Do you need a permit to demolish a house on Whidbey Island?
Yes, in unincorporated Island County, tearing down a house takes a county demolition permit. The application needs paperwork from the Northwest Clean Air Agency (NWCAA), which requires an asbestos survey first. Any structure with a footprint over 120 square feet also needs a Notification of Demolition, even with no asbestos. Then a 10-day wait runs before the teardown.
Do you need a permit to tear down a building in Island County?
Yes. In unincorporated Island County, a teardown goes through a building permit. The residential code the county adopted says an owner who intends to demolish a building or structure applies to the building official and gets the permit first. The county’s building permit applications include a Demolition Permit Application, and its submittal includes documentation from NWCAA. So the agency paperwork has to be in hand before you file.
These county rules cover Whidbey Island outside Oak Harbor, Coupeville and Langley, plus all of Camano Island. Those three are incorporated, with their own codes. If your lot sits inside one of them, ask the city or town what it requires.
The asbestos rules cover those three too. NWCAA says all remodeling or demolition projects in Island County must determine whether asbestos is present before starting. Its Regulation 570 counts wrecking, razing, leveling, dismantling or burning a structure as demolition.
We handle house and outbuilding demolition across Whidbey Island and Camano Island. Our machines wait until the survey, the permit, the notice and the 10 days are behind you.
What the county’s demolition application asks for
The property owner applies, or an agent the owner names on the form. The packet includes a plot plan and documentation from NWCAA. The plot plan shows water lines, septic lines, the septic reserve and drainfield. It also shows every building on the parcel and any underground tanks.
The demolition page adds a site plan of all existing structures, the one coming down and all underground tanks. Then it asks:
- what the structure was used for
- whether it is larger than 120 square feet (a yes sends you to NWCAA)
- whether it sits inside the national historical reserve in central Whidbey
- whether any underground storage tanks go with it, and your plans for them
- whether it has a septic tank, and your plans for that tank
- how the debris will be disposed of
- how the site will be restored afterward
A yes on the reserve question brings added requirements under Island County Code 17.04.090. Ask the county what they mean for your building. The form also warns that failure to file a notification with NWCAA could result in enforcement action.
The debris and restoration answers describe the demolition and debris haul-off itself. We go over both with you before you file.
Why the asbestos survey comes first
The survey decides what has to happen before any wall comes down. Under NWCAA Regulation 570, no demolition may happen unless the owner or the owner’s agent gets an asbestos survey. An AHERA building inspector does it, and for a demolition, only that inspector may clear a suspect material as asbestos-free.
The agency says most projects need an inspector who is specially trained and certified to do asbestos surveys. A demolition always does.
State law adds its own step for any demolition that could disturb asbestos. The owner or the owner’s agent has a good faith inspection done by an accredited inspector. The owner then gives a copy of the written report to every contractor before they bid.
We price a teardown from that report. Asbestos surveys are specialist work, and we do not do them.
What is the demolition notice, and how long is the wait?
The Notification of Demolition tells NWCAA a teardown is coming. A completed notification goes to the agency with a fee, so ask NWCAA for the current amount. This NWCAA demolition notification is required for any structure with a footprint over 120 square feet, even with no asbestos.
Then comes the wait. The agency’s fact sheet sets a 10-day, federally mandated waiting period for demolition projects. The exception it names is an emergency with prior agency approval. The 10 days count from when the notification goes in.
For a house, the steps and what each one takes:
| Step | What it takes |
|---|---|
| Asbestos survey | An AHERA certified building inspector, hired by the owner or the owner’s agent |
| Notification of Demolition | A completed notification and fee sent to NWCAA for any footprint over 120 square feet |
| County demolition permit | The Demolition Permit Application, a plot plan and documentation from NWCAA |
| The wait | 10 days after the notification goes in |
| Asbestos removal, if the survey found any | A Notice of Intent to Remove Asbestos, a wait of 10 days, then removal by a certified asbestos contractor |
| Locates before digging | An 811 notice at least two and no more than 10 full business days ahead |
When asbestos turns up, each notice carries its own wait. Ask the agency how the two line up on your job.
What happens if the survey finds asbestos?
Asbestos found in the survey comes out of the structure before the teardown. A certified asbestos contractor removes it, after a Notice of Intent to Remove Asbestos and a 10-day wait. Material with more than 1 percent asbestos must be removed and disposed of with proper techniques.
Owners of commercial buildings, apartments, multifamily homes and rental units must use Washington state-certified asbestos abatement contractors. That includes a single-family house that is rented out.
One narrow exception exists, for homeowners doing their own work. The home must be a single-family home they own and live in as their primary residence. Those homeowners are exempt from asbestos worker certification, but all other rules apply. They file a 24-hour asbestos removal notice, and they still wait 10 days after the Notification of Demolition.
The survey summary is posted at the work site or given in writing to everyone who may contact the material. That includes our crew. We do no asbestos removal, so our excavators arrive once the removal and the waits are done.
Where does the demolition debris go?
The county application asks how the debris will be disposed of. Mixed debris that is not separated on site for recycling is solid waste. It goes to the county transfer stations at Coupeville or Camano. Other arrangements go through the county Solid Waste Division.
The form names one exception: mixed debris sent to a permitted or certified construction and demolition recycling facility. Asbestos adds a check at the gate. NWCAA says transfer stations won’t accept demolition waste likely to contain asbestos without proof the agency was notified.
Our sorting starts during the teardown. The sorting grapple on the excavator splits the debris as it comes down. Our dump trucks, or a roll-off container, carry each load where your debris answer says.
Tanks, septic lines and utilities before the machine arrives
The county wants buried tanks and lines on the plans, and we route our machines from them. The application asks whether any underground storage tanks go with the structure, and your plans for them. Tell us about any tank you know of when we first look at the building.
The form also asks whether the building has a septic tank, and your plans for it. We do no septic work, so ask the county what that plan needs to say. The plot plan marks the septic lines, the reserve and the drainfield, and we plan machine routes around them.
Pulling a foundation and backfilling the hole is digging, so buried lines get marked first. Washington law sets the 811 notice window. The notice goes in at least two full business days before the scheduled start, and no more than 10.
Ask your power provider, and your water system if you have one, how service gets shut off before a teardown. If the plan includes new water and power lines to the rebuilt house, that trench gets its own locate later.
How our crew handles a teardown, start to clean lot
A teardown starts before any paperwork. We look at the building and the county maps with you, and tell you which rules the job touches. Then you get a written price.
You, or an agent you name, apply for the permit and hire the asbestos inspector. We wait for the survey, the notice and the 10 days, then work to the conditions written on the permit. On an edge case, ask the county or the agency.
On teardown day, our excavators take the structure down. The CAT 315 runs an Engcon tilt rotator, and the CAT 306 mini excavator has one too. The tilt rotator tilts and turns the attachment, which helps near a well or a tree you are keeping.
The old foundation comes out next. Then comes backfilling and grading the old footprint. Fill goes back in thin lifts, and the roller compactor attachment on the excavator packs each one.
Blackberry and Scotch broom take hold on neglected ground. We can add clearing the lot after the teardown to the same job.
The county application asks how the site will be restored. Our part of that answer is a clean, graded lot, ready for site prep for the new house. Our company came out of custom home building on the island. We leave a lot the way the next build needs it.