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School playground plan review and pre-occupancy inspection

Apply for a school playground plan review

Planning and Design Phase: Before adding a K-12 school playground or moving/modifying equipment, you must submit your plans to Public Health for review and approval. We review plans to ensure they comply with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM International) and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) standards and guidelines and are safe for students.

Notification of approval or a request for additional information will be sent by email to all contacts listed on the school plan review application. Turnaround time is approximately 4-5 weeks.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We recommend you submit your plans before ordering equipment.

Submit a plan review application in the Public Health Permit Center.

  • Review the School Playground Plan Review Application Checklist

    Review the School Playground Plan Review Application Checklist [LS1.1] (426 KB) to make sure you have all the necessary information and documentation before starting.

  • Create your account in the Public Health Permit Center

    Create or log in to your Permit Center account.

    For guidance using the system, see How to use the Public Health Permit Center.

  • Select the application for playground plan review

    Search for the application and select the below:

    • School Plan Review for New or Replacement Playground - This applies to the addition or replacement of a playground at a school.

  • Provide the required contacts for the application

    Provide the required contacts for the application. Either enter the information manually or search for contacts if they have an account.

    • Applicant: The project contact who we will coordinate with during the plan review (e.g. school project manager or architect/designer).
    • Owner: For public school districts, provide the school district name and address. For private schools, fill in the contact information for the owner.
    • Project Architect: This can be the same as the Applicant.
    • Project Manager: Usually, the main staff contact at the school or school district.

  • Upload the required documents to your application

    Upload the required documents to your application packet. Files must have different names to upload correctly. For more information, see School Playground Plan Review Application Checklist (426 KB).

  • Pay for the plan review fees to finalize your application

    Even though your screen says, "your application was successfully submitted," you still need to pay the fee to finalize your application submission by selecting "add to cart" and proceeding to payment.

    A different contact can pay the invoice by using the invoice number.

  • Receive approval documentation after paying for additional fees (if any)

    After the plan review is completed and all invoices paid, we will email a notification with your approval to all contacts listed on the application. These documents can be found in your Public Health Permit Center account by going to My Work, then My Permits, then selecting the Permit Number, and viewing Attachments.

  • Construct playground after approval

    After you have constructed your project, we must conduct a pre-occupancy inspection before students can use the facility.

Request a playground pre-occupancy inspection

Construction Phase: Before the new playground is used, please request a preoccupancy inspection from us. A preoccupancy inspection is required before students may use the new playground at the school. The inspection ensures that construction conforms to the approved plans.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If your newly constructed project did not go through our plan review process, you will need to first submit your final plans by Applying for a School Playground Plan Review. This will allow us to review the scope of the project before the inspection.

  • Review the K-12 School Pre-Occupancy Inspection Checklist

    Review the "Playground" section on the School Preoccupancy Checklist (310 KB) to ensure that your site is ready for our inspection. If the site is not ready when we arrive, we will need to schedule a revisit. This can delay the approval process and result in additional fees.

  • Fill out an online request form (not in the Public Health Permit Center)

    Submit your request using this Pre-Occupancy Inspection Request Form. Please submit your request form to us at least 1 week before the preoccupancy inspection is needed.

  • Create your account in the Public Health Permit Center (if you have not already done so).

    Create your Public Health Permit Center account. We will link the previously approved plan review for the project to your account. With an account, you can access your invoices, approval documents, and inspection reports under the project’s permit number.

    For guidance using the system, see How to use the Public Health Permit Center.

  • Schedule your inspection

    We will email you to schedule an inspection date using the information from your Pre-Occupancy Inspection Request Form. If anything changes with building readiness for the preoccupancy inspection, please contact us at SchoolEHS@kingcounty.gov.

  • Pay for the inspection fees

    Use the Public Health Permit Center to pay your inspection invoice. A different contact can pay by using the invoice number.

  • Receive approval after fees have been paid

    After the inspection is completed and all invoices paid, we will notify you via email when your inspection report is completed. All approval documents can be found in your account with the Public Health Permit Center. Go to My Work, then My Permits, then select the Permit Number, and view Attachments.

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