Permits & Design
Permit drawings, floor plans, and zoning help, for Seattle homeowners who don't need a builder yet.
Architectural drawings, permit-ready floor plans, ADU feasibility studies, and zoning consulting across Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, and the greater Puget Sound. Use us for the design and permit phase. Bring your own builder later, or let us continue into construction.
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Free Estimate
What kind of project?
What We Help With
Four ways we help, without committing to the full build.
Some homeowners don't need a builder yet. They need someone who knows the code, can draw a permit-ready plan, and can shepherd it through Seattle DCI or Eastside city plan-check. That's a legitimate service we offer on its own.
Permit-Ready Floor Plans
Architectural drawings detailed enough for plan-check submittal. New build, ADU, or addition. We deliver the drawings your permit will actually clear with.
Drawings + sections
ADU Feasibility Studies
Site visit + zoning analysis + setback diagram + HB 1337 review. You get a clear written answer on what your lot can legally support before you spend a dollar on design.
1 to 2 weeks
Permit Submittal & Plan-Check
We submit, manage corrections, respond to plan-check comments, and shepherd the project to permit issuance. Seattle DCI, King County, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond. We know the people on the other end.
Through approval
Zoning & Setback Consulting
Critical-area review, lot-coverage math, height-limit analysis, easement and covenant checks. The unsexy expertise that decides whether your project is feasible at all.
Hourly or fixed-fee
Why MNBE
The permit + design partner Seattle homeowners hire when the rules are the hard part.
Permitting is where projects die. Eighteen years of Seattle and Eastside experience means we know which corrections plan-checkers ask for before they ask, and we draw them in from the start.
HB 1337 zoning fluency
Washington's 2023 ADU expansion changed setback rules, parking minimums, and owner-occupancy requirements city by city. We know which rules apply where in Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, and Mercer Island.
In-house drafting + engineering
Permit-ready architectural drawings plus structural engineering coordination, all under one roof. No outside-architect handoff, no missing-detail rework loop.
Plan-check experience
We've cleared hundreds of submittals across King, Snohomish, and Pierce County. We know which corrections each office tends to ask for and we draw them out from day one.
How It Works
Three stages, one team, one fixed price.
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Feasibility
Site visit and zoning analysis. We confirm what is buildable on your lot before drawings start. Written go or no-go.
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Drawings
Permit-ready architectural drawings, sections, and elevations. Structural engineering coordinated under one roof.
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Submittal
We submit to your jurisdiction, manage every plan-check correction, and shepherd the project to issued permit.
Recent Permitted Projects
Permits we've cleared across the Eastside.
Every project below was permitted, supervised, and delivered by the MNBE team. Walkthrough videos and full project pages coming soon.
Frequently Asked
The permit questions Seattle homeowners ask before they sign.
Honest answers from a builder who runs submittals every week. If you don't see your question here, call us. We answer the phone.
Still have questions?
We answer the phone Monday through Saturday. Two minutes on the call usually gets you further than an hour online.
Yes. Permit-only and design-only engagements are a real service we offer. You get permit-ready drawings, a cleared submittal, and an issued permit. From there you can build with us, hand the drawings to another contractor, or hold them. Your drawings, your call. We don't tie permit work to a construction contract.
From signed engagement to issued permit, plan on 4 to 8 months for a typical ADU or addition: 4 to 6 weeks of design, then 3 to 6 months of plan-check at Seattle DCI. Eastside cities like Redmond and Kirkland generally move 30 to 50 percent faster. We give you a written timeline at the start that reflects the realistic permitting window for your specific city.
Yes, and we recommend it for any project where the lot's buildability is uncertain. A feasibility study is a written analysis of your lot's zoning, setbacks, lot coverage, height limits, critical-area constraints, and HB 1337 eligibility. You get a clear go or no-go answer in 1 to 2 weeks, before you spend serious money on architectural design.
HB 1337 (2023) expanded ADU rights statewide. In most Seattle and Eastside cities, you can now build at least two ADUs per lot, owner-occupancy requirements are gone, parking minimums were eliminated near transit, and setbacks were reduced. The practical effect: many lots that were unbuildable in 2022 are now permittable. We walk through what HB 1337 specifically allows on your lot during the feasibility step.
Start Your Build
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Contact information
Thank you for considering MNBE for your project. We'll get back to you during normal business hours, Monday through Saturday.