Deck permit checklist — St. Louis, Missouri
Assembled from St. Louis’s own published permit rules. Every line below is quoted from a city document and linked to it. Nothing here is generated, estimated, or inferred from another jurisdiction.
Do you need a permit?
St. Louis requires a permit for a deck.
Ordinance 70795, which adopts the Residential Code for One- and Two-family Dwellings of the City of Saint Louis, exempts from permit concrete patio slabs or wooden patios and decks which rest directly on the ground or a rock base, provided that they are not covered by a roof or canopy, not supported by any type of permanent foundation, and a maximum of twelve inches above adjacent grade. That ordinance also exempts ordinary or minor repairs to exterior cantilevered balconies, decks, stairs, and fire escapes.
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Sources
- deck — permit rules ↗verified August 2026
Other permits St. Louis publishes rules for
Listed because the city publishes a separate rule for each type — not because this project necessarily triggers one. Whether it does depends on your scope of work.
- Fence permit checklist
- Shed permit checklist
- Water heater permit checklist
- Re-roof permit checklist
- Retaining wall permit checklist
- Electrical work permit checklist
- General building work permit checklist
BuildSpec is a reference, not the authority having jurisdiction. Confirm requirements with St. Louis before you build.