If you got a permit from the government to start building a deck, you started, then they found the mistake in the permit, that’s on the government and they should accept their fault.

In this case, the NYT never gave permission.

In your example, there was no permit applied for, a cop saw you building the deck, and when the government said you need to stop and apply for a permit, you say the cop seeing you building the deck is a permit since they didn’t stop you.