Retaining wall permit checklist — Alexandria, Virginia
Assembled from Alexandria’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?
Alexandria requires a permit for a retaining wall.
The Building Plan Submission Checklist for retaining walls states that retaining walls supporting three feet or less of unbalanced fill require no permit or engineering; the city's Permit Requirements page lists retaining walls holding 2 feet or greater of soil among projects requiring a residential permit; the Virginia Construction Code (13VAC5-63-80, Section 108.2) exempts retaining walls supporting less than three feet of unbalanced fill that are not constructed to impound Class I, II or III-A liquids or to support a surcharge other than ordinary unbalanced fill.
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Sources
- retaining wall — permit rules ↗verified August 2026
Other permits Alexandria 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 Alexandria before you build.