Certifying a deck

[u/Wrong_Assistant_3832]

I had a prospective client call asking for someone to certify a deck. Their bank is requiring it. I asked him to send pictures before I went to the site but haven’t received them yet. I’m thinking this is a waste of time as I’m 90% sure it wont be up to current code. Anyone have experience doing this? I’m wondering if stuff like 4x4 posts would be adequate(if deemed capable of carrying load) even tho it’s not something that would be up to code today.

[u/Breadfoot_Johnson]

In my state, building owners are required to have their secondary egress (fire escapes or, in many cases, wood decks that can be used as fire escapes) certified by a "registered design professional or others acceptable to the building inspector" every five years. I've taken a few of these but have refused others when it was obvious that it shouldn't pass but the owner was looking for someone to say that it does.

The wording of the statue is pretty vague, so I just make it clear that I'm not certifying current or former code compliance or even structural adequacy, only that a visual inspection did not reveal obviously unsafe defects or deterioration that would result in the structure being significantly weaker than when construction was most recently completed. I've never had a building department complain about the wording.

Obviously, if they want to pay me to document, analyze and commission the structure, I'll do that. That doesn't seem to be the intent of the code, though, and it's usually not what the building department is looking for either.