Pierce County wall, fill, and approach rules
Pierce County’s retaining wall handout sets the first screen. Walls under two feet are exempt. Walls over four feet need a permit whether or not they carry a surcharge. A wall four feet or shorter needs no permit provided no surcharge sits inside the 45-degree line drawn from the footing’s bottom, and height runs from that same footing. The handout reads two ways for surcharged walls between two and four feet, so the county confirms that case. Under the state rule a retaining wall is exempt if it stays not over four feet and carries no surcharge, while a walk or driveway is exempt at no more than 30 inches above grade with no basement or story underneath. Grading or fill that exceeds 50 cubic yards outside critical areas triggers a site development permit. Connections to county roads go through County Engineer sign-off, and work within the county right-of-way is approved by Planning and Public Works. Stormwater review follows the county’s stormwater manual, and the county confirms the threshold for each lot.
Nearby, we also build in Spanaway, Bonney Lake, Puyallup, and Tacoma, and we serve the rest of western Washington.