Seattle in Progress

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About Our Data

  • Getting Help
  • FAQ
    • Where does Seattle in Progress data come from?
    • What types of projects are included?
    • How up-to-date is the data?
    • How does Seattle in Progress interpret data?
    • How does Seattle in Progress handle incorrect data?
    • Are there plans to expand the map area?
  • Definitions and Sources
  • Troubleshooting
    • Why am I seeing incorrect data?
    • Why can’t I find a certain completed project?
    • I’m aware of a construction project in a certain building. Why isn’t it on the map?
    • I clicked on a pin and am seeing a different permit from what I expected.

Getting Help

Please email support at support@seattleinprogress.com or schedule a call at https://calendly.com/seattleinprogress for help with Seattle in Progress Pro.

FAQ

Where does Seattle in Progress data come from?

We combine various publicly available data sources from King County, the City of Seattle and the City of Bellevue. These public data sources can be challenging to search and navigate, and do not have the same filtering functionality as Seattle in Progress Pro. See Definitions and Sources for more details.

What types of projects are included?

We show all new construction projects on our map, excluding cell towers. Remodels and tenant improvements are not shown. If you have a use-case for remodels and tenant improvements, we would be interested to hear from you (see Getting Help).

How up-to-date is the data?

All data is updated nightly.

How does Seattle in Progress interpret data?

Public permitting data can be challenging to interpret. The data is complex and occasionally contains errors and inconsistencies. Seattle in Progress simplifies the data and applies heuristics to tell a clearer story about each project. You can learn about our methods in Definitions and Sources. Each project page contains external links to permit details and related documents on government-run websites.

How does Seattle in Progress handle incorrect data?

We strive to have all data on Seattle in Progress accurately reflect public sources. The public sources will occasionally have errors, omissions and inconsistencies. In some cases, we can add workarounds on our end to account for the errors, but sometimes it isn’t possible. While we don’t have plans to maintain our own database of corrections, we are working on a feature to allow users to keep their own notes for each project. We hope this will make it easier for you to update project details that have not yet been updated by the permitting departments.

Are there plans to expand the map area?

We most recently expanded to Bellevue, and we do plan to expand within King County to provide even more data for our users. Feel free to contact us with requests (see Getting Help). The more users we hear from, the better we are able to prioritize the areas that are in demand.

Definitions and Sources

The table below lists data sources for Seattle and Bellevue data, and defines some important terms you will see while browsing Seattle in Progress.

Seattle Bellevue
City department providing source data: Seattle Department Construction & Inspections (SDCI) Bellevue Development Services Department (DSD)
Source data URL: data.seattle.gov data.bellevuewa.gov
Design review data source: SDCI's Design Review Calendar DSD’s Weekly Permit Bulletin
Project Contacts (owner, architect, etc.): Sourced from the design proposals and permit data. Sourced from the design proposals and permit data.
Application and Permit Dates: Sourced from permit data. Sourced from permit data.
Project Completion Date: The most recent finaled date of all associated building permits. Using building permit dates is necessary because SDCI doesn't consistently mark land use permits as finaled. The finaled date reported by DSD.
Permit status definitions:* List of statuses from SDCI List of statuses from DSD (Search by Project Info with Bellevue jurisdiction selected.)
Project status*
Applied:
SDCI reports status as one of the following:
  • Application Completed
  • Awaiting Information
  • Corrections Required
  • Corrections Submitted
  • Ready for Issuance
  • Reviews Completed
  • Reviews In Process
  • Scheduled
  • Additional Info Requested
  • Initiated
  • Ready for Intake
  • Scheduled and Submitted
DSD reports status as one of the following:
  • Open
  • Pending
  • Ready to Issue
  • Recommended
  • Re-Screening 1 or 2
  • Screening
Approved:
SDCI reports the status as “Issued” or “In Process” and there are either no associated building permits or at least one open building permit.
Or SDCI reports the status as “Expired” or “Completed”, but there is still at least one open building permit. We find that the building permit expiration dates are more useful than the reported status when it comes to inferring project completeness.
DSD reports the status as “Issued”.
Completed:
SDCI reports status as one of the following:
  • Completed
  • Approved to Occupy
  • Inspections Completed
  • Expired
  • Cancelled
  • Withdrawn
  • Closed
Or SDCI reports the status as ”Issued” but all associated building permits are closed. SDCI does not always change the status to “Completed” even when a project is compete.
DSD reports status as one of the following:
  • Closed
  • TCO
  • Appealed
  • Canceled
  • Denied
  • Expired
  • Incomplete
  • In Litigation
  • On Hold
  • Post - Issuance
  • Revoked
  • Screened Out
Project type**
Single Family:
Contains one of the following terms in the permit description:
  • Single family
  • SFR
  • ADU
  • DADU
  • Accessory Dwelling
  • Townhouse
  • Townhome
  • Rowhouse
  • Cottage
  • Duplex
  • Triplex
  • Subdivide
  • Short plat
  • Boundary
Multi Family:
Contains one of the following terms in the permit description:
  • Apartment
  • Condominium
  • Small Efficiency Dwelling
  • SEDU
  • Congregate
  • Assisted living
  • Independent living
  • Residential
  • Multifamily
  • Mixed use
Non-residential:
Contains one of the following terms in the permit description:
  • Office
  • Retail
  • Hotel
  • Mixed use
  • Commercial
  • Restaurant
Seattle
City department providing source data: Seattle Department Construction & Inspections (SDCI)
Source data URL: data.seattle.gov
Design review data source: SDCI's Design Review Calendar
Project Contacts (owner, architect, etc.): Sourced from the design proposals and permit data.
Application and Permit Dates: Sourced from permit data.
Project Completion Date: The most recent finaled date of all associated building permits. Using building permit dates is necessary because SDCI doesn't consistently mark land use permits as finaled.
Permit status definitions:* List of statuses from SDCI
Project status*
Applied:
SDCI reports status as one of the following:
  • Application Completed
  • Awaiting Information
  • Corrections Required
  • Corrections Submitted
  • Ready for Issuance
  • Reviews Completed
  • Reviews In Process
  • Scheduled
  • Additional Info Requested
  • Initiated
  • Ready for Intake
  • Scheduled and Submitted
Approved:
SDCI reports the status as “Issued” or “In Process” and there are either no associated building permits or at least one open building permit.
Or SDCI reports the status as “Expired” or “Completed”, but there is still at least one open building permit. We find that the building permit expiration dates are more useful than the reported status when it comes to inferring project completeness.
Completed:
SDCI reports status as one of the following:
  • Completed
  • Approved to Occupy
  • Inspections Completed
  • Expired
  • Cancelled
  • Withdrawn
  • Closed
Or SDCI reports the status as ”Issued” but all associated building permits are closed. SDCI does not always change the status to “Completed” even when a project is compete.
Bellevue
City department providing source data: Bellevue Development Services Department (DSD)
Source data URL: data.bellevuewa.gov
Design review data source: DSD’s Weekly Permit Bulletin
Project Contacts (owner, architect, etc.): Sourced from the design proposals and permit data.
Application and Permit Dates: Sourced from permit data.
Project Completion Date: The finaled date reported by DSD.
Permit status definitions:* List of statuses from DSD (Search by Project Info with Bellevue jurisdiction selected.)
Project status*
Applied:
DSD reports status as one of the following:
  • Open
  • Pending
  • Ready to Issue
  • Recommended
  • Re-Screening 1 or 2
  • Screening
Approved: DSD reports the status as “Issued”.
Completed:
DSD reports status as one of the following:
  • Closed
  • TCO
  • Appealed
  • Canceled
  • Denied
  • Expired
  • Incomplete
  • In Litigation
  • On Hold
  • Post - Issuance
  • Revoked
  • Screened Out
Seattle and Bellevue
Project type**
Single Family:
Contains one of the following terms in the permit description:
  • Single family
  • SFR
  • ADU
  • DADU
  • Accessory Dwelling
  • Townhouse
  • Townhome
  • Rowhouse
  • Cottage
  • Duplex
  • Triplex
  • Subdivide
  • Short plat
  • Boundary
Multi Family:
Contains one of the following terms in the permit description:
  • Apartment
  • Condominium
  • Small Efficiency Dwelling
  • SEDU
  • Congregate
  • Assisted living
  • Independent living
  • Residential
  • Multifamily
  • Mixed use
Non-residential:
Contains one of the following terms in the permit description:
  • Office
  • Retail
  • Hotel
  • Mixed use
  • Commercial
  • Restaurant

*Regarding permit status: Because there are many possible permit statuses, we sort the statuses into three groups and assign just one status per project - Applied, Approved, or Completed.

**Regarding project type: Seattle in Progress infers the project type using the permit description. SDCI has its own reported categories (single family, multifamily and commercial), but these are not used with any consistent definition and so are not used on our site.

Troubleshooting

Why am I seeing incorrect data?

Often times, the problem is that the public source data is out-of-date or incorrect. If you notice a problem with data, please tell us about it (see Getting Help). Even if the source of the error is upstream from our service, it may be possible for us to add a workaround on our end to help correct the problem. See How does Seattle in Progress handle incorrect data? for more.

Why can’t I find a certain completed project?

To prevent the map from becoming cluttered, projects that were completed more than a year ago are hidden by default. To see these projects, you can edit the “Completed” date in the search panel to include previous years.

I’m aware of a construction project in a certain building. Why isn’t it on the map?

We only show new construction, not remodels and tenant improvements. See What types of projects are included?

I clicked on a pin and am seeing a different permit from what I expected.

There are often multiple permits, and sometimes multiple projects, at any given address, and we do our best to show the most up-to-date and informative permit when you click on a map pin. However, sometimes the first permit shown isn’t what you are interested in seeing. If you scroll down on the project page, you’ll see a section called “Other permits at this address” that may contain the permit you’re looking for.

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