Siding Permits Across Clark County, Town by Town

Six jurisdictions, six answers, and they genuinely differ. What each one does with a straight siding replacement, no structural work:

• City of Vancouver: no building permit. Its code exempts replacing siding on one- and two-family homes where no structural modification or repair is required to the structural frame, including the wall sheathing.
• Unincorporated Clark County: permit required. The county's own wording is flat: a permit is required to replace any windows or siding on a structure.
• Battle Ground: permit required. The city lists reroofing and siding among its examples of work that needs one, while same-size window replacement does not. More on the Battle Ground page.
• Camas: permit, over the counter. Siding sits on the city's list of projects for which plans may not be required, with re-roofs and water heaters. More on the Camas page.
• Ridgefield: permit, on its own form. A re-side goes on the Residential Re-Roof/Re-Side permit application, and Ridgefield is the only one here that publishes a flat fee for it.
• Washougal: not stated, so ask. The city publishes a plain list of work that needs a permit and work that does not, and siding appears on neither. The Washougal page has the storm-damage rule too.

In unincorporated Clark County a re-side goes on an RSW permit, which covers residential re-roofing, residing and like-for-like window replacement in one application. Sheathing repair or replacement is separately on the county's list of work that needs a residential permit, and minor repairs such as rot repair go on an ARS alteration/repair/specialty permit. The existing Vancouver, WA siding permit guide goes deeper on the city's own exemption.

This is the trap on this page, and it is worth two minutes before you assume the exemption covers you. Building permits are issued by the county or city where the project is located, and a Vancouver mailing address is not the same thing as an address inside Vancouver city limits. Get it wrong and you have skipped a permit that the county required for the whole job.

Clark County's Maps Online answers it: it is integrated with Community Development's permitting system, so it shows property information and the permits already issued for a parcel. If you would rather ask a person, the Permit Center is at the Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin Street, third floor, Vancouver WA 98660, on 564.397.4078, open Monday to Friday from 8am to 2pm, with appointments required for in-person service. Title 40 of the county code holds every regulation on property development in unincorporated Clark County, and the 2021 Washington state building codes took effect there on March 14, 2024.

Two of the six publish a figure you can hold a bid against, and the bases are not comparable.

Vancouver charges on project valuation. For work other than new construction or additions, the customer provides a fair market value of labor and materials, and the fee comes off Table I in the municipal code. The low rows: $30.93 for a valuation of $1 to $500; $30.93 plus $4.01 for each additional $100 from $501 to $2,000; and $91.17 plus $18.43 for each additional $1,000 from $2,001 to $25,000. Plan review is 65 percent of that building-only fee, and a single permit covering two or more codes, say building plus electrical, is 160 percent of it. On top sits a $32.00 issuance fee for a residential building permit and the state building fee of $6.50 per residential permit, plus $2.00 for each additional unit in the same building. Fees rise on the first of the year.

Ridgefield charges a flat fee. A full siding tear-off, with or without new sheathing, carries a $100.00 application fee on the city's Residential Re-Roof/Re-Side form.

Battle Ground, Camas, Washougal and Clark County publish their building fees as separate schedules we could not read at the time of writing, so there is no figure for them here rather than a guess. Camas answers fee and permit questions at permits@cityofcamas.us or 360-817-1568. Ask each bidder to show the permit fee as its own line, as the state's hiring advice recommends, and check the total against the Vancouver, WA siding cost guide and how we price siding.

A registration the person doing the work has to hold, whichever city issues the permit. To register as a contractor in Washington the state requires a Department of Revenue business registration, a continuous surety bond and general liability insurance: a $15,000 bond for a specialty contractor or $30,000 for a general contractor, $200,000 public liability and $50,000 property damage cover or $250,000 combined single limit, and a $150.20 fee. State law also requires the registration number in all advertisements, including business cards and internet ads, so you should be able to read it off the bid.

Cities stack their own business license on that. Vancouver requires a city business license, also called an endorsement, when a business's staff engage in business within city limits, and Battle Ground and Ridgefield ask for theirs: the Ridgefield re-side form has boxes for the state license number and the City of Ridgefield business license number, each with an expiration date. Look the company up on L&I's Verify tool yourself, which shows whether it has a bond, liability insurance and no outstanding infractions. Every pro who reaches you through this site has been checked the same way first; how we vet our siding pros lists the rest.

The contractor, in most cases. In most instances a hired contractor is required to take out the permits, and a company asking you to pull the building permit yourself is on the state's list of warning signs. Washougal names the usual failure directly: a misunderstanding between contractor and owner about who is responsible for obtaining the permits. Settle it in writing, then ask for proof the permit was issued, because the city holds the owner ultimately responsible for the work on their property.

The scope can change under you. A re-side that uncovers rotted sheathing stops being a straight replacement, which is exactly the point where the Vancouver exemption runs out and a permit is needed, and in unincorporated Clark County sheathing repair is on the permit-required list anyway. Washougal lets you secure damaged structural members, roofs, decks or stairs so they are safe and weather tight right away, but requires a permit before they are repaired. Ask what happens to the permit if the wall opens up badly, and have the rot-repair rate in the bid, as the wood rot page and repair or replace both set out. Work that needs no permit still has to meet building code and local rules such as setbacks and heights.