Retaining wall permit checklist — Provo, Utah
Assembled from Provo’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?
Provo requires a permit for a retaining wall.
Provo publishes no retaining-wall height threshold of any kind - no four-foot trigger, no surcharge condition, and no exemption. The complete published guidance for retaining walls is two lines directing the applicant to apply for a Public Works permit and to contact Public Works. The only substantive retaining-wall provision found in Provo City Code is 14.34.500(g), which governs what may sit on top of a retaining wall located on a property line: where a retaining wall protects a cut below or a fill above natural grade and is on the line separating lots or properties, it may be topped by a fence, wall or hedge of the same height that would otherwise be permitted at that location if no retaining wall existed. That is a height-measurement rule, not a permit trigger.
Loading the full checklist…
Sources
- retaining wall — permit rules, retaining wall — fee schedule ↗verified August 2026
Other permits Provo 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 Provo before you build.