If a King County file mentions a corrected plat, boundary adjustment, or separate maintenance agreement, identify the record object before searching. A map change belongs in the plat and survey lineage. An agreement is a separate recorded instrument, and the agreement index covers only its named County and interlocal categories. Preserve the parties, addition or map name, approximate year, and any recording reference before moving between systems.
Start with the Washington State Archives Plats and Surveys collection for a changed map. Use the Recorded Agreements and Contracts collection only when its document scope fits. A miss in either collection does not establish that no instrument, permit, inspection, or occupancy record exists.
Choose the record lane from the clue
Use the wording in the document you already have:
- Changed map or plat: look for labels such as correction of map, condominium amendment, boundary-line adjustment, lot-line elimination, plat, short plat, survey, or termination of map documents. The plat collection documents party, addition-name, and year search paths.
- Agreement or contract: keep the named parties and recording year. The agreement collection is limited to King County contracts and agreements and interlocal categories, including a real-estate-related interlocal category. It is not a universal index of every private road, sewer, or maintenance agreement.
- Permit or occupancy event: keep it in a separate row. A recorded map or agreement can supply an identity clue without establishing that work was permitted, inspected, or approved for occupancy.
If the property may have been under another permitting authority, confirm the responsible jurisdiction before using a recorded instrument as a permit lead. The city-or-county permit search guide explains that separate decision.
Build a map-to-instrument worksheet
Copy the source wording rather than normalizing it too early. One useful worksheet has five lines:
- Record class: plat, survey, correction, boundary adjustment, agreement, contract, or another exact label.
- Names: grantor, grantee, company, public agency, addition, subdivision, or map name as written.
- Time: recording year or the narrowest supported range.
- Locator: recording number, book and page, legal description, parcel clue, or reference to another document.
- Unresolved object: the changed map, underlying instrument, exhibit, permit, inspection, or occupancy record still needed.
Keep the original and current wording when names differ. A later document may abbreviate an addition name, cite a superseded map, or refer to an agreement without reproducing it. Treat those differences as reconciliation work, not permission to merge records.
Read the collection dates as collection limits
The plat and survey title describes images and indexes from 1870 to the present. Recently recorded material is transferred periodically, so the current year may be incomplete. That title is a separate archive route; it would be inaccurate to say that every map from before the Recorder's general online date belongs only on microfilm.
The agreement title describes indexes for 1999 and 2004 to the present. It does not list 2000 through 2003. A date in that interval therefore falls outside this title's stated coverage, but the gap does not show that no agreement was recorded.
The current King County Recorder search instructions say most recorded documents from August 1, 1991 forward are available online and route earlier general recorded-document research to Archives microfilm. They also direct plat, survey, and condominium research through the Legal and Advanced Legal search path. These are documented instructions; no Landmark search was run for this guide.
Reconcile a fictional map and agreement reference
Imagine a fictional project file that cites “Cedar Addition, amended plat” and a separately recorded maintenance agreement. The file gives two company names, a 2002 agreement date, and a later map-correction year.
Search the map lane by addition name, party, and correction year. Record the map type and identifier exactly. Then treat the maintenance agreement as a second object. Because 2002 is outside the agreement title's listed years, take the party names, year, and cited recording reference to the Recorder instead of treating the archive gap as a negative result.
The two records may cross-reference each other. They still answer different questions: the changed map documents a recorded map lineage, while the agreement documents the terms and parties of a separate instrument. Neither record by itself establishes construction approval, completion, final inspection, or present occupancy status.
Recover a named record after an incomplete result
The Recorder's instructions list several general identity paths, including name, document type, book and page, recording date or number, parcel ID, and legal description. A parcel search uses the first ten digits and is limited to recorded documents from 1997 forward. The County also documents an address-to-Assessor Parcel Viewer path. These are instructions, not evidence that a particular property or instrument was found.
For a missing item, contact the King County Recorder at KCROCust@kingcounty.gov or 206-477-6620. Ask for one named record and include the worksheet fields. For related archival research, the plat and agreement pages direct readers to the Washington State Archives Puget Sound Regional Branch at psbrancharchives@sos.wa.gov or 425-564-3940.
State which title was checked, which keys were used, and why the missing year or document type may fall outside it. Ask where the specific map or instrument is held and what locator is needed. Do not request an assembled property history when the unresolved object is a single recorded map or agreement.
If the next question is an older construction record, use the old building permit lookup guide and preserve the map or instrument reference as a lead. A recorded document can establish its own recording identity. It does not prove permit issuance, inspection approval, or occupancy approval, and it does not settle boundary location, title, or an agreement's present legal effect.
If the question is an easement rather than the plat itself, our King County easement search guide explains how to trace it through deeds, plats and separate recordings.
Official Washington State Archives collection descriptions and King County Recorder instructions checked October 5, 2026 (UTC). No property or instrument query, record image, contact, or copy request was completed.