What Do I Need To Do If My Retaining Wall Needs Approvals / Engineering?

The construction of a complex retaining wall may seem overwhelming at first. Therefore I want to share a quick overview of how to identify if your wall needs engineering or council approvals and the process (which isn’t as scary as it first seems).

Supreme Sandstones Checklist For Engineered Walls:
- Is there any underground services where the retaining wall will be situated?
- Is this retaining wall 2.5m of an easement?
- Is this wall within 1m of a side/back boundary OR 1m within the front boundary? (Please check with your local council for clarification, as new home estates/councils vary slightly)
- Is this wall going to be supporting something other than fill? (e.g a car space, pool or house)
- Is this wall exceeding 600mmin height? (Please check your council rules for clarification – NSW heights listed)
- Does this retaining wall have the potential to affect neighbouring properties?

Once we’ve completed our routine checklist and if the answer is yes to any of the above, we will require a structural engineer. If you’re looking for an engineer - click on our ‘contact’ section of our website & scroll down to gain our engineers contact details. Supreme Sandstone offers a ‘One stop shop’ where we engage our regular structural engineers for you. The engineers will more than likely need to come to the site to assess the area and will require any site plans for specific offsets and underground service locations.

After we have received a copy of the Engineered plans, we can then provide an accurate quote. Many clients request we come to the site first to provide a quote which can not be done, because the engineers will specify specific materials to be used which can affect the price. Though we can come to site to assist with the layout.

Once we have the plans, a quote and all the parties have agreed upon works, we have the option of council approvals or private certifying. The option between council or private certifying will be determined on your individual project, which your engineer and/or structural landscaper will know which avenue you can choose.

We now have:
- Engineered plans
- A detailed quote with accurate pricing
- All approvals required

The next step is ensuring you have received a formal works contract from your structural landscaper/ builder. Please see our educational blog on “who can build a retaining wall” if you require more details on what is involved in the formal contract process.

There you have it! It can be a struggle to engage multiple companies to piece your project together as a whole. Therefore we have access to both engineers and private certifiers within our company to eliminate this challenge.

We hope you have learnt something new in this week’s blog! Follow us on Instagram supreme_sandstone for more educational posts and project updates.

Please remember if you are constructing a sandstone retaining wall or using stone for other building projects, your stone needs to be installed by a qualified licenced contractor. This is important so that your projects holds warranty, is built to code and will stand the test of time as pointed out above. You can look-up your contaractor using the following link:
https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/check-builder-or-tradesperson-licence

*Special mention - (as specified above) - each new housing development and council area may have different offset rules (how close you can build to your boundary line, house or neighbouring property). We encourage clients to reach out to their local council to ensure you have the correct information moving forward for construction.