Retaining wall permit checklist — Anchorage, Alaska
Assembled from Anchorage’s own published permit rules. Every line below is quoted from a city document and linked to it. Nothing here is generated, estimated, or inferred from another jurisdiction.
Do you need a permit?
Anchorage requires a permit for a retaining wall.
AMC 23.10.104.2.1, item D, lets a standalone retaining wall go up without a building permit. Two dimensions govern: the retained height — footing base up to where the held soil meets the wall face — must come in at 4 feet or under, and no more than one foot of wall may stick up past that soil. Terraced walls that together exceed 4 feet still qualify, provided the gap between the lower wall's back face and the upper wall's front face measures more than twice the soil height the lower wall retains. Items on the building permit exemption list still draw separate plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits unless the code exempts those too.
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Sources
- retaining wall — permit rules ↗verified August 2026
Other permits Anchorage publishes rules for
Listed because the city publishes a separate rule for each type — not because this project necessarily triggers one. Whether it does depends on your scope of work.
- Deck permit checklist
- Fence permit checklist
- Shed permit checklist
- Water heater permit checklist
- Re-roof permit checklist
- Electrical work permit checklist
- General building work permit checklist
BuildSpec is a reference, not the authority having jurisdiction. Confirm requirements with Anchorage before you build.