Residential building plans

AN ACT Relating to permit-ready residential building plans; 1
adding a new section to chapter 43.22 RCW; adding a new section to 2
chapter 36.70A RCW; and creating a new section. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that Washington 5
continues to face a housing shortage at all income levels. According 6
to the department of commerce, the state must add more than 1,000,000 7
homes by 2044 to meet projected population growth and housing needs. 8
Local permitting activity for both single-family and multifamily 9
housing has declined in recent years, and permitting timelines 10
frequently exceed state standards, adding cost and uncertainty for 11
builders and homebuyers alike.12
The legislature further finds that complex and inconsistent local 13
permitting processes add substantial cost and delay to new housing 14
development, particularly for small builders and for missing-middle 15
housing types such as duplexes, triplexes, stacked flats, and 16
townhomes. The legislature finds that providing preapproved permit-17
ready residential building plans and model ordinances can shorten 18
permitting timelines, increase predictability, and support local 19
implementation of state housing goals. Modular and factory built 20
housing can further reduce time and cost to build and should be 21
S-3749.1
SENATE BILL 6015
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Bateman, Frame, Gildon, Liias, Lovelett, Nobles, Salomon,
and Shewmake
Prefiled 01/07/26. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Housing.
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supported through a consistent statewide framework. It is therefore 1
the intent of the legislature to facilitate increased housing 2
production and predictability by creating a state-approved program 3
for permit-ready residential building and exempting qualifying 4
projects from duplicative requirements. 5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 43.22 6
RCW to read as follows: 7
(1) The department shall, with advice and input from the 8
department of commerce and the state building code council:9
(a) Establish a process to solicit and publish permit-ready plans 10
for factory built housing for each of the following housing types:11
(i) Single-family detached; 12
(ii) Detached accessory dwelling units; and 13
(iii) Units with no less than two or more than eight attached, 14
stacked, or clustered homes including duplexes, triplexes, 15
fourplexes, fiveplexes, sixplexes, sevenplexes, and eightplexes; and16
(b) Create and maintain a public-facing website for permit-ready 17
plans approved by the department. 18
(2) The plans published under this section must:19
(a) Meet all applicable state building code and state energy code 20
requirements; 21
(b) Indicate the climate zones, as created in RCW 19.27A.020, for 22
which they meet all applicable requirements; 23
(c) Indicate the dated version of the applicable codes with which 24
the factory built residential building plans are compliant;25
(d) Include a waiver signed by the building plan's creator that 26
waives confidentiality and expressly allows use of the plan in the 27
permit-ready program; and 28
(e) Allow county and city building departments to review proposed 29
permit-ready plans for a period of no less than 30 days prior to 30
publication. Based on this feedback, the department may designate 31
specific geographic areas where a permit-ready plan is not available.32
(3) No civil liability may be imposed by any court on the state 33
or its officers and employees, or on any creator of a residential 34
building plan for the purposes of this section and section 3 of this 35
act, except upon proof of bad faith or willful misconduct.36
(4) For the purposes of this section, "permit-ready plan" means a 37
set of drawings and specifications that are available for use and 38
have been determined by the department of labor and industries to 39
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meet the requirements of the state building code, state energy code, 1
and fire code. 2
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 36.70A 3
RCW to read as follows: 4
(1) Beginning January 1, 2027, each county and city that is 5
required or chooses to plan under this chapter must, notwithstanding 6
any comprehensive plan or land-use regulations, approve land-use 7
applications that use permit-ready plans published by the department 8
of labor and industries under section 2 of this act on lots that meet 9
the following conditions: 10
(a) Are lawfully established units of land; 11
(b) Are within an urban growth area; 12
(c) Are zoned to allow residential use; 13
(d) Are at least 1,500 square feet; 14
(e) Are not covered by slopes averaging more than 15 percent;15
(f) Are not within an area identified in an inventory or map that 16
is part of the local government's comprehensive plan as:17
(i) Environmentally sensitive or containing significant natural 18
resources; 19
(ii) Open space or scenic areas; or 20
(iii) A natural hazard area, including floodplains, river 21
greenways, landslide zones, or wildfire risk areas; and22
(g) Are not designated as a critical area under this chapter.23
(2) Cities and counties planning under this chapter shall exempt 24
permit-ready plans from local plan review for code compliance on all 25
elements addressed by, and included as part of, the permit-ready 26
plan. 27
(3) Cities and counties may review applications for permit-ready 28
plans to verify that the plan is a state-approved plan and for 29
specific local site conditions such as soils, slopes, location on 30
property, fire separation distances, flood hazard areas, and 31
applicability of the geographic and climatic design criteria used in 32
the permit-ready plan design. 33
(4) Cities and counties may assess plan review fees on 34
applications using permit-ready plans provided that:35
(a) The fees are calculated based on actual staff time and 36
resources expended; and 37
(b) The fees do not equal or exceed standard plan review fees.38
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(5) The department must develop and publish model ordinances that 1
may be readily adopted by a local government in order to streamline 2
local implementation of the plans published under this section 3
including, but not limited to, ordinances that create a process for 4
approving residential developments utilizing plans published under 5
this section, subject to local zoning requirements.6
(6) Each county and city that is required or chooses to plan 7
under this chapter must adopt the model ordinances developed and 8
published by the department under subsection (5) of this section. A 9
county or city may adopt an ordinance that is substantially similar 10
to one published by the department under subsection (5) of this 11
section upon written approval from the department.12
(7) For the purposes of this section, "permit-ready plan" means a 13
set of drawings and specifications that are available for use and 14
have been determined by the department of labor and industries to 15
meet the requirements of the state building code, state energy code, 16
and fire code. 17
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