Permitting is one of those parts of a retaining wall or structural shoring project that rarely gets discussed until it's already causing a schedule delay. Understanding what's typically involved ahead of time helps avoid surprises once a project is underway.
Why These Projects Usually Require Structural Permits
Most retaining walls above a certain height, along with essentially all structural shoring work, require permits reviewed by a jurisdiction's building department, often with structural plan review involved. This isn't just bureaucratic overhead. A retaining wall or shoring system failure can have serious safety consequences, both for the site itself and for adjacent properties, which is exactly why jurisdictions require engineered plans and structural review before construction begins.
What Reviewers Typically Look For
- Stamped structural calculations from a licensed engineer, confirming the wall or shoring system has been properly designed
- Geotechnical data supporting the design assumptions used in the structural calculations
- Drainage design, particularly for retaining walls, since inadequate drainage is a common cause of later failures
- Coordination with adjacent property considerations, especially for shoring work near property lines or existing structures
Why Design-Build Contractors Can Streamline This Process
When the same team handling design and construction is also managing the permitting process, there's less risk of a disconnect between what gets submitted for review and what actually gets built in the field. A design-build approach means the structural engineer of record is directly connected to the construction team, which tends to speed up responses to plan check comments, since the people answering reviewer questions are the same people who designed the system.
A Realistic Timeline Consideration
Permitting timelines vary significantly by jurisdiction, and structural or geotechnical heavy submittals, like retaining walls and shoring systems, often take longer than more straightforward permit categories. Projects with tight schedules benefit from starting the permitting process as early as possible, and from working with a contractor who has experience navigating structural plan review in the specific jurisdiction where the project is located.
Seiscore serves as a design-build contractor on shoring scopes, working directly with structural engineers of record throughout design and permitting, which keeps the entity answering reviewer questions the same one responsible for the eventual construction.
Questions to Ask a Contractor About Permitting
- Do they have experience permitting retaining wall and structural shoring projects in your specific jurisdiction?
- Who handles responses to plan check comments, and how quickly do they typically turn those around?
- What's a realistic permitting timeline expectation for a project of this scope and complexity?
Conclusion
Permitting for retaining wall and structural shoring projects exists for good reason, given the real safety stakes involved if these systems aren't properly engineered. Projects tend to move through this process more smoothly when the design and construction team are the same people managing the permitting conversation, since that continuity reduces the back and forth that often slows down structural heavy permit reviews.