Permit Activity

The City of Bellingham’s Permit Center receives a variety of applications for development every year – these include land use and building applications for new residential projects, residential and commercial improvement projects, and more. On this page, you can see the types of applications we have received, the number of projects in each phase of the permit pipeline, and can compare year-over-year application numbers. 

Construction Permit Activity Dashboard

This dashboard is updated weekly and shows building permits that have been issued by the City of Bellingham’s Permit Center. Construction for these may not yet be underway. At this time the dashboard is most easily used on a desktop – a mobile-friendly version will be available in the future.

What information would you like to see?

Historical Reports

These reports show the total number of permits issued by category and total number of new residential units per year.

When comparing these reports to the Construction Permit Activity Dashboard above, please note:

  • Building Permit Totals: The totals in the dashboard differ slightly from these Historical Reports. This is expected as the dashboard numbers are based on different criteria. The dashboard will consistently shows a higher total. 
  • Valuation Totals: There is a significant discrepancy in valuation totals between the dashboard and Historical Reports. The dashboard shows more in valuation due to missing permit types in the Historical Reports, including: 1) Electrical Non-Residential or Multifamily, 2) Sign and Awning, and 3) Demolition (Sub Type: Partial or Interior).

Development Project Activity

Use our development dashboard map to see where projects are planned for or may already be underway in Bellingham. This dashboard is updated weekly.

All data contained in these dashboards is subject to the City’s Policies and Disclaimers. Neither the City, nor any department, officer, or employee of the City warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system, nor endorses any content, viewpoints, products, or services linked from this system, and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of such information. The City has collected this information for its own purposes from different agencies, businesses, and other sources throughout the City and region. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at their own risk.