Permit drawing guide
Porch Permit Drawings
Front porches, side entries and back stoops are some of the most common residential permit projects, and some of the most commonly sent back for missing information. Here is what porch permit drawings typically show, and where a roof changes the conversation.
Last reviewed · General information, not engineering or legal advice
On this page
Do You Need a Permit for a Porch?
Usually, yes. A porch is attached to the house, serves a door people use every day and is often more than a step or two above the ground. Those are the same things that trigger a permit for a deck, and a porch with a roof is an addition to the building in most departments’ eyes.
Things that commonly affect whether, and how, a porch is permitted:
- New construction versus repair. Replacing boards is often maintenance; replacing framing, posts, footings, stairs or a roof usually is not.
- Height above grade and overall size.
- Whether it is open, covered, screened or enclosed.
- Zoning: front-yard setbacks, lot coverage and historic district review often apply to front porches in particular.
- Whether it serves a required exit door from the house.
What Porch Permit Drawings Typically Show
For an open, uncovered porch the drawing set looks a lot like a deck set. If you have read our guide on how to draw deck plans for a permit, the list will be familiar:
Typical porch drawing set
- Site plan locating the porch and its distance to the front and side lot lines
- Porch plan view: overall dimensions, the house wall, the door it serves, steps and guards
- Framing plan: ledger or freestanding framing, joists, beams and posts or piers
- Footing layout with each footing or pier located, sized and its depth noted
- Cross-section from the house to the outer edge, showing height above grade
- Step, guard and handrail details
- Front or side elevation, where the department asks for one
- For covered porches: roof framing, columns, headers and connections (see below)
- Notes on materials, treatment, hardware and fasteners, plus a title block
An elevation is asked for more often with porches than with backyard decks because a front porch changes how the house looks from the street.
Show the relationship to the door clearly. Reviewers look at the landing at the door, how far the porch floor sits below the threshold and which way the steps run. The required landing size and the allowed step down at a door come from your locally adopted residential code.
Covered and Roofed Porches: When Review Gets Stricter
This is the most important distinction on the page. A porch roof adds loads that deck-only prescriptive guides do not cover. Guides based on AWC DCA 6, and most local deck handouts, are written for uncovered, single-level decks. Their joist, beam, post and footing tables assume floor loads only. Once a roof lands on the structure, those tables no longer tell the whole story.
Figure: a porch roof adds a load path that a deck-only guide does not cover
- Callout 1: Roof framing: rafters or trusses, sheathing and roofing
- Callout 2: Roof connection to the existing house
- Callout 3: Header or beam carrying the roof
- Callout 4: Column or post, with top and base connections
- Callout 5: Porch floor framing
- Callout 6: Footing sized for roof plus floor loads
- Callout 7: Roof loads, including snow where it applies
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.
With a roof, the reviewer generally wants to see a complete load path:
- Roof framing: rafters or trusses, their size and spacing, sheathing, roofing and the roof slope. Snow load, where it applies, is set locally and can include drifting against the taller house wall.
- Connection to the house: how the porch roof attaches to the existing wall or roof, and how it is flashed.
- Header or beam carrying the roof between columns, with its size and span.
- Columns: size, material and the connections at top and bottom, including resistance to wind uplift. Decorative column wraps are not the same thing as the structural post inside them.
- Footings sized for the roof load plus the floor load they pick up.
Because of this, many jurisdictions route covered porches through additional design review, and some require drawings prepared or stamped by a licensed engineer or architect. Others accept sizing taken from the residential code’s roof and wall provisions. Ask which applies before you invest time in drawings.
PermitSketch can draw the porch platform, framing, footings, steps and details from the values you enter. It does not size roof members or decide whether your roof framing works. Treat roof structure as something to settle with your building department or a design professional.
Porch Footings, Framing and Steps
Footings and piers
Porches are often supported on masonry or concrete piers, sometimes with lattice or skirting between them. The drawing should locate each one and note its size, depth and what it bears on. Depth is tied to the frost depth your jurisdiction has adopted; size depends on the load and soil. Where an existing porch is being rebuilt, say clearly which footings are existing and which are new, because reviewers may ask how existing ones were verified.
Framing
The framing plan shows the ledger or the house-side support, joist size, spacing and direction, beams and posts. Porch floors are frequently pitched slightly away from the house for drainage and may use tongue and groove boards, so note the decking type. The framing plan and footing layout guide explains each element and where span values come from.
Steps, guards and handrails
Entry steps get used by everyone, including delivery drivers and guests in the dark, so reviewers read this detail closely. Show the number of risers, consistent riser and tread sizes, the stringers or masonry construction, the landing at the bottom, and any guard and handrail. Our stair and railing detail guide breaks down what each drawing includes. The dimensions themselves come from your locally adopted code.
Create Porch Drawing Sheets with PermitSketch
PermitSketch is built for exactly this kind of small residential project. From your phone, on site:
- 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.
You get a porch plan view, framing plan, footing layout, cross-section, stair, railing, post, footing and ledger details, notes and a title block as 11x17 sheets. For a roofed porch, add the roof framing information your department or design professional provides.
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
Is a porch treated differently from a deck for permitting?
Often, yes. An open, uncovered porch platform is usually reviewed much like a deck. Once a roof is added, the reviewer also looks at roof framing, the posts and beams carrying it, how it ties into the house, and the footings under those loads. Your building department decides how your project is classified.
Can I use a prescriptive deck guide for a covered porch?
Generally not for the roof. Prescriptive deck guides, such as those based on AWC DCA 6, cover uncovered decks and typically state that they do not address roof loads. A roofed porch usually needs sizing from the residential code's other provisions or from a design professional. Confirm with your building department.
Do I need a permit to rebuild or repair an existing porch?
It depends on the scope and the jurisdiction. Replacing a few deck boards is often treated as maintenance, while replacing framing, posts, footings, stairs or a roof frequently requires a permit. Historic districts can add their own review. Describe the work to your building department and ask before you start.