Premier Deck has moved its residential and commercial deck permitting to the 2024 edition of the International Residential Code, ahead of the January 1, 2027 date after which the previous edition can no longer be used for permit applications in New Hampshire.

The New Hampshire State Building Code moved from the 2021 International Code Council editions to the 2024 editions on July 1, 2026. The year in each name refers to the publication year of the code book rather than to a deadline, and individual states adopt those editions on their own schedule. New Hampshire had been operating under the 2021 edition until this summer.

According to the New Hampshire Division of Fire Safety, a six-month concurrence period runs through December 31, 2026, during which a permit application may be submitted under either the 2021 or the 2024 edition. From January 1, 2027, all permit requests must follow the 2024 codes.

State law allows an applicant to demonstrate compliance under one edition or the other, but not a combination of the two. That means the choice of edition has to be settled before drawings are finalized rather than resolved during plan review.

The distinction affects projects already in design. Decks are seasonal work in northern New England, and a set of plans produced in spring is often not permitted until later in the year. Drawings prepared against the 2021 edition and submitted after the deadline would be reviewed against a document they were not drawn to, which can delay approval and require revisions.

"The code change itself is routine, and the state runs this on a cycle," said Steve Kirk, owner of Premier Deck. "What catches people is the window. If plans were drawn in the spring and the permit does not go in until after the new year, the review is against a different edition than the drawings were built around."

Enforcement in New Hampshire is handled at the municipal level rather than by the state. The code applies statewide, but permitting and inspection are carried out by individual towns and cities, and some smaller municipalities have no building code enforcement official of their own. The practical experience of pulling a permit therefore varies from one town to the next across a single service area, even though the underlying code does not.

Plan review generally covers a site plan showing the proposed location relative to property lines and setbacks, together with construction drawings that address framing layout, ledger connection method, beam and joist sizing, and guard height. Building departments assess those submissions against both the state building code and local zoning ordinances before issuing approval.

Several of the requirements that decide a residential deck approval are set locally rather than by the code edition. The City of Rochester requires frost footings for any deck attached to a dwelling, porch or garage, and a building permit for any structure greater than 200 square feet. Its published deck and porch handout also addresses ledger attachment with lag screws and hold-down tension devices, approved joist hangers where joists frame into the side of a girder, weatherproofing and flashing at the house connection, and the use of approved pressure-treated or naturally decay-resistant lumber such as redwood or cedar.

Footing depth is another locally determined figure. The International Residential Code directs footings below the frost line but leaves the depth itself to the local jurisdiction.

The same Rochester document treats trellis-type structures without a roof or walls as requiring a zoning permit when they fall under 200 square feet, a requirement that surprises property owners who assume an open structure sits outside the permit process.

"Ledger attachment and flashing are the two things a homeowner never sees once a deck is finished, and the two most likely to cause a problem years later," Kirk said. "Those requirements do not change with the code edition, and they are worth reading closely whichever edition a project is filed under."

Requirements and enforcement vary between New Hampshire municipalities, and the local building department remains the authority on any individual project. Property owners with drawings in hand are advised to confirm with their building department which code edition an application will be reviewed under, and to confirm that whoever prepared the drawings worked from that same edition.

Premier Deck is a custom deck builder based in Rochester, New Hampshire, building residential and commercial decks since 2016 in composite and natural wood, along with deck railings, pergolas, condo decking and helical pile foundations. The company is a NADRA member and a TimberTech Platinum Installer, and backs completed projects with a five-year craftsmanship warranty and a 30-year product warranty.

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For more information about Premier Deck, contact the company here:

Premier Deck
Steve Kirk
(603) 833-2353
steve@premierdecknh.com
7 Spaulding Ave, Rochester, NH 03868