Retaining wall permit checklist — Arlington, Texas
Assembled from Arlington’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?
Arlington requires a permit for a retaining wall.
Arlington's Work Exempt from Permitting technical bulletin is the list of items that need no building permit, and retaining walls are on it at a developed height of 4 feet (1219 mm) or less at every point, sized from the footing base up to the wall's highest point. A wall comes back off the list if it carries a surcharge or other imposed load, if it holds back Class I, II or IIIA liquids, or if it sits inside a FEMA floodplain. For tiered walls the bulletin refers the reader to Article 1 of the Construction Chapter.
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Sources
- retaining wall — fee schedule ↗verified August 2026
Other permits Arlington 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 Arlington before you build.