Deck permit checklist — Memphis, Tennessee
Assembled from Memphis’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?
Memphis requires a permit for a deck.
Joint Ordinance No. 569 rewrote the Section R105.2 list, and its deck entry sets four conditions at once: 200 square feet or less of area, no more than 30 inches (762 mm) of height above the ground at any spot, no attachment to the dwelling, and no role as the landing for the exit door Section R311.4 requires. Because the ordinance joins them with and, failing a single condition puts the deck back under the permit requirement. The ordinance also notes that being exempt from a permit is not license to build something that violates the code or any other law or ordinance of the jurisdiction.
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Sources
- deck — fee schedule ↗verified August 2026
Other permits Memphis 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 Memphis before you build.