# Seattle permit report: August 2026 compared with July

Seattle’s public dataset records 561 permits issued in August and 566 in July across the permit types included here. Explore the mix and download the reproducible snapshot.

Source snapshot: September 12, 2026. Counts can change as Seattle corrects records.

## The monthly comparison

Total recorded permits decreased by five, or 0.9%. The mix changed more than the total: demolition permits increased while building and roof permits declined. These are records grouped by issue month in one city dataset.

Permit type	July 2026	August 2026	Change
Building	467	441	−26 (−5.6%)
Demolition	45	80	+35 (+77.8%)
Grading	3	4	+1 (+33.3%)
Roof	51	36	−15 (−29.4%)
Total	566	561	−5 (−0.9%)

## What a supplier can do with this

Use the mix to choose where to investigate, not to forecast sales. A commercial interiors branch might inspect the building-permit subset; a roofing supplier might review roof records and relevant building descriptions. Demolition growth alone does not establish near-term demand for replacement materials.

Small denominators matter: one additional grading permit creates a 33.3% increase. Show the counts alongside percentages. Two months do not establish a seasonal pattern or long-term trend.

## Reproduce the report

Retrieved September 12, 2026 from Seattle Building Permits, dataset 76t5-zqzr. Filter: issueddate on or after July 1, 2026 and before September 1, 2026. Group by calendar issue month and permittypemapped; count records. The download preserves the complete query URL and returned rows.

The unit is a permit record, not a unique property, project, contractor, housing unit, or sales opportunity. Related permits are not deduplicated into projects. This comparison includes all returned permit types and does not filter to current status Issued: a permit issued during the month may since have changed status.

## Coverage and later revisions

Coverage is the City of Seattle dataset, not the Seattle metropolitan area or Washington state. There is no national coverage claim. Late additions and corrections can change historical counts; this is a dated snapshot, not a live chart. No weather, seasonality, or business-day adjustment has been made.

For a future report, keep the same dataset and filters and store the retrieval date. Explain any changed definitions before comparing totals.

## Checklist

[ ] Check the date filter and jurisdiction.
[ ] Keep permit counts distinct from project counts.
[ ] Read absolute counts before percentage changes.
[ ] Inspect relevant records before creating account research.

Notes:


Seattle Building Permits dataset: https://data.seattle.gov/Permitting/Building-Permits/76t5-zqzr
Exact aggregation query: https://data.seattle.gov/resource/76t5-zqzr.json?%24select=date_trunc_ym%28issueddate%29+AS+month%2C+permittypemapped%2C+count%28%2A%29+AS+count&%24where=issueddate+%3E%3D+%272026-07-01T00%3A00%3A00%27+AND+issueddate+%3C+%272026-09-01T00%3A00%3A00%27&%24group=month%2Cpermittypemapped&%24order=month%2Cpermittypemapped&%24limit=5000