Executive order aims to cut housing review cycles by 50% or more, significantly improving production timelines to help address Seattle’s most urgent priorities
Seattle – Today, Mayor Bruce Harrell issued an executive order to launch the Permitting and Customer Trust (PACT) Team — a citywide initiative dedicated to making it faster and easier to build housing and open small businesses across Seattle.
The PACT Team brings together staff from all departments involved in permitting and represents the most significant concerted effort in the City’s history to cut red tape, reduce delays, and deliver clear, consistent guidance.
“Permitting should be a pathway—not a barrier—to building homes, starting businesses, and investing in our city’s future,” said Mayor Harrell. “With this executive order, we’re improving how the City does business and ensuring residents get clear answers and timely support, so they can turn their plans into reality more quickly and help our communities grow and thrive. The outcomes this executive order will drive are simple but necessary: build more housing, make it easier to start a small business, and make City government more effective and efficient.”
Under the executive order, the PACT Team must establish a process by the end of 2025 to ensure permits are issued after no more than two review cycles when basic safety and zoning standards are met. The executive order also tasks the PACT Team with prohibiting new interpretations or corrections after initial approval is given unless they are related to life-safety issues.
These provisions would decrease the average number of review cycles for housing by 50% and make it easier for small businesses to fill vacant spaces and improve storefronts.
Significant efforts in the executive order include, but are not limited to, the following:
Clear and consistent reviews, inspection, and enforcement
The City will standardize correction notices across departments, require clear code citations for violations, and prevent re-inspections or new corrections after initial approval is given unless the issue is related to life safety.
For housing, the City will align utility and street improvement permits with building permits, clarify how infrastructure fees are determined, and provide clear guidance on permit vesting. The City will also review the timing of fees to help reduce financial barriers.
AI pilot program
An AI pilot program will launch this fall to help applicants catch and correct common errors before submitting a permit application and will support staff in applying consistent, objective standards when reviewing applications. The tools will also alert staff to unclear or overly complex regulations to help the City improve. If the pilot is successful, the AI tools will be made broadly available. AI will assist applicants and staff but will not replace human expertise.
Tailored small business support
The City will work with small businesses to streamline permitting, reduce barriers to storefront improvements, provide consistent direction, and make it easier for small businesses to fill vacant spaces and revitalize commercial districts. To support these efforts, departments will propose policies and a pilot program to reduce permitting requirements for small businesses and cultural organizations seeking to use vacant storefronts, expand allowable use of these spaces, and reduce associated time and costs.
Customer service that works for customers
The City will enhance service quality across departments and communication methods, increasing support speed, consistency, accessibility, and transparency. By September, all permitting departments will adopt and implement a consistent set of standards for timely responses and proactive support, clear and consistent communication, and feedback mechanisms, such as surveys, to help continuously improve the customer experience.
Several reforms outlined in the executive order are already underway and additional improvements will roll out in the coming months. Any provision that cannot be completed in 2025 must have an approved implementation plan by the end of the year.
In line with our commitment to data-driven decisions and transparency, the public can track progress on permitting initiatives through an online dashboard. We’ll share additional metrics online by the end of the year, including permit processing time, the number of review cycles, inspection wait times, approval rates, customer satisfaction scores, and utility service connection timelines.
What people are saying
Council President Sara Nelson, Seattle City Council
“Making our permit process more responsive to our constituents has been a long-standing priority of mine. The current inefficiencies hinder economic activity, job growth, and our ability to build more housing – issues we discussed in my Governance, Accountability, and Economic Development committee meeting earlier this year. I appreciate the Mayor issuing this executive order and I look forward to its positive impacts on our permitting processes.”
Councilmember Mark Solomon, Seattle City Council (District 2)
“I understand firsthand the frustrations of the City’s permitting process, and I am thrilled PACT will help us cut through red tape, speed up government, and bring much-needed transparency to our permitting system. This Executive Order will help us work smarter and more efficiently.”
Nathan Torgelson, Director, Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections
“Seattle’s permitting systems must meet the urgency of our housing and economic challenges. This Executive Order empowers us to modernize how we serve the public—by making permitting faster, clearer, and more predictable across departments. Whether you’re building housing or opening a small business, our goal is to deliver a responsive and transparent process that helps you succeed and strengthens our communities.”
Markham McIntyre, Director, Seattle Office of Economic Development
“In these uncertain economic times, it’s important to listen to our businesses and take actions to make it easier and more affordable to operate a business in Seattle. This order will do just that by reducing review times, making the process more predictable, and providing better customer service, including future process improvements.”
Kiersten Grove, Director, Seattle Department of Finance and Administrative Services (FAS)
“We are committed to providing predictable and easy to navigate customer service, which we strive to deliver through our Customer Service Centers, Find It, Fix It app and Customer Service Bureau phone line. FAS looks forward to bringing our support and lessons learned to this critical effort to streamline City permitting and Citywide customer service.”
Leah Martin, Partner and Architect, Allied8
“As a small business that designs and develops missing middle affordable homeownership projects, this executive order will empower us and other small businesses like ours. As we encounter regulatory hurdles in the future, we can point directly to this executive order. It will give a voice to small businesses dedicated to the making of affordable housing.”
Keith Tucker, Founder and Executive Director, Hip Hop Is Green
“Through our urban teaching farm, young people gain insights into ecology, the effects of climate change, and hands-on experience growing food. We faced significant hurdles and multiple delays during the permitting process for Cherry Street Farm, which ultimately drove up our costs. The City’s increased support for innovative projects like Cherry Street Farm is essential in overcoming such obstacles, ensuring that we can continue to serve our community and promote sustainable practices.”