Preferred consultants

• What is the preferred consultant program?
• Preferred consultant contact lists
  - Civil Engineers
  - Geotechnical
  - Wetland
• Consultant eligibility
• Apply to be a DDES preferred consultant

What is the preferred consultant program?

The preferred consultant program offers permit applicants the option of choosing a consultant from lists DDES maintains of preferred consultants, individuals with a proven track record of high quality work in King County.

DDES developed the preferred consultant program in 2004 to make the permitting process more efficient and less costly, as quality permit application submittals can result in less permit review time and fee savings for customers.

Initially, preferred consultants were identified for critical areas review. In 2005, the program was expanded to cover site engineering and drainage review for single family homes.

Short Plat consultants added in 2007

In fall 2007, short plat applications were added to the program. DDES will identify civil engineer preferred consultants for short plat, in addition to residential, applications.

All preferred consultants in the program, by having met established criteria, give assurance to customers and DDES staff that the consultant will make a quality permit application submittal.

The program also benefits permit customers by providing easy access to a pool of proven consultants, while benefits to consultants are increased visibility and a marketable certification.

Permit applicants still have the option of choosing a private consultant who does not participate in the DDES preferred consultant program.

Lists of preferred consultants at DDES

The following lists provide the names and contact information of applicants who have met DDES preferred consultant criteria.

• Preferred Civil Engineer Consultants list (PDF*, 71KB)
• Preferred Geotechnical Consultants list (PDF*, 76KB)
• Preferred Wetland Consultants list (PDF*, 77KB)

Consultant eligibility

Civil engineer, wetland, geotechnical, and stream consultants become eligible for inclusion on the preferred consultant list by complying with specific criteria for three consecutive building projects. The criteria for each of these disciplines can be found at:

• Preferred Civil Engineer Consultant criteria 
• Preferred Geotechnical Consultant criteria 
• Preferred Stream Consultant criteria 
• Preferred Wetland Consultant criteria 

A consultant will be removed from the list if any of the criteria are not met during the course of any single project review. Only individual consultants are named on a preferred consultant list. No consulting firms will be listed.

Consultants do not have to be on a preferred consultant list in order to do work in King County.

Application process for DDES preferred consultants

Consultants looking to be listed as a DDES preferred consultant should review the eligibility criteria carefully. If you believe that you or someone in your firm meets the criteria:

• Complete the preferred consultant list application form, available in
  PDF* format (PDF, 87KB) or as a fill-in Word document* (DOC, 90KB).

• Geotechnical, wetland, and stream consultant applicants, return completed forms to:

  Critical areas preferred consultants
  ATTN: Betsy MacWhinney, Environmental Scientist
  King County DDES
  900 Oakesdale Avenue SW
  Renton, WA 98057-5212.

  Also reach Betsy by e-mail at Betsy.MacWhinney@kingcounty.gov or call 206-296-6793.

• Civil engineer - residential consultant applicants, return completed forms to:

  Civil Engineer preferred consultants - residential building permits
  ATTN: Gary Downing, Senior Engineer
  King County DDES
  900 Oakesdale Avenue SW
  Renton, WA 98057-5212.

  Also reach Gary by e-mail at Gary.Downing@kingcounty.gov or call 206-296-6737.

• Civil engineer - short plat consultant applicants, return completed forms to:

  Civil Engineer preferred consultants - short plat applications
  ATTN: Curt Foster, Senior Engineer
  King County DDES
  900 Oakesdale Avenue SW
  Renton, WA 98057-5212.

  Also reach Curt by e-mail at Curt.Foster@kingcounty.gov or call 206-296-7106.

*Note: To view PDFs, free software from Adobe is required. Fill-in Word documents require Microsoft software. For assistance and fill-in instructions, see helpful hints.

To request this information in alternate formats for people with disabilities, call 206-296-6600 or TTY Relay: 711.