Services /
Core serviceAXE Engineering works as the civil and stormwater engineer on projects across Whatcom, Skagit, and Snohomish Counties — commercial and industrial sites, multifamily, short plats, subdivisions, and planned unit developments. Stormwater design, also called a drainage plan, is where most of those projects either move or stall, so we look at drainage at the very beginning to determine site allocation needs and facility costs. That way budget, schedule, and feasibility are grounded before the layout is fixed, rather than after a review letter arrives.
We stamp the civil construction plans and stormwater drainage designs under one roof — one engineer of record, one submittal — so you don't have to hand drawings between firms.
Stormwater treatment and detention modelling, grading and site plans, roadway and utility design, Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans, and erosion and sediment control — sized to the site and drawn to the standard of whichever counter reviews it. The drainage report and the civil sheets are prepared together, because reviewers read them together.
Developers and builders needing a coordinated site package before submittal. Property owners who have been told their project triggers engineered drainage. Architects who need the civil sheets to complete a permit set. Commercial and industrial clients whose site has to work before the building can.
Whatcom and Skagit counters talk about land disturbance and fill and grade; Snohomish works in LDA permits and drainage. The engineering is the same, the submittal is not. We run Whatcom and Skagit from the Bellingham office and Snohomish from Arlington, and format the package for the jurisdiction that will actually read it.
Picking up a project that has already collected review comments is regular work. We read the comments, correct the engineering, and respond under our own stamp through the review cycle. What we cannot do is promise an approval or a date — that decision belongs to the jurisdiction.
Short plats
Short plats often stall when the civil sheets and drainage report are not aligned. AXE supports Bellingham and county short plats with the site plan, grading, utility, and stormwater details reviewers need before lots can move forward.
Commercial and multifamily
For builders and developers, the highest-leverage engineering work is usually the coordinated site package: grading, utilities, stormwater treatment, detention, access, and review support under one PE-led team.
Subdivisions
Subdivision work needs more than a drainage sheet. AXE ties road, utility, grading, stormwater, and agency coordination into one approval path for short plats, long plats, and planned unit developments.
It depends on how much ground you are disturbing and which jurisdiction you are in, not on the size of the building. Whatcom and Skagit talk about a land disturbance permit and will ask for a drainage report once you cross their threshold; Snohomish calls the same thing an LDA permit. Send us the parcel address or APN and we will tell you which one applies before you commit to anything.
Design is the drawing: where the water goes, how it is detained or infiltrated, and the facilities that do it. Management is the wider obligation the jurisdiction puts on the site, including treatment, flow control and what happens after construction. A drainage report covers both, which is why the two phrases usually end up meaning the same submittal.
Yes, and it is common. We pick up partway through regularly, including projects already in review with comments outstanding. Send us whatever you have, including the jurisdiction's review letter, and we will tell you honestly whether it is quicker to carry on from the existing work or redraw it.
We return a written scope and fee within one business day of seeing the parcel. The design itself depends on the site and the jurisdiction's queue, which is usually the longer half. We will give you a realistic date up front rather than an optimistic one, because a date you can plan around is worth more than a fast quote.
Yes. The civil drawings, grading, utilities and the stormwater facilities are drafted in house and PE-stamped, so you are not coordinating between an engineer and a separate drafter while the clock runs on your permit.
Whatcom and Skagit out of the Bellingham office, and Snohomish out of Arlington. Each county reviews to its own standards and uses its own vocabulary, which is the main reason we keep a bench in both places rather than working one county from the other.
Fixed-fee · Approval guaranteed
Standalone Stormwater Drainage Design for single-family building permits or land disturbance permits.
Access & trip review
Traffic impact analysis, trip generation, access review, and turn-lane warrant support for Whatcom, Skagit, and Snohomish land-development approvals.
End-to-end
Design, plan, and manage your project from conceptual planning through final construction — backed by deep working relationships with local, state, and federal jurisdictions.
Civil plan production
High-quality drafting, site exhibits, and preliminary evaluations to help you visualize and price a project before you commit.
Searchers often arrive with a city, county, or permit letter in hand. These pages route them to the most specific drainage, stormwater, or subdivision guidance we have published.
Stormwater Design — Bellingham
See the local review path, common triggers, and proposal next step.
Stormwater Design — Whatcom County
See the local review path, common triggers, and proposal next step.
Drainage Design — Snohomish County
See the local review path, common triggers, and proposal next step.
Short Plat Engineering — Whatcom County
See the local review path, common triggers, and proposal next step.
Send the parcel, jurisdiction, and project type. AXE will map the likely civil, drainage, and permit path and return a written proposal within one business day.