SwiftGov Guides

City and District Referral Checklist

The dated events and records a Washington local government and a special purpose or public utility district need to show whose clock was running and why any day did not count. Companion to Washington's Review Clock.

Washington · Development Review · Checklist · Chapter 36.70B RCW as amended through the 2026 regular session

SwiftGov Guides

Use one copy per residential project permit that requires a district determination. Every date should be tied to a document in the file. Counting conventions (receipt day, completeness day, weekends and holidays, after-hours electronic filings, the district's business-day calendar, and the resubmission deeming rule) should be approved by counsel before the checklist is used to calculate a deadline.

0 of 35 checked

Checks are saved in this browser only. Nothing is sent to Swiftbuild.

Before the referral

Approval classified at intake: project permit, building-code permit, district referral, or a combination. Building-code permits are outside the clock (RCW 36.70B.020(5)(b)).
Public notice and hearing requirements confirmed from the local code, and the applicable tier (65, 100, or 170 days, or a locally modified period) recorded with the ordinance or resolution citation (RCW 36.70B.080(1)(d) through (f)).
Written procedural completeness determination issued and dated, or day-29 deemed completeness recorded (RCW 36.70B.070(1) and (4)(a)). Any incompleteness grounds identify unmet procedural submission requirements. Additional information requests and permitted preliminary findings may accompany the determination without making an otherwise procedurally complete application incomplete.
Known outside agencies with jurisdiction identified in the determination.
No extension requested or required at initial submission (RCW 36.70B.080(5)).
Fee collected in full or at 80 percent, and the treatment recorded (RCW 36.70B.080(1)(l)).

The referral packet

Referral transmitted as a dated document, not an email thread; referral date recorded.
District's adopted engineering and design standards in effect on the referral date identified by title and date.
Civil plans and supporting materials prepared to those standards, plus every item the district's adopted procedures require (RCW 36.70B.080(3)(b)(i)).
Date the district received the packet recorded; the district's period runs from receipt of a complete referral.

The district clock (RCW 36.70B.080(3))

Date of any written incompleteness notice to both the local government and the applicant (within 15 calendar days of receipt), and what was missing.
Date of each resubmission and each 15-day response, or the date the referral was deemed complete.
Routine or complex classification recorded. If complex: the written notice to the local government and applicant, the stated basis, and the estimated completion date.
Business-day counter (45, or up to 105) and calendar-day counter (120 maximum) both maintained.
Each pause logged as a dated interval with its statutory basis: state or federal agency approval or authorization; a state or local government right-of-way permit; franchise utility coordination or relocation approval; final land use conditions, site layout decisions, or building design needed to complete engineering review; another approval required by state or federal law outside the district's authority; or responsive applicant revisions, measured from transmission of written comments to receipt of responsive revised materials (RCW 36.70B.080(3)(d)).
After the first applicant-revision exclusion, later applicant-revision exclusions limited to written comments arising from revised materials; resolved issues not reopened except for health, safety, or regulatory compliance.
Date of each set of written comments and what they did: confirmed consistency, identified revisions, stated conditions of service, or identified limitations that preclude approval.
Fee component attributable to civil plan or infrastructure review identified, so a 20 percent refund can be calculated on the right base if the deadline is missed.
If the referring local government is required to prepare the annual performance report, the five fields the district must provide to that government: date referral received, date deemed complete, extended-period eligibility, date written comments issued, whether a refund was issued.

The local clock (RCW 36.70B.080(1))

Start date recorded (procedural completeness).
Each excluded interval logged with its category and evidence: the written request for additional information and the response date; the written notification requiring fee payment or notice posting and the date it was completed; the applicant's written suspension request and written resumption notice; EIS preparation after a determination of significance; the administrative appeal window following the final decision; and a filed administrative appeal through its resolution and expiration of any additional period that appeal provides (RCW 36.70B.080(1)(g)).
For the "all possible local work complete" exclusion: a dated memo stating what local review was finished and which covered reviewer's action was necessary. Local review that could still proceed is not excluded.
Any additional 30 days documented: applicant's written suspension request over 60 days, or nonresponsiveness as the statute defines it for more than 60 consecutive days after a request that carried the required warning (RCW 36.70B.080(1)(i)).
Any restart documented as a proposed use change adding or removing commercial or residential elements that makes the application fail procedural completeness for the new use (RCW 36.70B.080(1)(h)).
Any extension mutually agreed in writing for a specified reasonable and certain period, before denial or exhaustion of the review period, kept with the file; a qualifying agreement makes subsection (1), including its refund provision, inapplicable (RCW 36.70B.080(5)).
Any applicant waiver of an outside entity's deadline kept with the file (RCW 36.70B.080(2)(a)).
Decision date, the official who decided, and the counted total against the applicable period.
Refund calculated (10 or 20 percent) or the three-measure exception documented with evidence that at least three qualifying measures were implemented by procedural completeness, including implementation dates, and that RCW 36.70B.160(2) does not restore the refund obligation (RCW 36.70B.080(1)(l) and RCW 36.70B.160).

Seven dates that determine the outcome

City's completeness determination.
District's receipt of a complete referral.
District's revision request.
Applicant's resubmission to the district.
City's documented exhaustion of local work.
District's comment date.
City's decision date.

Disclaimer

This checklist is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Local governments and districts should confirm counting conventions and statutory interpretation with counsel before relying on it.

Modernize planning and building.

Powering the next generation of development.

Partner with us