How do I know if my Chicago porch is safe?
The City of Chicago has published a Guide to Porch Maintenance and Evaluation. See the links towards the bottom of this page to review that guide.
The porch on my Chicago building looks unsafe, what can I do?
If you are a building owner, the City of Chicago Department of Buildings will inspect your porch and report any violations directly to you. Any violations uncovered will not be processed by the City. Instead, you will be placed in the Chicago Department of Building's Voluntary Compliance Program to remediate any problems at your property. For this service, you should dial 3-1-1 and tell the operator you would like an "owner-requested" porch inspection at your property.
If you prefer not to bring in Chicago Building Department inspectors to your property, you can email Marsha Erenberg or call her at (773) 394-6400, ext 1, for a free, no obligation inspection and estimate of the cost of any required repairs.
Who can use the City of Chicago's pre-approved porch designs?
Chicago Property Owners who live in the building and are replacing an existing porch/deck structure and who meet the following criteria can avoid the need to hire an architect or engineer to custom design a porch for them and may instead use the plan sets approved by the City:
- The building must be one or two units wide.
- The building must be three stories above ground or less.
- The story height measured from finished floor to finished floor must be less than 12 feet.
- The total area for all units above ground level combined must be less than 6250 square feet (not including basement floor space).
What if I don't qualify to use the City of Chicago's pre-approved designs?
If you don't qualify for the pre-approved designs, then a licensed and egistered Architect or Structural Engineer must be employed to evaluate your porch and stairway system and to make recommendations for repair or to design a replacement structure. If you don't have your own architect or structural engineer, MB Construction has contacts with reasonably priced architects and structural engineers experienced at this work and can guide you in this process.
Do I need a permit to repair my Chicago porch?
In general, permits are not required to replace hand/guardrail pickets, decking or stair treads. All other repairs require a building permit.
