New Brunswick, NJ Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

The retaining wall fee is item 6 of the Building Subcode Fees in § 15.04.120, part of Chapter 15.04, which adopts the State Uniform Construction Code. The schedule keys the charge to the structure's class and its surface area, not to a printed wall height. A Class 3 structure greater than 550 square feet of surface area costs $150.00, and a Class 3 structure less than 550 square feet costs $100.00. Any other class of structure, at any size of surface area, is billed as an alteration.

The alteration rate is the renovation schedule in the same section: $40 per $1,000 of estimated cost up to $5,000, $25 per $1,000 from $5,001 to $20,000, and $20 per $1,000 above $20,000, with a $100 minimum. Fees are payable to the City of New Brunswick at the central permit office, and a plan change after an application is released costs an additional $60 per hour with a one-hour minimum. Fences over 6 feet appear in the same list at $100.00.

Flood rules add engineering. Chapter 15.36 lists retaining walls among the utility and miscellaneous Group U structures (§ 15.36.170), and in a flood hazard area those structures must be anchored to prevent flotation, collapse or lateral movement up to the local design flood elevation. Under § 15.36.150.E, a retaining wall that involves placement of fill in a floodway must meet § 15.36.060.C.1, which calls for a floodway encroachment analysis signed and sealed by a licensed professional engineer showing that the encroachment will not cause any increase in base flood elevations, and it must also meet N.J.A.C. 7:13. The zoning definitions in Chapter 17.02 describe a bulkhead as a retaining wall behind which fill is placed along a body of water.