The City of Seattle’s pre-application conference (pre-app) is one of the most underused tools available to homeowners and developers planning complex projects. A pre-app gives you direct access to city reviewers, planners, engineers, and fire marshal staff, before you submit a building permit application. For the right projects, it can prevent months of delays and save tens of thousands of dollars.
This guide explains when a pre-application conference is worth pursuing, what it involves, and how to use it effectively.
What Is a Pre-Application Conference?
A pre-application conference is a meeting with City of Seattle SDCI (Department of Construction and Inspections) staff to discuss a proposed project before permit application. You bring your preliminary design and specific questions; city staff from relevant departments review your materials in advance and attend the meeting to provide guidance.
Pre-app attendees from the city typically include a land use planner, a building plan reviewer, and may include an engineer, fire department reviewer, or environmental reviewer depending on the project. This is the single opportunity in the permitting process to ask specific questions and get authoritative answers before you submit.
When a Pre-Application Conference Is Recommended
Not every project benefits from a pre-app. For routine projects, straightforward additions, ADUs in standard configurations, simple commercial TIs, your architect’s existing knowledge of Seattle’s requirements is sufficient and a pre-app adds unnecessary time. Pre-apps add real value for:
Projects with unusual site conditions
steep slopes, streams, shoreline, critical areas
Projects near the edge of code compliance
height limits, setback variances, lot coverage at the maximum
Change of occupancy
converting residential to commercial, or changing commercial use types
Historically significant structures
any project on a landmarked building or in a historic district
Projects requiring multiple permits
building permit + shoreline permit + design review + environmental review
New construction in non-standard zones
industrial zones, commercial zones with residential components, overlay districts
Projects with fire access questions
waterfront sites, properties with limited street frontage, large footprint buildings
Planning a project?
Working out what your lot will allow, and what it will cost?
Send David the address and a few lines about what you want. The first feasibility check is free and usually takes about a day: what the site and the code are likely to allow, and what to check first.
Architect since 1996, member of the AIA and NCARB. Three Masonry Excellence Awards for commercial projects; the Carr residence was featured in Above The Lake and Lux magazines.
How to Request a Pre-Application Conference
Pre-application conferences are requested through the City of Seattle’s permitting portal (Seattle Services Portal). You submit:
- Project address and parcel number
- Description of proposed project
- Preliminary site plan and floor plans (draft, not permit-ready)
- List of specific questions for city staff
- Pre-application conference fee (currently $1,500 to $3,000 depending on project complexity)
After submission, SDCI schedules the meeting, typically 4 to 8 weeks from request submission. The meeting is usually 2 hours.
What to Bring to Your Pre-Application Conference
The pre-app is most valuable when you bring specific, well-formed questions, not general inquiries. Your architect should prepare:
- Site plan showing existing and proposed conditions
- Preliminary floor plans for each level
- Elevation sketches showing the proposed massing
- Zoning compliance summary (existing and proposed floor area, lot coverage, height, setbacks)
- Specific questions numbered and organized by department
The meeting produces written notes from SDCI summarizing the guidance provided. These notes are not binding, they are staff opinions, not formal decisions, but they provide a reliable indicator of how your project will be reviewed.
Pre-Application Conference vs. Early Design Guidance
Early Design Guidance (EDG) is the first formal meeting in Seattle’s design review process for projects that trigger full design review. It is a public meeting before the Design Review Board. A pre-application conference is different: it is a private staff meeting, available to any project, and focused on code compliance questions rather than design quality evaluation. EDG is part of design review; a pre-app can precede any permit type.
Using Pre-App Guidance in Your Design
The information from a pre-application conference should directly inform the design development that follows. If the planner indicates that a proposed use triggers a variance, that is a design problem to solve, not just a regulatory note to acknowledge. Your architect should treat pre-app guidance as design constraints and respond to it through the design rather than accepting it as an obstacle.
Pre-Application Conferences at Piper Cole Architects
For projects that benefit from a pre-application conference, Piper Cole Architects prepares all materials, attends the meeting with the client, and integrates the guidance into the design process. We have participated in pre-application conferences across multiple project types in Seattle and know how to frame questions to get useful, actionable answers from city staff.
Related reading: Seattle building permit guide | Seattle design review process
Authoritative sources
Regulatory requirements referenced in this guide are set by the official agencies below. Rules change, always confirm current requirements with the source:
