Whitby deck permits · Reformity Inc.Deck Permit Drawings in Whitby
Yes, if the deck is more than 0.6 m (2 ft) above the ground: Whitby requires a building permit for it. A lower deck needs no permit but must still meet the zoning by-law's setbacks.
We prepare and submit your permit drawings to the Town of Whitby, then build to the approved plan.
Do you need a permit?
Deck permit rules in Whitby.
Whitby draws its deck line at 0.6 m (2 ft) above the ground. On walk-out and sloping lots, including those falling toward the Lynde and Pringle Creek valleys, a main-floor deck often sits well above that, so it needs a building permit and drawings that meet the Building Code. Setbacks come from two 1960s zoning by-laws, 1784 for the former Township and 2585 for downtown, plus a separate Oak Ridges Moraine by-law, and many zones and site-specific exceptions set their own deck rules. Deck applications go through the Town's E-Portal or in person, not by email, and every package is pre-screened.
Checked against the Town of Whitby's own by-laws and pages in November 2026. Rules change, so we confirm them for your address before we draw.
Permit over 0.6 m
A building permit is required for a residential deck more than 0.6 m (2 ft) above the ground. Lower decks need no permit, but every deck must comply with the zoning by-law.
Town of Whitby: decks and fencesGeneral deck setbacks
A deck 0.6 m high or lower stays 1.0 m from interior side and rear lot lines and 3.0 m from a street line (1.0 m in a rear yard). A first-storey deck over 0.6 m may project 3.2 m into the required rear yard, staying 6.0 m from the rear lot line. Newer West Whitby and Brooklin zones, and some others, have their own deck tables.
Whitby Zoning By-law 1784, s.4(y) Yard Encroachments Permitted (c); Tables 14.2(1) and 15.2(1) (PDF, 2025 consolidation)Side yards and neighbours
First-storey decks over 0.6 m but under 1.2 m high may extend 1.0 m into a required interior side yard, to within 0.25 m of the lot line. Over 1.2 m in a rear yard: 3.0 m from a neighbouring wall with a habitable-room window.
Whitby Zoning By-law 1784, s.4(y) Yard Encroachments Permitted (c) (PDF, 2025 consolidation)Guards over 600 mm
A guard is required where the deck sits over 600 mm above the surface within 1.2 m. For a house: at least 900 mm high, or 1,070 mm if the deck is over 1.8 m up, with no opening that passes a 100 mm sphere.
2024 Ontario Building Code, Div. B 9.8.8 (ontario.ca)Heritage district decks
In the Brooklin and Werden's Plan heritage districts, a rear-yard deck under one storey needs no heritage permit if no trees are removed; most other deck work there needs one. A building permit may still be required.
Brooklin HCD Plan, s.18.3 (2026 update, PDF)
What the city asks for
The Whitby application.
Issued by: Town of Whitby, Building Services Division. We put the package together, submit it and keep you posted.
Documents
- Application to Construct or Demolish form
- Schedule 1: Designer Information
- Applicable Law Checklist
- Letter of Authorization, if applicable
- Site plan: property lines, existing structures and setback dimensions
- Scaled drawings: framing plan, foundation plan, cross section, guard details and construction notes
- Engineer's design for anything outside Part 9, such as helical piles
- CLOCA permit, if the lot is in a regulated area
How it goes
- 1We measure the yard and deck height and check your zone's deck rules, plus CLOCA and heritage status.
- 2We draw the site plan, framing and foundation plans, cross section and guard details to scale, as flattened, unprotected PDFs.
- 3We submit through the Town's E-Portal; staff pre-screen the package, then email next steps and the fee invoice, payable by credit card.
- 4We answer any review comments until the permit is issued.
- 5We book each inspection on the Town's online request form as we build; requests in by 3 p.m. can be scheduled for the next business day.
- Processing time
- Whitby doesn't publish a deck review time. Every application is pre-screened first; once it's accepted, the Town emails next steps and the fee invoice. For a house with no dwelling unit above another, the Building Code gives the Town 10 business days from a complete application to issue or refuse the permit.
- Inspections
- The Town inspects at key stages of construction but doesn't list deck stages. The Building Code's required notices include readiness to construct footings and substantial completion of structural framing. Book with the Building Inspection Request form (permit number, site address, inspection type, site contact); requests received by 3 p.m. can be scheduled for the next business day.
Deck drawing — framing plan — Framing plan, section through the deck and elevation. Illustrative sample sheet. Click to enlarge.
Deck drawing — elevations & details
Permit drawings included
We prepare and submit your permit drawings.
A site plan with setbacks, a framing plan, a section through the deck, and footing, guard and stair details, drawn to the Town of Whitby's checklist and submitted with your application.
- Dimensions to your lot lines
- Materials, sizes and spacing
- Footing and base sections
- Code notes for the inspector
Decking · real projects
Recent decking jobs across the GTA.
Real Reformity jobs from our project files. Customer addresses are never published.
Whitby deck permit FAQ
Quick answers.
Not if it's under 0.6 m (2 ft) above the ground, but it must still meet zoning. Under the general rules it stays 1.0 m from the interior side and rear lot lines and 3.0 m from a street line (1.0 m in a rear yard), or 0.25 m from the interior side lot line when it's in the side yard beside the house. Some zones differ, so we check yours.
Yes, within the Fence By-law's limits: no privacy screens in front yards, and in side and rear yards a screen must be at least 0.6 m from side and rear lot lines, no more than 2.63 m above grade and no more than 6 m long in total. On a raised deck, the deck and screen together can't exceed 3.5 m.
Yes. Whitby's general zoning lets decks and steps around a pool be up to 1.5 m high: those 0.6 m or lower stay 1.0 m from rear and side lot lines, and higher ones 2.0 m. A deck over 0.6 m needs a building permit, and the pool itself still needs a pool enclosure permit.
Send the form on this page or call 437-241-6287. We reply within one business day, visit to measure, prepare the drawings for the Town of Whitby, submit the application and give you a fixed written price for the work.
Let us handle the Whitby permit.
We measure, draw it to the Town of Whitby's rules, submit the application and build to the approved plan. One business-day reply.
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