Retaining Walls

Effective date: March 23, 2025

Proposed Rule Full Text
Proposed-Rule-Amendment-of-Rules-Relating-to-Retaining-Walls.pdf

Adopted Rule Full Text
Final-Rule-Amendment-of-Rules-Relating-to-Retaining-Walls.pdf

Adopted rule summary:

The proposed rule amendments will clarify inspection procedures and requirements for documenting retaining wall conditions found during required inspections. They will also establish procedures for notifying the Department and the owner of unsafe conditions and for taking measures to safeguard the public.

In addition, the amendments propose to increase existing civil penalties for failure to file an acceptable report from $1,000 per year to $5,000 per year and for late filing of a report from $250 per month to $1,000 per month. The rule will also establish a new one-time penalty of $2,000 for failure to correct conditions classified as safe with repairs and/or engineering monitoring.

The proposed rule also amends the procedure for requesting civil penalty waivers to conform to the waiver language in similar rules.

Specifically the proposed amendments:
• Establish requirements for photo documentation and mapping of conditions that are unsafe, safe with minor repairs or safe with repairs and/or engineering monitoring.
• Establish guidelines for report filing classifications.
• Clarify the requirements for unsafe and subsequent reports.
• Simplify the process to request a time extension for completing repairs.