
- 97% of permits were issued the day they were applied for, and 100% within 30 days (15,465 permits).
- 13 more permits issued in those dates carry no application date and are left out of the permit wait.
- The longer step is building and inspection: same day for the permit against 87 days from permit to final, at the median.
- 51% of finished jobs passed final inspection within 90 days of the permit.
- Of the 19,677 permits issued from September 2022 to September 2024, 2,876 (15%) had no final inspection on record by September 2026. They may still be under way, dropped or never inspected; the records do not say which. They are left out of the build time; any of them that finishes will have taken more than two years, so counting them would make the typical time longer.
Days are counted between the dates on each city permit: applieddate, issueddate, completeddate. Median and middle half: half of the jobs took longer than the median; the middle half runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile. A figure is shown only when it rests on 30 or more permits. Kinds of work are sorted by the same rules as our contractor lists. Source: Seattle Building, Electrical and Trade Permits (data.seattle.gov 76t5-zqzr, c4tj-daue, c87v-5hwh), read 2026-09-24. The same figures as data: heat-pump.json.