Permit drawing guide
How to Draw Deck Plans for a Permit
A deck permit application is mostly a drawing exercise: show the plan reviewer what you intend to build, where it sits and how it is held up. This guide walks through the sheets a typical residential deck plan set contains and how to measure and draw each one.
Last reviewed · General information, not engineering or legal advice
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What Building Departments Usually Ask For
There is no single national deck permit package. Each city, county or town adopts its own edition of the residential code, often with local amendments, and publishes its own submittal checklist. Still, most checklists for a residential deck ask for the same family of drawings:
- A site plan showing the lot, the house, the proposed deck and its distance to the property lines.
- A deck plan (plan view) with overall dimensions, stairs, guards and the house wall it attaches to.
- A framing plan showing the ledger, joists, beams and posts.
- A footing layout locating every footing, with size and depth noted.
- A cross-section showing height above grade and how the parts stack up.
- Stair, guard and connection details, plus general notes on lumber and hardware.
Start by downloading your department’s residential deck checklist or calling the permit counter. Many jurisdictions also publish a prescriptive deck guide, frequently based on the American Wood Council’s DCA 6, that tells you exactly what they expect to see for a conventional wood deck.
Site Plan vs. Structural Deck Drawings
These two get confused constantly, and most applications need both.
The site plan answers “where”
A site plan (or plot plan) is a drawing of the whole property. Zoning staff use it to check setbacks, easements, lot coverage and sometimes septic or well clearances. It is usually based on an existing survey or mortgage plot plan, with the new deck drawn on and dimensioned to the lot lines. Some departments accept a marked-up copy of a survey; others have stricter rules about who may prepare it.
The structural drawings answer “what and how”
The deck plan, framing plan, footing layout, section and details describe the structure itself. This is what the building plan reviewer reads, and later what the inspector compares against the work in the field.
Step-by-Step: Measuring and Drawing Your Deck
- Measure the house wall and the deck footprint. Record the overall width and depth, and tie the deck to something fixed on the house, such as a corner or a door, so the reviewer can see where it lands. Note doors, windows, vents, hose bibs and meters along the attachment wall.
- Measure the height. Record the height of the finished deck surface above grade at the house and at the outer edge. On a sloping yard these differ, and the height drives whether guards are required, how many risers the stairs need and how tall the posts are.
- Decide the structure. Choose joist size, spacing and direction, beam size and location, post size and spacing, and footing size and depth. These are design decisions. They come from the span and footing tables in your locally adopted code or prescriptive deck guide, from manufacturer instructions for engineered or composite products, or from a design professional.
- Draw the deck plan. Show the outline, the house wall, stairs with direction of travel, guards on open edges and overall dimension strings.
- Draw the framing plan and footing layout. Our deck framing plan and footing layout guide covers what each of those sheets should show.
- Add a cross-section and details. A section shows the vertical relationships. Stair and guard details are covered in the deck stair and railing details guide.
- Add notes and a title block. Include the project address, owner or contractor, sheet titles, scale, date, lumber species and grade, preservative treatment, hardware and fastener notes.
Figure: what a dimensioned deck plan shows
- Callout 1: Existing house wall the deck attaches to
- Callout 2: Deck outline with overall width and depth
- Callout 3: Guard along the open edges
- Callout 4: Stairs, with the direction of travel
Illustration only. Sizes, spacing and heights are intentionally left off: they come from your locally adopted code, your jurisdiction's prescriptive deck guide or a design professional.
Be honest about anything you have not confirmed. A dimension you estimated from a photo should be marked for field verification instead of being presented as fact. Reviewers and inspectors notice when drawings and site conditions disagree.
Deck Permit Drawing Checklist
Use this as a starting point, then reconcile it with your own department’s list.
Typical deck plan set
- Site plan with the deck located and dimensioned to the property lines
- Deck plan with overall dimensions, house wall, doors, stairs and guards
- Framing plan: ledger, joist size, spacing and direction, beams, posts, blocking
- Footing layout with every footing located, and size and depth noted
- Cross-section showing deck height above grade, framing, posts and footings
- Stair detail: risers, treads, stringers, landing and handrail
- Guard detail: height, infill and post attachment
- Ledger attachment and flashing detail, or freestanding framing noted
- General notes: lumber species and grade, treatment, hardware and fasteners
- Title block: address, sheet title, scale, date and who prepared the drawing
Your jurisdiction may ask for more (manufacturer documents, load notes, energy or zoning forms) or for less. Its checklist is the one that counts.
When You May Need an Engineer or Architect
In many places a homeowner or contractor may prepare drawings for a simple deck that follows the prescriptive tables. The further your project moves from “simple”, the more likely a reviewer is to ask for a licensed design professional. Common triggers include:
- Decks that are tall, large, multi-level or on steep slopes
- Spans, cantilevers or loads outside the prescriptive tables
- Roofs, pergolas with solid covers, hot tubs, masonry or other heavy loads
- Attachment to cantilevered floors, brick veneer or other walls a ledger cannot simply fasten to
- Poor soils, high wind, heavy snow, seismic or flood zones
- Steel, helical piles or other proprietary structural systems
Adding a roof is the classic example. See our guide to porch permit drawings for why a covered porch gets a closer look. If you are unsure, ask the building department before you draw. It is a short conversation that can save a rejected submittal.
Draw It on Your Phone with PermitSketch
PermitSketch turns the information above into a consistent set of drawing sheets without CAD. The workflow has four steps:
- 1. Project addressEnter the property address. It goes in the title block of every sheet.
- 2. Upload photosTake or upload photos of the house and the work area so the package shows existing conditions.
- 3. Scope and measurementsDescribe the work and enter your field measurements and member sizes. Anything you leave blank or have not confirmed is flagged VERIFY IN FIELD.
- 4. Generate drawingsReview the sheets, then export an 11x17 PDF set or individual PNG and JPEG images.
The generated set includes a deck plan, framing plan, footing layout, cross-section, stair, railing, post, footing and ledger details, notes and a title block on 11x17 sheets.
PermitSketch is a drawing tool, not an engineering or architectural service. It draws what you enter, labels incomplete packages DRAFT - FOR REVIEW, and leaves the design decisions and the final check to you and your building department.
Frequently asked questions
Can deck permit drawings be hand drawn?
Many building departments accept neat hand drawings as long as they are legible, dimensioned and show the required information. Others prefer or require digital PDF uploads through a permit portal. Ask your department what it accepts. Either way, the content of the drawing matters more than how it was produced.
Do deck plans need to be drawn to scale?
Departments commonly ask for drawings at a stated scale, or at least clearly dimensioned so a reviewer does not need to measure the sheet. The accepted scales and whether not-to-scale details are allowed depend on your jurisdiction. Written dimensions should always govern over anything measured off a printed drawing.
Is a site plan the same thing as a deck plan?
No. A site plan shows the whole lot: property lines, the house, the deck location and its distances to the lot lines. A deck plan shows the deck itself with its dimensions, stairs and guards. Most permit applications need both. PermitSketch produces the deck drawings, not a surveyed site plan.
How long does a deck permit review take?
It varies widely between departments and seasons, from a same-day counter review to several weeks. Clear, complete drawings tend to draw fewer correction requests, which is the part of the timeline you control. Your building department can tell you its current review times.