Permit drawings for decks, patio covers, pergolas, porches and other outdoor structures across the Bay Area — sited against your real property lines and drafted to the setback, height and footing rules your city applies to backyard construction.
This page covers the drafting side of outdoor living — the permit drawings for decks, patio covers, pergolas, porches and similar structures, not the planting or irrigation plan. It's a narrower scope than a landscape architect's full site design, and that's on purpose: most of what actually stops a backyard project at the counter is the structural and zoning side — a deck that's taller than the city allows without a guardrail detail, a pergola that encroaches into a required side setback, a patio cover attached to the house without the framing connection the reviewer wants to see. We draft that part correctly, in Revit, coordinated with your existing structure's real dimensions.
Not every outdoor structure needs a full permit. Some cities exempt a low deck under a certain height above grade, or a detached, open-sided pergola under a certain size, from plan check entirely — and some don't. That threshold is genuinely different city to city, and sometimes district to district within the same city, so we check your specific jurisdiction's rule before telling you what you actually need, rather than assuming every deck or cover requires the same process. For related accessory structures like a detached workshop or storage building, see our Garage, Carport & Workshop Design page — outdoor living structures and accessory buildings often get evaluated under overlapping lot-coverage and setback rules, so we're used to scoping both together on the same property.
Ground-level and elevated decks, including footing and post layout, guardrail height and the ledger-board connection back to the house — the detail most reviewers check first on an attached deck.
Open and solid-roof patio covers, attached or freestanding, drafted with the post spacing, beam sizing and attachment detail your city's structural checklist expects for a covered outdoor space.
Detached and attached pergolas sited against your lot's setback and height limits for accessory structures — an open lattice roof is treated differently by most cities than a solid patio cover, and we draft to whichever standard actually applies.
Front and rear porch additions, including roof framing tie-in, foundation or pier layout, and how the new structure affects your home's front setback if it faces the street.
We confirm your actual property lines and existing house footprint, then check your city's setback, height and lot-coverage rules for the specific structure you're planning.
A 3D scan captures the house wall the deck or cover will attach to, existing grade and any structure the new build has to sit relative to, so it's sited against reality instead of an old survey.
Full set drafted in Revit — site plan, framing plan, elevations and the footing, guardrail or attachment details your city's structural checklist requires.
If the city comes back with corrections on setbacks, footings or the attachment detail, we revise and resubmit — we don't disappear after the first set goes out.
No — we draft the permit drawings for structures like decks, patio covers, pergolas and porches, not the planting design, irrigation layout or paver material selection. If your project also needs a landscape designer for that side, we're happy to coordinate around their plan so the structural drawings and the planting design don't conflict on the site plan, but the planting design itself isn't something we produce. See our Architectural Drafting & Design page for the full range of what we do draft.
Not always. Many cities exempt a deck under a certain height above grade, or a small, open, detached structure, from plan check — but the exact threshold, and whether it applies to your project, depends on your specific city and sometimes on the zoning district within it. We check that before assuming you need a full permit set. That said, once a structure is attached to the house, exceeds the exempt height, or needs a footing, it's a permitted build in most Bay Area jurisdictions.
It depends on your city's setback rules for accessory or outdoor structures, and often on how tall the structure is above grade — many jurisdictions allow a low, open deck closer to a side or rear property line than an enclosed structure, then reduce that allowance as height increases. We pull your lot's specific setback requirements during the site walk rather than assuming a standard distance applies, since getting this wrong on the site plan is the most common reason backyard structure permits get bounced.
Residential or commercial, drafting or Title 24 — send a few details and we'll follow up with next steps and a free quote.
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Sunny Drafting & Design