Federal Pacific panel replacement in Seattle

Seattle’s older north-end and west-side streets — Ballard, Wallingford, Queen Anne, West Seattle, and the craftsmen toward Capitol Hill — went up when Federal Pacific and Zinsco were ordinary hardware. Benchmark’s Seattle panel page names those brands as inspection- and insurance-flagged equipment. The insurance letter is usually written somewhere else. The work is governed by whichever city sits on the parcel and, for most Seattle addresses, by Seattle City Light.

Those two systems do not match. SDCI issues the electrical permit. City Light will not reset a service until that inspection has passed, and the municipal code tells contractors not to touch City Light equipment without authorization. A helper with a van is not the person who can print that permit or give the utility the required notice.

What Seattle City Light and Puget Sound Energy actually wrote

Inside Seattle, start with City Light’s construction-services page. An online Electric Service Application is required for an existing service alteration or removal. The Requirements for Electric Service Connection handbook is the document they point contractors to before anyone files. After that, City Light wants two inspections: first the local jurisdictional authority — SDCI inside the city — then City Light. City Light cannot do its work until the LJA service inspection has passed.

The working-near-electrical-equipment page cites SMC 21.49.120(C). Construction contractors may not damage, remove, connect, disconnect, or tamper with City Light equipment unless the department authorizes it. Unauthorized people may not install jumper bars across meter sockets. That is not a homeowner meter-pull path.

If the logo on the bill is Puget Sound Energy, the rulebook changes. PSE’s Electric Service Handbook says only authorized and qualified PSE personnel shall install and remove meters. The meter-tampering page treats an unauthorized pull or a cut seal as tampering. The construction FAQ is the scheduling note: PSE disconnects so the electrical contractor can work, and they want the call to Customer Construction Services at least five business days ahead.

Neither utility publishes a guaranteed power-off hour count. City Light’s application page allows four to six weeks for initial processing of a new or upgraded-service request and says actual connection timelines vary with crew availability. Le Bros describes four to eight hours off on install day. Konsker describes six to eight hours. Those are contractor field notes.

Permits inside Seattle and in the rest of King County

Inside the city, start at Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections. The electrical-permit page says you need a permit any time electrical wiring is installed, altered, extended, or connected to electrical equipment. A professional applicant needs a Washington State electrical contractor’s license and a Seattle business license. Applications go through the Seattle Services Portal. Many over-the-counter electrical permits print the same day if they do not need plan review.

The owner-occupant exception is real and narrow. SDCI says property owners may do their own work when they own and occupy the property. The 2023 Seattle Electrical Code repeats the RCW 19.28 license requirement for anyone in the wiring business, with the RCW 19.28.261 owner exception. L&I’s statewide page is blunter about hiring: if you hire an electrical contractor, that contractor must purchase their own permit. A homestead exception is not a green light to swap a service panel because the letter arrived and then hire someone under your name.

L&I inspects electrical work everywhere in Washington that is not a city — or Tacoma Power territory — that runs its own electrical permits. Bellevue is not SDCI. City Light’s upgraded-service page lists Burien, Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, SeaTac, and Tukwila as separate electrical-permit offices. A quote that only says “we handle the permit” should name the city on the address.

Price, without inventing one

Seattle contractor pages publish installed bands, and they do not match — including two pages from the same shop. Benchmark’s 2026 cost guide prices a permitted panel-only replacement at $3,500–$6,500 and a 100-amp to 200-amp service upgrade at $5,500–$8,500+. Benchmark’s Seattle panel-replacement page prices a basic replacement at $1,200–$2,500+ and a 100-to-200 upgrade at $3,000–$5,000+. Le Bros’ 2026 Seattle page prices a typical permitted replacement at $3,500–$6,500 and a 100-to-200 upgrade at $4,000–$7,500. Konsker’s panel page prices Federal Pacific or Zinsco replacement at $2,800–$4,500 and a straightforward 100-to-200 job at $2,800–$3,800. Those can all be true if they are describing different scopes. We will not average them.

Washington license lookup is public. Ask for the L&I electrical contractor number and check it on Verify before you sign. Construction-contractor registrations that say electrical work must be subcontracted are not the license for this job. Two shops advertise this work on their own sites and print an electrical contractor number we could verify as Active. Benchmark Home Services’ Seattle panel page names Federal Pacific, Zinsco, and insurance-flagged homes and prints WA #BENCHHS818NT. Le Bros’ 2026 cost page names Federal Pacific, Zinsco, and Pushmatic and prints WA L&I #LEBROBC755MT. Benchmark is based in Des Moines; Le Bros is based in Auburn. They are listed for the panel letter, not as a South King directory.

Konsker writes the most specific Federal Pacific and Zinsco Seattle copy we found and publishes installed bands, but that page does not print an L&I number, so they are a cost source only. Directory-only shops are omitted. Neither listed shop is affiliated with Panel Letter.

What to hand the carrier

The useful packet is the closed SDCI or suburb electrical permit, the passed inspection, an invoice with the L&I electrical contractor number on it, and photos if the letter asks. If your electrician produces a load calculation or panel schedule, send that too. We did not find a Washington carrier page that publishes a single national “sticker” form. Ask the agent what they will actually open.