Do I need planning permission for static caravan decking?

Not normally on a licensed holiday park. The site licence and the park's own rules control what can be put on a pitch, and the park owner's written approval is what you need. If the deck is roofed or enclosed, or the park is not licensed, ask the council's planning department.

What are the fire regulations for caravan decking?

There is no single national decking regulation. Parks are licensed with fire safety conditions and must manage fire risk under the Fire Safety Order, so they write decking rules of their own: typically fire-rated uPVC or composite (Class 1 surface spread of flame to BS 476 Part 7 or an equivalent Euroclass rating), no timber on some parks, no storage under the deck, and nothing that reduces the gap between caravans.

What is the 6 metre rule?

Site licence conditions, based on national model standards, require caravans to be kept a minimum distance apart, normally 6 metres, so fire cannot spread between them. Open decks, ramps and steps may project into the gap only if 4.5 metres stays clear to the next caravan, and an enclosed veranda counts as the caravan itself. Front and door-side decks are usually fine; a deck on the side facing the next caravan usually is not.

How high can caravan decking be?

Decking normally sits level with the caravan floor, so its height is set by the van. Parks often limit the height of balustrades, screens and canopies rather than the deck itself, and require guarding of about 1,100 mm with gaps of no more than 100 mm wherever there is a drop.

Can I have timber decking on a caravan park?

On some parks, yes, usually treated and maintained to the park's satisfaction. A growing number allow only fire-rated uPVC or composite for new decks. Ask before you buy.

What happens if I fit decking without permission?

Your pitch agreement will almost certainly let the park require you to remove it at your own cost, and it can affect your position when you sell the caravan or renew the agreement. Get the approval in writing first.

Who checks the deck once it is built?

The park, as part of its site licence duties, and your insurer if you claim. Keep the installer's drawing, the material fire-rating certificate and the park's written approval together.

Static Caravan Decking Regulations: Park Rules Explained

The short answer

Decking on a holiday park is controlled by your park, not by a national decking law. Your pitch agreement requires the park owner's written consent; the park's site licence requires it to keep caravans a set distance apart, normally 6 metres, and to manage fire risk; and most parks turn those duties into a decking specification: fire-rated uPVC or composite, approved colours, guarding to about 1,100 mm, nothing stored underneath, and a deck that keeps at least 4.5 metres clear of the neighbouring caravan and is never enclosed into the gap. Planning permission from the council is not normally needed on a licensed park. Residential park homes follow the same logic under the Mobile Homes Act site rules.

Who makes the rules

Three layers apply to a deck on a park pitch.

The park owner, through your pitch licence or agreement and the park's rules. This is the layer that says yes or no to your deck, and it is the only one you deal with directly.
The council, through the site licence it issues to the park under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960. The licence carries conditions on spacing, roads, fire points and more, usually based on national model standards. The park has to meet them, which is why it cares where your deck goes.
Fire safety law. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 makes the park responsible for fire risk in the areas it controls, and the fire and rescue service can inspect. Parks manage that risk partly by controlling the materials and structures owners add to pitches.

Building regulations and planning law, which govern a deck in a house garden, play a much smaller part on a licensed park, as explained below.

Written approval from the park

Almost every pitch agreement for a holiday caravan says that structures, including decking, skirting, sheds and verandas, need the park owner's prior written consent. Most parks have a one or two page decking specification they will send you, and many keep a list of installers who have worked on the park before.

A typical specification covers:

approved materials, often fire-rated uPVC or composite only;
approved colours for boards, rails and skirting, to keep the park looking uniform;
where on the pitch a deck may go, which usually means the front and the door side, clear of the separation distance;
a maximum height for balustrades, screens and any canopy;
no enclosed storage under the deck, and sometimes a requirement that the void stays ventilated;
access arrangements and insurance for the installer, and the dates contractors may work on site.

Get the approval in writing, with the drawing the installer produced attached, and keep it with the caravan's paperwork. If you sell the caravan on the pitch, the buyer will want to see it.

The 6 metre separation

Site licence conditions require caravans to be kept a minimum distance apart so that a fire in one does not spread to the next. The national model standards that councils base their conditions on set that distance at 6 metres between caravans, measured between the nearest points of the two units. Councils with large holiday coasts publish their own versions: East Lindsey's conditions for the Skegness and Ingoldmells parks and North Yorkshire's 2025 conditions both use 6 metres, with East Lindsey allowing 3.5 metres at the corners of aluminium-skinned caravans and both allowing less only where the fire service agrees.

The same conditions say what may sit inside the gap, and this is the part that matters for decking:

Verandas, ramps and stairs may project into the separation distance only if there is still a 4.5 metre clear space between them and the neighbouring caravan, and two such structures must not face each other across the gap.
An enclosed veranda, one with a roof and screens, is treated as part of the caravan and must not intrude into the 6 metres at all.
Porches may project up to 1 metre, and must be of the open type.
Sheds and storage within the gap must be non-combustible, including the roof, and nothing may be stored under a caravan.
A 1 metre clear space must be kept around each caravan so people can get out and round it in an emergency.
Gas cylinders must be kept at least 3 metres from combustible material, which includes a timber deck.
No caravan or combustible structure may stand within 3 metres of the site boundary.

In practice: a deck across the lounge end or along the door side normally sits inside your own pitch and well clear of the neighbouring caravan. A deck on the side that faces the next caravan is where parks say no, because a 1.8 metre deep deck in a 6 metre gap leaves less than the 4.5 metres required. Installers who work on parks draw the deck on a plan of the pitch showing the neighbouring units, so the park can see the distances before it signs. East Lindsey also requires the council's written approval before any veranda, porch or conservatory is built, so on that coast the park will send the drawing on.

Fire regulations and materials

There is no law that says "caravan decking must be made of X". There is a duty on the park to manage fire risk under the Fire Safety Order, and licence conditions on spacing and combustible structures, and parks turn those into material rules. The common requirements are:

A Class 1 surface spread of flame rating to BS 476 Part 7 for boards and balustrade components. The uPVC decking systems made for parks are tested to this and publish the result; standard garden decking is not. Some parks will accept an equivalent rating under the European classification system (BS EN 13501-1), but Class 1 to BS 476-7 is what the sector quotes.
No new timber decking on a growing number of parks, or timber only where it is treated with a fire-retardant finish and maintained.
Nothing stored under the deck or the caravan: no gas bottles, furniture, fuel or wood. Skirting must be ventilated, partly so that any gas leak cannot build up under the floor.
A clear route off the deck, with the gate opening outwards or a second exit on long decks, so the deck is not a dead end in a fire.
Approved or insured contractors. Many parks require installers to carry public liability insurance and to be approved by the park before they work on site, and some park groups do not allow owners to build their own decking. One large group's process is typical: a plot alteration form, the park manager checks the space, two quotes from approved suppliers, and a deposit before the fit.

Ask the installer to put the make of board and its fire rating on the quote. A certificate from the manufacturer is what the park office will want to see. Good park-grade boards also publish a wet slip resistance figure from the pendulum test in BS 7976-2, where a value above 36 counts as low slip potential, and balustrades tested to the loading standard BS 6399-1.

Height, balustrades, steps and gates

Decking sits level with the caravan floor, so a deck on a standard static is usually 600 to 900 mm off the ground and more on a lodge. At those heights a balustrade is a safety requirement, not a finish. Parks and installers use the same reference points as the building regulations for houses even though those regulations do not strictly apply on a park:

Guarding about 1,100 mm high wherever there is a drop, with gaps of 100 mm or less between spindles so a small child cannot get through, and nothing climbable in the design. Some self-build kits are sold with 1 metre handrails; 1,100 mm follows the building regulations guidance for external balconies and is the safer figure to ask for.
Steps with equal rises, treads deep enough for a whole foot, a handrail on at least one side, and lighting if the deck is used at night.
Ramps no steeper than about 1 in 12, with handrails both sides and a kerb, where step-free access is needed.
Gates at the top of steps, self-closing where children use the deck, opening in the direction that does not trap anyone.

Height limits in park rules usually apply to the structure as a whole: a balustrade, screen or canopy that goes above a set height, or a deck raised higher than the caravan floor, needs separate approval and is often refused.

Planning permission and building regulations

On a licensed holiday park, decking is treated as part of the use of the pitch under the site licence, and the park owner's consent is what controls it. A planning application is not normally needed for an open deck. Two situations change that:

A roofed or enclosed veranda can be seen as an extension of the caravan, with knock-on questions about the site licence, the caravan's legal definition and sometimes planning. Parks look at these case by case and some refuse them outright.
A caravan on private land, outside a licensed park, is governed by ordinary planning law, and a deck may or may not fall within permitted development depending on its height and position. Ask the council before you build.

Building regulations do not apply to a caravan or to open decking attached to it in the way they apply to a house, but the guarding and stair guidance in Approved Document K is the benchmark installers and parks use for safe heights and gaps.

One more point on planning: the old four-year limit for enforcement against unauthorised building work became ten years in England for breaches substantially completed on or after 25 April 2024. A deck or enclosed veranda built where permission was needed is therefore exposed for a decade, so get the permissions right first.

Residential park homes

Residential parks, where people live all year, are licensed under the same 1960 Act but work to a different set of model standards and to site rules made under the Mobile Homes Act. The practical differences for decking are:

Site rules set out what residents may build and how to ask. They are consulted on with residents and deposited with the council, and almost all require written consent for decking, porches, sheds and fences.
The 6 metre separation between homes is a licence condition under the Model Standards 2008. Within the gap, a porch may project 1 metre; any structure projecting more than 1 metre must be non-combustible with a 4.5 metre clear distance to the neighbouring home; fences and hedges are limited to 1 metre high; and cars must be at least 3 metres from the next home. A deck towards the neighbour is the usual reason for refusal.
Ramps and step-free access are common and are normally welcomed by parks, within the same separation rules.

See park home decking for prices and layouts.

A checklist before you order

Ask the park office for its decking specification and its list of approved or previously used installers.
Get a drawing from the installer showing the deck on your pitch with the neighbouring caravans and the separation distance marked.
Check the quote names the board and rail products and their fire rating, and that the colours are on the park's approved list.
Confirm the balustrade height, spindle gaps, steps, handrail and gate on the drawing.
Send the drawing and specification to the park and get written consent back before paying a deposit.
Agree the fitting dates with the park, especially if it is closed for the winter.
Keep the consent, the drawing and the fire-rating certificate with the caravan's documents.

Sources

Read 31 October 2026. These are the official texts parks and councils work from; your own park's rules and licence conditions take precedence on your pitch.

Prices mentioned on this site are typical UK ranges checked October 2026. The guide is general information, not legal advice; your park's written rules and licence conditions decide what is allowed on your pitch.

Static caravan decking regulations