Since 2016
The counter, in figures
What we do
What the file contains
The permitted deck — from $64/sq ft
Composite or cedar, drawn to the parcel map and submitted with the stamp: footings at the county frost line, guards cited to the thirty-six-inch section with the sphere test noted, stairs to the rise-and-run math. The permit card goes in the job box on day one, and the inspector meets a crew that expected him.
The variance run — from $1,900
When the yard sits closer to the line than the bylaw likes, the variance is a hearing, and the hearing is a file: surveyed setbacks, elevation drawings, the neighbours’ signatures we help you collect. Seventeen argued, seventeen won — because we bring paper, not charm.
The inspection day stand-in — $240
Footing day, frame day, final day: we meet the inspector at your hole, not your voicemail, with the drawing in hand and the tape ready. For the decks other people drew, this is the service that keeps your Saturday yours.
Why we price the file like a product
The paperwork has a price. We say it out loud.
Every builder folds the counter work into a markup you never see and a delay you certainly feel. Permit & Plank prices it as a line — drawings, submission, the stand-ins — because paperwork done properly is a product: it passes first time, it closes on the day the file said it would, and it becomes the folder that makes your house easier to sell. The rates sit beside the decks they belong to, and neither one hides inside the other.
The paperwork rates
Drawings, stamped & submitted$680
Scaled plans, sections, guard and stair citations · permit fees at cost
Setback & parcel analysis$210
Where your lines actually run, before the deck pretends otherwise
Variance file & hearingfrom $1,900
Survey, drawings, circulation, and us at the table
Inspection stand-in, per visit$240
Footing, frame or final — we hold the tape, you hold your Saturday
As-built file at handoverincluded
Permit, inspections, drawings, materials — one folder for the day you sell
How it goes
From parcel map to posted permit
The same sequence on every job — the only variable is your project.
Week 0 — the counter consult
The yard meets the map
We pull your parcel, read the setbacks and the coverage rules before anyone draws a board — because the deck your yard will permit is the deck worth designing. Free, and the first honest number you will get.
Weeks 1–2 — the drawings
Stamped, cited, submitted
Scaled plans with footing schedules to the frost line, guards cited to section, stairs to the math, composite or cedar scheduled by zone. Signed, submitted, fees paid at cost, and the counter knows our binder by sight.
The wait — typically 2–3 weeks
We field the questions
When the reviewer’s letter arrives — and on a clean file it is usually one question — we answer it with paper the same day. You hear about the permit when it is in the window, not when it is stuck.
Footing day
The inspector meets us
Holes at the frost line, rebar per the schedule, and someone at the edge of the excavation holding the drawing — which is why our footing inspections pass first visit.
Final & the folder
The as-built handover
Frame, guards and stairs to the letter of the approved sheet, final inspection signed, and one folder: permit, drawings, inspections, materials. The day you sell the house, this pays for itself twice.
The file, the deck, the folder
Permitted, built, signed off
Six builds with their permits posted and their folders closed — every one passed final inspection on the first visit, and every folder went home with the owner.
Our last contractor left us a Ziploc of receipts and a deck the buyers’ inspector flagged in an afternoon. This build came with a folder — permit, stamped drawings, three signed inspections — and the sale closed without a word about the deck. The paperwork was the cheapest part of the job in the end.
The planning letter wanted “guard detail to code section.” Permit & Plank answered before I had finished forwarding the email, the approval landed the same week, and the crew poured footings with the permit card taped inside the job box. It turns out the counter is a trade like any other.
Nine inches over the line on a hundred-year-old lot, and every other builder said “nobody checks.” These people pulled the parcel map, filed the variance, collected our neighbours’ signatures with a plate of biscuits, and won the hearing in eleven minutes. The deck is nine inches shorter and entirely legal, which is worth more than the nine inches.
I am a planner by trade, which means I know exactly what a bad file looks like. Their submission was the kind I used to approve and the kind my colleagues still talk about — guard heights cited to the section, footing schedule on the sheet, the stair math on its own page. The reviewer stamped it in four days. My deck passed every inspection on the first visit because the crew was building to the paper, not to a memory of it. When we sold, the buyers’ agent asked who did the file. That never happens.
The five every file starts with
Asked at the counter, answered here
Anything thicker, the desk answers between eight and five, or desk@permitandplank.example any hour — usually from the waiting room.
Do I actually need a permit for a deck here?
Above thirty inches of grade, or attached to the house, yes in both our towns — and the attached part catches the grade-level builds people assume are exempt. We read your parcel against the current bylaw at the consult, free, because the answer decides what is worth drawing.
How long does the permit take?
Two to three weeks on a clean file in this county, and a clean file is the entire service: drawings that cite the code sections before the reviewer asks. Our first-pass rate is ninety-eight point six because the second question never has to happen.
Can you permit a deck another builder designed?
Yes — half our counter work is exactly that: we check the span tables, the frost depth and the guard citations, redline what would bounce, and submit the corrected sheet. Good drawings become approved drawings; bad ones become good ones first.
What does the inspector actually look for?
Footing day: depth to the frost line, diameter, rebar. Frame day: ledger flashing, joist hangers, blocking. Final: guard height and the four-inch sphere, stair rise and run, grip. We meet all three with the drawing and the tape — and we put the pass in your folder.
What happens if the yard is too close to the line?
Then we find out on paper instead of on framing day, and either the drawing shrinks or the variance file opens: surveyed setbacks, elevations, neighbour signatures, a hearing we attend with you. Seventeen argued, seventeen won — the deck you get is the one the map allows, proved in advance.
Counter consults across both towns · (555) 079-5514 · desk@permitandplank.example · the parcel read is free and takes a day
Start with the parcel read
Send the address — we pull the map, read the setbacks and tell you what your yard will permit, before a single board is dreamt of. desk@permitandplank.example