Cumberland County does not issue building permits. Retaining walls are regulated municipally through the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC, 25 MRS § 2451), which adopts the 2021 IRC — generally requiring a permit and engineered design when the wall retains over 4 feet of unbalanced fill or supports a surcharge.
There is no county code of ordinances in Cumberland County, and the county does not issue building permits. Every Cumberland County municipality exceeds the 4,000-population threshold and is therefore mandated to enforce MUBEC under 25 MRS § 2451. MUBEC incorporates the 2021 International Residential Code (IRC), which under IRC R404 (foundation walls/retaining walls) and IRC R401.4 generally requires a building permit and engineered design for any retaining wall that retains more than 4 feet of unbalanced backfill measured from bottom of footing to top of wall, or that supports a surcharge (driveway, structure, slope above). Walls in the shoreland-zone overlay (within 250 feet of great ponds, rivers, tidal waters, or freshwater wetlands) trigger 38 MRS § 435 review at the municipal level — even small walls can require a permit if they affect grade in the 75-foot buffer. Municipal code-enforcement officers issue retaining-wall permits; Portland, South Portland, Westbrook, Scarborough, and Brunswick all publish online permit applications.
Enforced at the municipal level by the local code-enforcement officer (CEO) under 30-A MRS § 4452, which authorizes civil penalties of $100 to $2,500 per day for general land-use violations and $100 to $25,000 per day for shoreland-zoning violations, plus stop-work orders. Engineering, removal, or reconstruction may be required.
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