A commercial Retaining Wall permit is required for construction of commercial retaining walls retaining more than four feet of unbalanced fill/earth or sheeting and shoring.
To determine whether your permit application requires an associated grading plan, visit our Land Disturbance 101 webpage.
ON THIS PAGE
This information is the most common for how to obtain the necessary approval for your project and is not representative of all the conditions you may encounter.
WHO SHOULD APPLY?
Property owners may obtain permits in their own name, however, it is strongly recommended a properly licensed contractor pull the permits as the responsible party so the county can better assist in gaining compliance for defective work.
PLAN AHEAD
Before submitting, ensure you are aware of all applicable regulations and conditions that could affect your project to avoid surprises during the review process. Some of those factors include:
- Zoning Information
- Design Codes and Standards
- Do I Need to Hire a Registered Design Professional (RDP)?
- Floodplains
- Resource Protection Areas (RPA)
- Grading/Site Plans
- Parking Tabulation
- Types of Soils and Problem Soils
- Researching Site Conditions
To get a detailed description about each regulation and condition, visit our Plan Ahead page.
HOW DO I SUBMIT MY RECORD?
PLUS Application
Apply for your commercial retaining wall building record online in PLUS under the Building tab. If you are a first-time user, you must first register for an account.
Instructional Videos for PLUS
Helpful Instruction Guide:
Requirements
Depending on the scope of your project, one or more of the following may be required:
First Submission
- Architectural/Structural Drawings
- Meeting plan minimum submission requirements.
- Survey/Plat or Grading Plan Submission Record Number
- Projects located in the towns of Clifton or Vienna require separate approvals from the respective towns.
- Approval documentation from the appropriate township must be uploaded to your PLUS record, via the Digital Plan Room, and named accordingly (e.g., Town of Vienna Approval).
- Evaluation report (ICC-es) maybe be required if using segmented blocks.
- Specifications for construction materials, backfill materials and compaction requirements.
- Cross-sections and structural details for the project site-specific (standard or generic details not acceptable).
- The ground slope at the top and toe.
- Guardrail details, including anchorage.
- Method of drainage behind wall.
- Electronically signed and sealed copies of the design calculations demonstrating a factor of safety of 1.5 for the following:
- sliding, overturning and
- global stability:
- In non-Potomac formation clay and for non-critical retaining wall defined in Section 4-0303.8-A of the PFM, reduce to 1.25 for laboratory-determined soil parameters.
- In Potomac formation clay and for non-critical retaining wall defined in Section 4-0303.8-A of the PFM, reduce to 1.25 if a laboratory measured residual strength test is obtained and used in the analysis.
- Soil parameters as listed below.
- Bearing capacity (2,000 psf maximum assumable).
- Lateral earth pressure (60 pcf minimum assumable).
- Friction value (0.35 maximum assumable).
- A geotechnical report is required for walls more than six (6) feet in height or as required per Table 4.1 of Fairfax County’s Public Facilities Manual (PFM) but does not need to have prior submittal & approval by Site Development & Inspection Division (SDID) when the limits of clearing (LOC) is not in problem soils per PFM 4-0206; if the LOC is on Problem Class III and/or IVA soils, then prior review and approval by SDID is advisable. See online at Public Facilities Manual.
- Evaluation service report (ESR) and design submittals per the ESR for segmented walls and any other walls not designed per Virginia Construction Code
- Global stability analysis for the conditions listed below.
- Walls over six (6) feet in height, with backfill and/or toe slopes steeper than 2H:1V and located on Problem Class III and/or IVA soils.
- Walls over six (6) feet in height, with backfill and/or toe slopes steeper than 4H:1V and located on Marine clay or Marumsco soils.
- A global stability analysis for retaining walls over 8-feet tall must be performed to determine whether structural or earthwork measures are needed in order to achieve a sufficient factor of safety against slope failure as defined in PFM § 4-0303.8B
- Critical retaining structures as defined in PFM Section 4-0303.8-A.
- If a global stability analysis is required, the analysis will be reviewed by the county chief geotechnical engineer as part of the building plan review process.
- Satisfy the requirements of the Special Inspections Program for the following:
- Walls ten feet and greater in height.
- If problem soil exists per geotechnical report, special inspection of the soil foundation is required, regardless of the retaining wall height.
- As specified by the registered design professional (RDP).
- Per evaluation services report (ESR) of the specified wall system.
- All walls ten feet and greater in height must be submitted with a letter from the geotechnical engineer of record (GER) indicating concurrence of soil parameters used in the design of the retaining walls.
Subsequent Submissions
If corrections are required, you will receive an email with links and instructions to make corrections and resubmit.
- “Issues” are comments from reviewers, which require an applicant response before resubmitting. Please respond to each “open” comment.
- Prior to responding to comments and uploading revised plans/documents, navigate to the “Fees” tab and pay any outstanding resubmission fees.
- Once complete, respond to all “open” issues, upload updated plans and/or documents, if needed, and complete your resubmission.
For further assistance, please refer to the below videos for step-by-step guidance on the resubmission process:
Helpful Videos:
Upload Corrected Plans - YouTube
Helpful Instruction Guides:
What's Next?
To get a step-by-step guide on PLUS statuses and what they mean, see our What is My PLUS Status? Building Plans Infographic.
Review Process
Staff from the Permit Application Center, Health Department (if on well or septic), Building Plan Review, Site Technician Review team, Fire Marshal’s Office, Wastewater and Zoning may review your package for completeness and compliance with the building code and county ordinances. You will be notified of any deficiencies. Plan corrections, resubmission fees and additional supporting documents may be required.
- Queue Times
- Fees
- Workflow Routing Slip to track review and plan assignment
For a detailed summary of application progress, to include the name(s) of assigned review staff, click on “Reports” in the top-right corner of the PLUS screen, when you are in a specific record, and select “Workflow Routing Slip Report.”
Permit Issuance
Once all reviews are approved and fees have been paid, your permit card and approved plans (if applicable) will be available to download from PLUS. You will also receive a link via a PLUS email notification.
Helpful Video:
Approved Plans - YouTube Video
Building Inspections
Once the permit is issued and you begin construction, you are required to obtain inspections from the county for your project. The county must be notified when the stages of construction are reached that require an inspection. For more information, see our inspections webpage.
For retaining walls on residential properties, the approved third party inspector can be used in lieu of the county inspection if the project is not subject to special inspection. Please check the approved third party inspector list.
Helpful Video:
Building Inspections (an overview on how to schedule an inspection) - YouTube Video
