The City of Vancouver Permit Process for a Bathroom Remodel

A bathroom remodel permit in the City of Vancouver is mostly an online process: you email an application, upload plans to the city's ePlans system, pay in two stages, and print the approved set for the job site. This page walks through each step as the city describes it in October 2026, with the 2026 fees. If you are not sure your project needs a permit at all, start with do you need a permit to remodel a bathroom.

Which permit a bathroom remodel uses

A remodel that changes walls, layout or more than one trade is a Residential Building Permit (RES). The city says trade work "part of a remodel or new construction" is "included in your RES". When building, plumbing and electrical work are combined, the fee schedule calls it a "Single Permit".

Small jobs with no building work, such as replacing a shower valve or adding a fan circuit, use a stand-alone Mechanical, Plumbing and Electrical (MPE) trade permit bought through the city's Online Permit Center. The city describes these as "for small stand-alone jobs including minor repairs, replacements or alterations that can be inspected in 2 visits."

The city also notes that "Customers will need one application for each new or remodeled existing structure."

Who may apply

The city's residential application asks "Work Performed By? Contractor / Owner" and requires both an applicant signature and a property owner signature. It has a separate block for the plumbing contractor: "Licensed Plumbing Contractor required per RCW 18.106.440". Stand-alone trade permits "can be purchased by the property owner or a licensed contractor".

When a contractor will do the plumbing, state law (RCW 18.106.440) says the city may not issue the plumbing permit without verifying that the plumbing contractor is currently licensed. The city must print the plumbing contractor license number on the permit and give the applicant a written notice about plumbing license laws and the risk to a homeowner of using an unlicensed plumbing contractor. For more on who may do the work, see plumbing permits and electrical permits.

The five steps

The city's residential permit page lays out the process this way:

1. Application submittal. Email the completed application form to eplans@cityofvancouver.us. Permit staff email back "an application summary with Plan Review fees highlighted", and you pay the plan review fees.
2. Prescreen review. Staff check that the submittal is complete.
3. Plan review. Building plans examiners review the drawings and may ask for corrections.
4. Plans approved. You pay the final fee total.
5. Permit issued. You download and print the approved plans, documents, permit and inspection card, and keep them on the job site.

Plans go through ePlans (Avolve ePlans). Fees, trade permits and inspection requests go through the Online Permit Center at cityofvancouver.myrelayview.com.

What the application and plans must show

The application asks for the "Remodel-Cost of alteration (materials and labor)", which trades are involved ("Plumbing / Mechanical / Electrical"), and whether the home is on septic or public sewer and a well or public water. If the house is on septic or a well, the city tells owners to contact Clark County Public Health.

The city's Residential Remodel Checklist asks for an "Existing / Demo Plan" and a "Proposed Floor Plan", each to:

• "Include Room identification"
• "Locate all plumbing fixtures and exhaust fans"
• "Locate all smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms"
• "Locate and identify all mechanical and HVAC equipment"
• "Locate electrical panel"

Depending on the design, details such as "Water heater anchoring" may be required. Other documents are the signed application, "Energy Code Forms", the "Remodel/Alteration Worksheet", and "Structural Calculations, if required". The minimum drafted sheet size is 17 by 11 inches; 24 by 18 or 36 by 24 inches is preferred.

How long review takes

The city's goal for intake is "to enter your application within one to two business days but on occasion, this may take longer." It publishes no target for plan review itself. The city says "The primary factor in the length of the plan review time is the adherence to the submittal requirements and quality of the plans." We do not quote a number of days or weeks, because the city does not. Complete, clear plans are the one thing you control.

What the permit costs in 2026

Building permit fees are based on project valuation; the city says customers "provide a fair market value of labor and materials", and the building official may review that value. The 2026 Table I fee, which applies to RES permits, runs in bands:

On top of that base:

• A "Single Permit" (two or more codes) is 160% of the building-only fee, with plan review at 50% of the single permit fee. Building-only plan review is 65% of the building-only fee.
• An issuance fee of $32.00 applies to RES permits, and the state building fee is $6.50 per residential permit (RCW 19.27.085).
• The city code as read in October 2026 adds a technology fee of five and one-half percent on the fee-table amounts. The city's fee web pages do not state it, so confirm it on your fee quote.
• Card payments carry a 2.65% processing fee.

Stand-alone trade permits use per-item fees. In the 2026 schedule: sink, basin or lavatory, tub or shower pan, water closet and water heater are $15.14 each; "Single duct exhaust" is $14.46; electrical is $63.18 for one to four circuits and $7.25 for each additional circuit; the electrician's permit of record is $32.00; and the minimum fee for most MPE permits is $78.99. Each trade permit includes a maximum of two inspections, and each additional or not-ready inspection is $49.00.

All of these fees took effect 1 January 2026, and the city says fees "are subject to annual increase on the first of the year." The city's fee page has a Fee Quote Form for a real number. For what the whole bathroom costs, see bathroom remodel cost in Vancouver.

How long the permit lasts

As the city code read in October 2026 (VMC 17.08.110), RES permits expire two years from issuance, other Title 17 permits expire 180 days after issuance, work must start within 180 days, and one extension of up to 180 days is possible.

After the permit is issued

Keep the approved plans and inspection card on site. Inspections are requested online, by phone at 360-487-7890 or by text at 833-794-2003. The sequence, from rough plumbing to final, is on bathroom remodel inspections.

Who to ask

Permit specialists: eplans@cityofvancouver.us, 360-487-7833. Building plans examiners: planreview@cityofvancouver.us, 360-487-7828. The city also offers a free thirty-minute virtual appointment with Permit Center staff, which is worth booking if your scope is unusual.

JDI Construction prepares the drawings, applies for the permit and schedules the inspections on the bathrooms we build, as part of our process. If you would rather not handle the paperwork, start with our Vancouver bathroom remodeling page.