 to where you are located like in my area here if you're building a new deck if it's under 30 inches high permits not needed i'm good same with a deck cover if i'm going to build a cover if it's under 200 square feet and it's built in a certain way i don't need to pull permit for it that's great but if i'm building a deck that's 36 inches high where i need a railing and some stairs probably