Retaining Walls and Structures
Retaining Walls and Structures
A Building Permit is required for the construction of a retaining wall or structure greater than 1.2 meters in height.
A Registered Professional shall undertake the design and conduct field reviews of the construction of a retaining structure greater than 1.2 meters in height. Sealed copies of the design plan and field review by means of Letters of Assurance in the form of Schedules B-1, B-2, and C-B referred to in Section 2.6 of Part 2 of the Building Code for all retaining Structures greater than 1.2 meters in height shall be submitted to a Building Official prior to the issuance of a permit.
11.1 No person may construct, or structurally repair, a retaining wall without a building permit.
11.2 Except as certified by a professional engineer with expertise in geotechnical engineering registered in the Province of British Columbia, fill material placed on a parcel, unless restrained by permitted retaining walls, must not have a surface slope exceeding a ratio of one linear unit vertically to two linear units horizontally.
11.3 Without limiting section 11.2, no person may occupy a building unless the finished grade complies with all applicable enactments.
Definitions
18.1 Retaining wall means a structure exceeding 1.2 metres in height that holds or retains soil or other material behind it and requires professional engineering.