What Happens if You Don’t Have a Permit for a Deck in New Orleans, LA?

In New Orleans, starting deck work without a required building permit adds a penalty fee of two times the permit price on top of the regular permit fees, and the deck still has to be permitted. Uncovered residential decks no larger than 200 square feet and no higher than 30 inches at any point, freestanding and not serving an exit door, are exempt, though historic district review can still apply.

At TurnKey Outdoor Designs, we handle permit acquisition as part of how we build decks in New Orleans. It is a step we take care of for you, because the cost of skipping it tends to show up later.

The Penalty Is Real but Usually Fixable

If a New Orleans deck needed a permit and work began without one, the city’s building permit guide says penalty fees apply: two times the building permit price, plus the regular permit fees for ordinary construction. The deck still has to be permitted, so the penalty is added to the cost rather than replacing it.

The same guide is blunt about the order of operations: do not begin work before receiving your permit. Where plans are required, such as for structural work, a permit is not issued until plan review is complete.

That review is where unpermitted work can get harder. A deck that was never reviewed may need to show it meets the code as built, which can mean opening up finished parts of it.

Which Decks Need a Permit in New Orleans

The city publishes a short list of work that does not need a building permit, and many decks fall outside it. Here is how that list applies to outdoor projects.

The Small Freestanding Deck Exemption

Uncovered decks that are part of a residential use are exempt when they do not exceed 200 square feet, stand no more than 30 inches above grade at any point, are not attached to a dwelling, and do not serve an exit door. Every one of those conditions has to hold.

Many New Orleans decks miss at least one. Raised homes often need a taller deck to reach the door, and a deck outside a back door usually serves as an exit.

Roofs, Covers, and Pergolas

A roof changes the answer. The city’s guide states that roofs over otherwise unenclosed porches, along with their framing, are not exempt from permitting.

Freestanding structures follow their own path. The city’s accessory structure permit covers secondary buildings such as gazebos and storage sheds, so confirm how a planned pergola or gazebo will be classified before anything is ordered.

If a cover is part of the plan, include it in the permit application from the start. Adding a roof to a finished deck later can mean going back through the permit process for work that is already built.

Patios and Paving

Ground-level paving is treated differently from a raised deck. The exemption list includes paving of a yard when it complies with the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, which can cover simple patio projects.

Compliance with zoning is the condition that matters. A patio that needs no building permit still has to meet the zoning rules for the lot.

Raised or framed surfaces are a different matter. Once a patio becomes a platform built up off the ground, check it against the deck exemption conditions above rather than the paving rule.

Exempt Is Not the Same as Unregulated

The city states that an exemption does not authorize work that violates the building code or other city laws, including Vieux Carré Commission and Historic District Landmarks Commission requirements. The Director can also require a permit where work involves hazardous or complex conditions.

In practice, a small exempt deck skips the permit, not the code. It still has to be built correctly, with footings, framing, and connections given the same care as on a permitted deck.

What Unpermitted Work Can Cost Beyond the Fee

The penalty fee is the part with a published formula. The other costs depend on the property and on when the problem comes to light.

Historic District Review

If the property is in a local historic district or is a designated landmark, the city lists a Certificate of Appropriateness among the approvals a project may need. Work that is exempt from a building permit can still require permitting from the Vieux Carré Commission or the Historic District Landmarks Commission.

Keeping work done without that certificate means asking the commission to approve its retention. The HDLC’s published policy charges a nonrefundable application fee for that request, owed whatever the commission decides.

Corrections After Review

A late permit can mean the deck is reviewed as it stands. If footings, connections, or framing fall short of the code, those parts may need correcting before the work can be approved.

Hidden work is the hard part. Footing depth and the fasteners inside a finished frame are difficult to confirm without uncovering them.

Records can help. Photos taken during construction, material receipts, and any drawings the builder used may show how the deck was put together, though the reviewer decides what it needs to see.

Insurance and a Future Sale

The city’s guide notes that a permit protects your property value and can often be used in an insurance claim. Without one, showing that the deck was built to code can be harder.

Buyers, home inspectors, and lenders may also ask about permits for added structures. An open question at closing can be harder to resolve than a permit pulled at the start.

How to Fix an Unpermitted Deck in New Orleans

Four details decide most of the answer: size, height, attachment, and roof. Match your deck to the row that fits, then act on it.

Pause Work and Apply

If a permit is needed, pause further work and apply rather than finishing first. Every board added before review is one more thing a reviewer may need to see.

If you are unsure whether the deck needs a permit at all, the city’s guide directs that question to the Building Division of the Department of Safety and Permits.

Bring a Clear Record of What Was Built

Bring what you have to the application: dimensions, height above grade, how the deck connects to the house, and photos of the framing and footings if they are still visible.

Measurements taken from the deck as it stands are more useful than anyone’s memory of how it was built.

Plan the Next Deck the Other Way Around

For a new outdoor home deck, the cleaner route is a permit in hand before the first footing goes in.

Settle the size, height, attachment, and any roof at the design stage, so one application covers the whole structure.

What This Means for Your New Orleans Deck

A permit on a New Orleans deck costs far less at the start than after the fact. If one was skipped, applying now, before more work is added, keeps the problem from growing.

At TurnKey Outdoor Designs, we take care of the permit step on the decks we build. Call us today to plan a deck that is permitted from the start.

Frequently Asked Questions About This Guide

The ones that come up most often once people start planning.