There are many horror stories among homeowners through the Triad area about the “one that got away.”

No, we are not talking about a big fish;  we are referring to the builder who put on that new deck for you without pulling a permit or having proper credentials.  When he forget to secure the deck’s underpinning properly there was no inspection to catch the mistake, and when the deck caved in the builder was nowhere to be found. With no registration on file at either the local of federal levels you had no recourse and nowhere to turn. This scenario paints a picture of an occurrence that happens every day in our industry. There are builders out there that have no licenses, never obtain a permit, and have little knowledge of how things are supposed to work. These are the companies that take money to make a quick buck and leave you with nothing but an empty promise and build you a shoddy structure and then go into hiding, leaving the innocent homeowner with nowhere to turn when things go awry. It is individuals like this that tarnish a hard-working legitimate trade.

We provide permitting for every deck we build, period.

Greensboro and Winston Salem deck builder, 

Here in North Carolina and across the U.S., it is mandatory for any builder making a significant home improvement at your residence to obtain a permit for construction. The permit fee varies upon what you are building, for example, the permit to custom build an entire home is not the same price as a permit to build a deck or patio. Generally, the price for the permit is based on the square footage of your intended structure. Permits are set forth for the protection of the homeowner and the builder. Part of the basis behind permitting is to ensure a licensed inspector checks the work at each phase of the building process to ensure the delivery of a safe and sound structure to you at the end of construction. This will give you a structure that lives up to your expectations. The fee for these inspections is included with the permit fee.

While all municipalities and counties have different requirements for obtaining permits, North Carolina has stringent regulations on permitting. North Carolina statutes and the residential building codes mandate permits for certain repair and renovation projects. Generally, a permit is required to do work that affects a load-bearing structure, an addition or change to any heating, AC, and ventilation (HVAC) or plumbing system, and all electrical work.

Decks have their own permit law.

Decks are load-bearing structures; therefore, a permit is required to build, repair, or replace a deck, or to change its design.

If the contractor is caught engaging in the trade without being properly permitted they are subject to civil and possibly criminal penalty. Stiff monetary penalties are handed out for non-permitted constructions and in some cases, if builders are caught without the proper permits they can be made to tear down the entire structure and start over to make sure each phase of the construction is inspected thoroughly under the rules that govern permitted structures.

You would not want to have your elevated pool deck built without proper permitting.

It is important to check with your deck builder before you break ground on your project to ensure all licenses, insurance, and permits are made available per your request. One thing to look for to ensure the builder has pulled a permit is the permitting box which should be present on any validated work site. Frankly, if your builder questions your request to see any credentials of permits, it should send up a red flag. Any reputable builder will gladly give this to you.

Our contractor checklist illustrates essential deck builder credentials.

Archadeck of the Piedmont Triad is licensed, insured, and warranted, and pulling the permit is included in the quote we give you to build your outdoor living structure. A plot plan is required to obtain the permit, and if the homeowner doesn’t have it we help out with that too. We also ensure that all the proper inspections are completed at the appropriate times so there are no surprises at the end of your project. We have you covered, start to finish, top to bottom with no room for anything but the best experience and delivery of a suburb structure. That is what we call the “Archadeck Difference”.

If you are considering adding a custom deck to your home, Archadeck of the Piedmont Triad would like to be your building partner. Give us a call for a free consultation at (336) 568-8230, drop us an email, or fill out a contact form on this website. We look forward to your call.