Permit for ground level deck?

[Spartan]

I am building a ground level deck that is under 2 ft. The ledger will be attached to the foundation. I am in Edmonton, do I need a permit?

Thank you

[graymatter]

you dont need a permit if its within 2 feet of grade
but that applies to all portions of the deck, nowhere can the deck be above 2 feet
if you cant get it down to 2 feet, the drop the deck 7 or 14 inches, bolt on a lew ledger, then put in a 6x6 or smaller 4x4 deck on top of your main deck, by your patio door, that way you do get under building permit requirements.

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by graymatter

you dont need a permit if its within 2 feet of grade
but that applies to all portions of the deck, nowhere can the deck be above 2 feet
if you cant get it down to 2 feet, the drop the deck 7 or 14 inches, bolt on a lew ledger, then put in a 6x6 or smaller 4x4 deck on top of your main deck, by your patio door, that way you do get under building permit requirements.

Could he also add fill and build it up under the deck? Take clay soil from around the yard and then fill in the hole with loam and plant a nice veggie garden. I would love to do that in my yard. Crappy soil.

[Sushi]

The city of Edmonton has a very good PDF brochure on their website.

http://www.edmonton.ca/bylaws_licenc...k_Brochure.pdf

[HyperMOA]

I might be wrong but I believe the structure must be free standing and be below 2 feet to avoid a permit. Thus you cannot attach it to your ledger. The city of Edmonton will verify that though.

[mach123]

Originally Posted by HyperMOA

I might be wrong but I believe the structure must be free standing and be below 2 feet to avoid a permit. Thus you cannot attach it to your ledger. The city of Edmonton will verify that though.

I agree x2

[Albertadiver]

Originally Posted by mach123

I agree x2

Yup

If it's attached to the house you need a permit regardless of height.

If it's free-standing - fill yer boots.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by Sushi

The city of Edmonton has a very good PDF brochure on their website.

http://www.edmonton.ca/bylaws_licenc...k_Brochure.pdf

Good job Sushi, it's right there in the brochure.....

"• You will need a development and buiding permit if the deck floor is over
0.6 metres (m) or 2 feet (ft) above grade."

I don't think that attached to the house makes a difference but I'm not positive.

I build decks in the summer and I leave getting the building permit up to the person that I'm building for. Since no one has ever asked me for a diagram of the deck I highly doubt that anyone has ever paid to get one.....Just sayin'.

Do yourself a favour though and build it to code. I know of people that have sold their home and the buyers have asked for a letter of compliance. If the deck doesn't pass the inspection the buyers may want the deck fixed before buying or you may have to, I don't know the law about it.

[deanmc]

Why don't you just contact the city officials and find out exactly what is allowed?

[JB_AOL]

My current deck is below 2' and attached to the house, no permit was needed at that time (~6years), and we just sold that house, and the inspector mentioned nothing about being out of code. Doesn't neccesarily mean he looked at that though..