Deck or patio on a new house: how often do builders include them, and what does a deck need to pass inspection?

Published October 25, 2026

How many new homes get a patio or a deck

NAHB's Eye on Housing analysis uses the Census Bureau's Survey of Construction. Its deck definition describes an unroofed floored area raised off the ground; its patio definition describes a floored area on the ground that may have a roof. A covered ground-level slab therefore belongs in the patio category. These are survey categories, not a substitute for the terms your local permitting office uses.

NAHB calls the 2024 deck share an all-time low. The 2017 and 2021 readings were higher than 2024: 23.8% in 2017 and 17.5% in 2021. The 2025 share, 17.8%, is also above 2024. Measured in percentage points, the gap between the two features was 61.8 - 17.4 = 44.4 in 2024 and 60.5 - 17.8 = 42.7 in 2025, so it narrowed slightly in the latest year while staying wide.

The Census Bureau cautions that its estimates have sampling variability and nonsampling error. A move of a few tenths of a point from one year to the next is small enough that it should not drive a decision on its own.

Where decks and patios are most common

For single-family homes started in 2025, NAHB reports these regional shares:

• New England: 73% with a deck, 26% with a patio
• West North Central: 43% with a deck
• Middle Atlantic: 36% with a deck
• East South Central: 29% with a deck
• West South Central: 2% with a deck, 77% with a patio

Those figures give a different starting point for a conversation with a builder in New England than in the West South Central states. They do not decide which outdoor space works on your lot.

Include the deck now or price it later

The shares describe choices across many projects. They are not a rule that adding a patio to your plans prevents you from including a deck.

Timing also affects what these figures capture. NAHB notes that decks are often added after the house is built. The new-home share therefore does not show how many of those houses will eventually have a deck.

Including a deck in the house contract lets you ask for its scope and price alongside the rest of the project. Deferring it leaves the later design, contractor and permit arrangements to settle separately. Raleigh, North Carolina, for example, requires a building permit for a deck installation. Before leaving a deck out of the original plans, ask the builder whether doors, grading or exterior lighting should still be planned for it.

NAHB's 2024 construction cost survey puts outdoor structures, combining decks, patios and porches, at $4,722 on average, or 1.1% of construction cost. That average across surveyed homes is not a price for one deck. Compare a separately priced deck option with the house contract without it, and ask the builder what work remains in either case. Record the scope in the builder brief tool; the price of a later project needs its own estimate.

When a deck needs a permit and what is inspected

Your building department reviews a deck under the residential code your jurisdiction has adopted, along with any local amendments. Local codes vary, so any threshold, height or depth that applies on your lot comes from your building department, not from a national number.

Raleigh's outdoor permit checklist lists a certified survey, site plan and structural elevations with the application. Its more detailed porch and deck page specifically requires elevations for roofed structures, including patios and covered decks. In Fairfax County, Virginia, the residential addition/alteration process includes decks, and the county requires inspections at the applicable construction stages.

What Fairfax County's deck details illustrate

Fairfax's Typical Deck Details, based on the 2021 Virginia Residential Code, apply to residential, single-level decks. The guard section says "A guard is required" when the deck is more than 30 inches above grade at a point 36 inches from its edge. The guard drawing specifies a minimum height of 36 inches above the deck floor. Those are separate measurements: the drop to the yard determines when a guard is needed, while the guard height is measured from the deck surface.

The document lists footing, framing and final inspections. Its framing inspection may be omitted only when the joist bottoms are more than 48 inches above grade and all framing connections can be seen at final inspection. These local details illustrate why the builder must confirm the inspection sequence before work is covered; they are not national requirements or a complete design specification.

When a deck is part of a new house, ask whether it is covered by the house permit or needs its own. Before signing, put these questions to the builder or building department:

• Is the deck reviewed and inspected under the house permit, or does it need a separate one?
• At what deck height or size does a permit apply, and does a ground-level patio need one here?
• Which inspections does the deck get, and at what stages?
• What guard height, stair rise and run, and footing depth does the adopted code require on this lot?
• How must the deck be attached to the house, and who details the flashing at that joint?
• Must the deck pass final inspection before the house can be signed off, or can it be finished later?

Keep the written answers with the deck drawings and the contract, so the permit review and quoted work describe the same project. The permits guide explains the wider sequence of residential permits and inspections.