Deck: What Madison Permits List
10th$8,450$15,000median$25,000$37,000
90th
10th to 90th percentileMiddle half (25th to 75th)Median
Where Does Your Quote Fall?
Type the total on your written quote and, if you know it, the size. You'll see where it lands among 282 Madison deck permits.
Type the total from your quote.
What Moves the Price
372 of the 814 deck permits over Oct 2023–Sep 2026 give the deck's size. Their median was $100 a square foot (middle half $50–$100), for a median deck of 202 square feet.
| What the permit describes | Permits | Middle half | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| New deck under 3 feet off the ground | 195 | $9,450–$22,500 | $14,000 |
| New deck 3 feet or more off the ground | 215 | $8,000–$28,000 | $15,000 |
| Resurface or rebuild an existing deck | 85 | $6,500–$21,500 | $13,000 |
- Footings must be at least 48 inches deep.(City of Madison)
- Inspection after you dig the footing holes, before footings go in.(City of Madison)
- Guardrails at least 3 feet high around any deck more than 2 feet above ground.(City of Madison)
- Stairs with more than three risers need a handrail.(City of Madison)
- Decks 3 feet or more above ground must meet zoning setbacks.(City of Madison)
- Call Diggers Hotline (811) at least 3 working days before digging footings; this applies to homeowners too.(Diggers Hotline)
Prices Over Three Years
248 permits
284 permits
282 permits
Medians for each 12-month period on the same kind of permit. The median rose 7% from the first year to the last.
When Madison Does This Work
In the two years before the April 2026 hail storm, Madison issued the most deck permits in April, May and August. Outside winter, March and November were the quietest. Permits measure how busy contractors are, not what they charge.
Deck Permits by Month, 100 = an Average Month
The Permit and What a Quote Should Include
- Madison's permit chart also lists exterior door replacement, building a deck and fireplaces as needing a permit, all handled by Building Inspection (608-266-4551 ext 2).(City of Madison)
- Small repairs under $500 in estimated value don't need a Madison permit.(City of Madison)
- Permit fee for most decks under 250 sq ft is $75.(City of Madison)
- Replacing deck boards costing under $500 needs no permit.(City of Madison)
- Madison's building permit fee for alterations and repairs is $11 per $1,000 of value, $25 minimum.(City of Madison) On these permits the city charged a median of $75 (middle half $50–$76).(City of Madison)
- Under state law, only a holder of the state Dwelling Contractor credential (a certificate of financial responsibility) can obtain a building permit.(Wis. Stat. 101.654)
- The exception: an owner who lives (or will live) in the home can pull the permit.(Wis. Stat. 101.654)
- Madison suggests a contract that requires the contractor to get and pay for permits.(City of Madison)
A written quote you can compare names the work, the materials and the price. Under Wisconsin's home improvement rule:
- Under ATCP 110 a written contract is required whenever you pay anything before the work is done.(ATCP 110)
- It must describe the work and the main products: name, make, size, capacity, model and model year, and type, grade and quantity of materials.(ATCP 110)
- It must give the total price (including finance charges), and for time-and-materials jobs the hourly labor rate.(ATCP 110)
- It must give start and completion dates or time frames.(ATCP 110)
- Before you sign, the contractor must tell you every permit the job needs, and can't start until they're issued.(ATCP 110)
- Before you sign, you must get a separate 'Notice of Consumer's Right to Receive Lien Waivers', and if you ask, lien waivers at each payment (ATCP 110.025).(ATCP 110)
The full list is on home improvement contracts in Wisconsin.
Who Pulled These Permits
115 businesses pulled Madison deck permits on houses in the last 12 months; 8% of the permits went to businesses with an address outside Wisconsin. These pulled the most. A count shows volume, not quality or price, and nobody pays to be listed. Pick a name to see its permit record.
- 23 permits
- 22 permits
- 20 permits
- 14 permits
- 13 permits
- 12 permits
- 10 permits
- 5 permits
- 5 permits
- 5 permits
Check a Contractor
Type a business name to see its Madison and Fitchburg permit record and where to check its state records.
No Permit Record For “”
No business by that name is on Madison permits since October 2023 or Fitchburg permits in the last year. Having no record isn't a warning sign by itself. It can mean:
- The business is new, or works mostly outside Madison and Fitchburg.
- It's listed under another name: try a shorter part of the name.
- A homeowner pulled the permit. An owner who lives in the home may pull their own.(Wis. Stat. 101.654)
- It works under another company's permit, as a subcontractor.
- No permit was pulled. In Madison, replacing roofing, siding or windows needs one, except repairs under $500.(City of Madison)(City of Madison)
What a permit record tells you. Only a holder of Wisconsin's Dwelling Contractor credential, or the owner who lives in the home, can get a building permit, so a contractor's Madison building permits mean it held the credential when it pulled them.(Wis. Stat. 101.654) It doesn't show the credential is current today, or anything about the quality of the work.
A contractor with a bond under $25,000 holds the Dwelling Contractor Restricted credential and can't take a job whose estimated cost is more than its bond; the certificate shows that limit.(Wis. Stat. 101.654)(DSPS) Compare it with your quote.
Check it today with the state. These sites don't take a name from us, so search “{name}” yourself.
- DSPS license lookup: the credential type, status and date. Look for Dwelling Contractor, or Dwelling Contractor Restricted and its limit. The state calls this lookup official verification.(DSPS) Discipline orders are in a separate Search Orders portal.(DSPS)
- Workers' comp coverage lookup: whether the business has a current Wisconsin policy, searchable by employer name; the data is updated weekly.(Wisconsin DWD) A business must carry it once it has three or more employees, or one paid $500 or more in a calendar quarter.(Wisconsin DWD)
- DFI business records: whether the company is registered with the state. DFI is a filing registry and can't say whether a business operates legally.(Wisconsin DFI)
- Wisconsin court records (WCCA): lawsuits, small claims and liens filed in circuit court. One party can show up under several versions of a name, and a case filed isn't a finding of wrongdoing.(Wisconsin Courts)(Wisconsin Courts)
- Complaints: DATCP has no public database. Call its Bureau of Consumer Protection at (800) 422-7128 to ask whether complaints have been filed.(DATCP)
- At your door: anyone selling house to house in Madison needs a City Clerk Solicitor's Permit and must show it if you ask.(Madison ordinances)
Permit counts come from the cities' own permit reports (Madison, Fitchburg), refreshed monthly. A count shows volume, not quality, and no business pays to be here.
How We Got These Numbers
- Madison's permit reports list an "Est Cost" for each building permit: what the applicant wrote on the application.(City of Madison) It isn't an audited price or the final bill. Some contractors write the contract price, some round, and the city doesn't check it.
- Only permits for one- and two-family houses whose description names this one job, with a business named as contractor and a cost of at least $500. Owner-pulled permits are left out, because a do-it-yourself figure is often materials only.
- Ranges use the last 12 months on record (Oct 2025–Sep 2026). Sizes, roof types and the three-year trend use every month since Oct 2023.
- All 11,482 costed house permits and the method are on the Madison project costs page, with a CSV.
Questions
How Much Does a Deck Cost in Madison?
On City of Madison permits for houses from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, the median was $15,000 and the middle half ran $8,450 to $25,000, across 282 permits. Those are the costs applicants wrote on their permits, not audited prices.
How Much Is the Madison Permit for This Job?
The median fee the city charged on these permits was $75; the middle half paid $50 to $76. The contractor usually pulls the permit and includes the fee in the price.
Related Guides
- What Home Projects Cost in MadisonThe full table, busiest months and permit fees.
- What a New Roof Costs in Madison
- What New Siding Costs in Madison
- What Replacement Windows Cost in Madison
- What a New Entry or Patio Door Costs in Madison
- What a Fireplace or Gas Insert Costs in Madison
- Credential Checker LookupWhich Wisconsin license the job needs.