"P" wrote in message
...
I am planning an putting down some decking. The area in question is a
flat piece of lawn, just in front of the house. I understand that the
lawn must taken up, a membrane and gravel put down.

My question is would the base need to placed on paving slabs or can it
be put onto the level ground, now covered in gravel?

Worked for me .. twice. The first one I did is still fine after 4 years.
BTW for ground level decks the joists don't have to be anything like as deep
as the raised decks.