Denver permits ground-level decks as a 2-day walk-through and elevated decks through a 10-day review track, with the most explicit published plan checklist of any city we cover. The structure pays for the altitude: 36-inch footings, 43 psf snow, and wind up to 140 mph by location.
This page carries the sourced permit facts for Denver and what Evalation does with them: design the deck in live 3D on the first visit, price it from the design, and generate the sheet set the application needs. The playbook for every city is at the permit-ready blueprints guide, and the trade page is at /for/deck-builders.
Denver splits the deck question in two. An uncovered deck 12 inches or less off the ground needs no permit at all, unless the property is a landmark or in a historic district. Above 12 inches, the deck needs a zoning permit; at 30 inches or more it needs a building permit on top. Cover it, a roof, a pergola, a patio cover, and both permits apply regardless of height. Everything files electronically through the city's e-permits system under Community Planning and Development.
What the plans must show is published on the city's Residential Decks page, and it is the most explicit list of the five cities we track: site plan to scale with north arrow, lot lines, existing structures, the proposed deck's height and distances; building elevations with dimensions; then the construction details, rafter size and spacing, beam size and span, uplift connection, post size, footing size and depth, ledger connection details, roll blocking for cantilevers, decking, stairs, and guard and handrail details. Upload the zoning, building, and any sewer-use documents together and the city runs a simultaneous review.
Speed depends on height. A ground-level deck classifies as Residential Express, a walk-through category with a 2-business-day initial review target. A deck above the first story runs as Intermediate Residential: 2 days to intake, a 10-business-day initial review target, and the city's live dashboard showed those projects averaging about 63 calendar days from submittal to approval including customer response time, versus about 32 for the minor category, as read on November 4, 2026. No stamp is required for a deck built to the Denver Residential Code's prescriptive provisions; any structural design outside them must be engineered, and sealed drawings carry the professional's signature by code.
The design numbers are serious at altitude: footings reach Denver's 36-inch frost line, ground snow load is 43 psf under the 2025 Denver Building Code, raised from 35, and basic wind speed runs 115, 125, or 140 mph depending on where in the city the lot sits. Denver's 2025 code incorporates the 2024 I-codes and applies to every application submitted after December 31, 2025. Sources: Denver Community Planning and Development Residential Decks page, Building Permit Policy ADMIN 131A, the Average Plan Review Times dashboard, and the 2025 Denver Building Code, all at denvergov.org, accessed November 4, 2026.
Evalation Lab designs the deck in live 3D with the homeowner watching, on the first visit. The price comes off the design while you are still standing in the yard, and when the design is settled, the Lab generates the standard four-sheet permit set from it: S-1 for the structure, A-1, A-2, and A-3 for the plans, elevations, and details.
Denver’s deck page wants the site plan, elevations, and construction details down to the ledger, uplift connection, and footing depth, categories the Lab’s set covers from the design itself; set the footings for 36 inches and check which wind band the lot sits in. Check the generated set against the city's published checklist before you submit, and the first submission goes in clean.
Evalation Lab generates the standard sheet set most jurisdictions require, S-1, A-1, A-2, and A-3, from the finished deck design in under an hour.
Above 12 inches off the ground, yes, a zoning permit; at 30 inches or more, a building permit as well. Only an uncovered deck at 12 inches or less, outside landmark and historic properties, escapes both. Source: Denver Community Planning and Development, denvergov.org, accessed November 4, 2026.
A ground-level deck is a Residential Express walk-through with a 2-business-day initial review target. Elevated decks run as Intermediate Residential with a 10-business-day target, and currently average about 63 calendar days end to end including customer time, per the city’s own dashboard.
Not if it follows the Denver Residential Code’s prescriptive provisions. Any structural design outside them must be engineered, and non-prescriptive lateral bracing needs details and calculations.
Footings to the 36-inch frost line, 43 psf ground snow load, and 115 to 140 mph wind depending on location, under the 2025 Denver Building Code, which incorporates the 2024 I-codes. Size the structure for the mountains, not the model code.
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Live 3D design on the first visit, the price from the design, and the sheet set generated for a clean e-permits submission. Compare it against your current tool at /compare/jobtread.
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