Do you need a permit to replace or add a driveway in Clark County?

Which office handles your driveway permit?

The office that issues your permit depends on where your lot sits, not on your mailing address. The City of Vancouver’s property lookup page warns that not every address reading “Vancouver, WA” is inside city limits. If yours is outside them, Clark County is your permit office, and its rules are different.

To check, look up your address on the county’s Property Information Center. Under Administrative Data, the Jurisdiction line shows Vancouver, another city, or Clark County. That one line tells you which of the sections below applies to you.

Here is how the five offices that cover most of the county treat the three kinds of driveway work, taken from their own pages in October 2026. Each one is explained further down.

Ridgefield and La Center set their own rules, so if you live in either city, call it directly.

Do you need a permit to replace a driveway in Vancouver?

Not for a like-for-like driveway replacement on your own lot. The city’s driveway and RV pad permit page says replacing or repairing an existing driveway doesn’t need an over-the-counter (OTC) permit. Two conditions come with that: any work in the right-of-way still needs a right-of-way permit, and all drainage has to stay on your property.

Changing the driveway is different. The city says modifying a driveway, adding a second driveway or adding an RV pad always needs a permit, and often more than one: an OTC land use permit for the work on your lot, plus a right-of-way permit for the approach, curb, street or sidewalk. The city also defines a driveway as a paved surface and says gravel is not permitted, so a new parking area or RV pad has to be paved.

The OTC land use permit works like this:

1. Fill out the city’s Residential Driveway or RV Pad Permit Request Form and upload a simple site plan showing what’s there now and what you want to build.
2. A planner enters your application, emails you the fee and tells you whether you also need a right-of-way permit.
3. Pay in the Online Permit Center by card or eCheck, or by check or cash by mail or in person.
4. A planner reviews your site plan.
5. Once the plan is approved, the city issues the OTC land use permit and work can start.

One thing to watch: the city’s general residential building permits page lists “adding or replacing a driveway or RV pad” among jobs that need a permit, which reads stricter than the driveway page. If your job is a straight replacement, email Land Use Planning at cddplanning@cityofvancouver.us or call 360-487-7803 and ask before you book the work.

Clark County driveway permit rules outside city limits

Yes, the county asks for one. Clark County’s residential permits page lists “adding or replacing a driveway or RV pad” among the jobs that need a residential permit. That is stricter than the City of Vancouver, which doesn’t ask for a land use permit on a like-for-like replacement. If you’re outside city limits, plan on applying even when the new driveway matches the old one.

Where the driveway meets a county road, a separate Approach/Sidewalk (APS) permit covers road approaches, new driveway cuts onto a county road, and sidewalk repair or replacement. The county’s residential permit handout says road approach permits exist to make sure your access meets the rules for sight distance, intersection spacing and culverts. You’ll need a plot plan showing where the driveway goes. If you’re building a new home or an addition, county staff add the road approach to that permit for you. If the driveway connects to a state highway, the approach permit comes from the Washington State Department of Transportation instead.

The county’s plot plan checklist asks you to show the driveway’s width and length and how far it sits from the property lines. It also says a finished driveway steeper than 15 percent needs approval from your local fire chief. That is about 1.8 inches of rise for every foot of length.

County permit questions go to permit services at 564.397.2375 or permitservices@clark.wa.gov.

Driveway rules in Camas, Washougal and Battle Ground

Each of these cities runs its own permit office with its own rules.

Camas

The city’s building FAQ marks driveways as needing a permit and names a General Encroachment permit for work in the public right-of-way. It doesn’t say whether work entirely on your own lot needs anything else, so ask when you call. Questions go to Camas engineering at 360-817-1561 or permits@cityofcamas.us.

Washougal

Washougal’s list of permits required and not required puts sidewalks and driveways on the not-required side, so the slab itself needs no building permit. The city’s residential permit application adds that “any work performed in the sidewalk or driveway area will require a Right of Way permit,” and that work in city right-of-way needs proof of at least $1,000,000 in liability insurance. The same form says projects that create or replace more than 2,000 square feet of hard surface need a city stormwater application. Washougal Community Development is at 360-835-8501.

Battle Ground

Battle Ground’s permit FAQ allows one driveway per lot unless the city’s building and engineering staff approve a second. A single-family driveway can be no wider than 25 feet for a two-car garage or 35 feet for a three-car garage, or half the lot’s street frontage, whichever is less. On a lot with 40 feet of frontage, that means 20 feet at most, even with a three-car garage. Driveway and approach work is applied for through the city’s online permit system with a right-of-way application uploaded, and contractors need a Battle Ground business license or endorsement plus their licensing through Labor & Industries.

In all three cities, ask about width and second driveways before you plan a new driveway or extension. It’s cheaper to change a drawing than to cut out fresh concrete.

What is a driveway approach permit, and who can pull it?

The approach is the stretch between the street and your property line: the curb cut, the apron and any public sidewalk the driveway crosses. That ground is public right-of-way, which is why every office in this post handles it with its own permit, even Washougal, which doesn’t require a building permit for driveways at all.

In Vancouver, the contractor pulls this one, not you. The city’s driveway page says the right-of-way permit “must be issued to a licensed contractor who is approved to work in the City of Vancouver right-of-way,” and the right-of-way permit request form says the contractor has to be on the city’s authorized list, which is updated monthly. The request has to be in at least 24 hours before the permit is issued. It asks for the driveway width in linear feet, the square feet of sidewalk being removed and replaced, and a sketch or site plan of the work. The form has separate boxes for replacing an approach with no change in size, widening or moving an approach, and adding a second one.

If the work closes part of the sidewalk or needs a flagger, Vancouver issues the traffic control plan with the right-of-way permit at the Permit Center.

Before you hire anyone for a job that touches the street, ask whether they can get the right-of-way permit in your city, and check their state registration on L&I’s Verify a Contractor page.

How long does a driveway permit take, and what does it cost?

None of the five offices posts a flat driveway permit fee or a set review time on the pages above, so you get both from the office once your application is in. Here is what each one does say:

• Vancouver: a planner emails you the fee after entering your application, and right-of-way permit requests need at least 24 hours’ notice.
• Clark County: permit fees are adopted in Title 6 of the county code, linked from the county’s residential forms and checklists page.
• Camas: all permit fees, plan review fees, impact fees and system development charges have to be paid before the permit is issued.
• Washougal: permit fees are based on the value of the materials and labor.
• Battle Ground: applications go through the city’s online system, called CSS. The FAQ doesn’t list a driveway fee.

Apply as soon as you have a site plan and a contractor, and don’t book a pour date until the permit is in hand. Concrete gets ordered for a set day, and a permit that shows up late pushes everything back.

For the concrete itself, HomeAdvisor’s figures for Vancouver, WA put the average driveway and flatwork job at $5,009, with most between $2,643 and $7,402. Those are published ranges, not a quote. Our concrete cost guide for Vancouver breaks them down by finish.

What happens if you replace a driveway without a permit?

The pages above don’t list fines, but both the city and the county have a permit made for work that was done without one. Vancouver’s Field Evaluation Permit sends an inspector out to decide what permits unpermitted work needs, and the city says a separate permit is often needed for the corrective work. Clark County’s Building Investigation (IVB) permit covers unpermitted structures the same way: an inspector looks at the work and says what you have to submit.

Two parts of a driveway job reach past your own lot. The first is the approach, because it sits on public right-of-way that the city or county maintains. The second is drainage. Vancouver requires driveway drainage to stay on your property, so a new slab that sheds water into the street or onto a neighbor’s yard is a problem even on a like-for-like job.

If you’re planning a new or replacement driveway, MJ Concrete gives free estimates: Tevita comes out, measures and gives you a price before any work starts. Call (360) 771-3512.