Do I need a footing inspection for deck piers in New Brunswick?

Whether you need a footing inspection for deck piers in New Brunswick depends on whether your deck requires a building permit — and most decks above a certain size do. If a building permit is required for your deck, a footing inspection (before the concrete is poured and the inspection is failed-safe before covering the work) is almost certainly part of the process.

The NB building code and most municipal bylaws require a building permit for decks that are attached to the house (regardless of height in many municipalities), and for freestanding decks above a certain square footage or height. In Moncton, Fredericton, and Saint John, decks attached to the dwelling generally require a permit. A permit-exempt deck is typically a small, low-to-grade, freestanding structure — and even then, the thresholds vary by municipality.

If a permit is required, the typical inspection sequence for a deck in NB includes: a footing inspection after the holes are dug and before the concrete is poured (so the inspector can verify the hole depth reaches below the 4-foot frost line and is bearing on undisturbed soil), a framing inspection after the deck structure is built but before decking is applied, and a final inspection on completion. The footing inspection is the most critical — it's the only opportunity to verify that the foundation of the deck meets NB Building Code requirements before it's buried in concrete.

Never pour your sonotube footings before the inspection. This is a common mistake that creates expensive problems — inspectors can require you to excavate and expose the footings to verify depth and bearing if the pour happened before inspection. In NB, with frost depth requirements of 4-5 feet (1.2-1.5 metres), excavating to verify a footing that's already been poured is a significant and costly undertaking.

If you're uncertain whether your deck needs a permit, call your local building inspection office before you start digging. In Fredericton, that's the City's Development Services office. In Moncton, the Planning and Development department. In Saint John, the Development and Building Inspections department. In rural NB, contact the Rural Service Commission for your area. A permit is typically $100-$300 for a residential deck and is straightforward to obtain — the fee is minor compared to the cost of doing the work twice.

The practical reality: most sonotube deck piers in NB should be 10-12 inches in diameter, extending to 4-5 feet below grade (frost depth), filled with air-entrained concrete, and containing a post base anchor set before the concrete sets. This is standard work for any experienced NB deck or concrete contractor. New Brunswick Concrete can connect you with professionals who handle deck footings throughout the province.