Redondo Beach, CA Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)
Key Facts
- Wood fence permit exemption
- up to 6 ft, if not retaining earth
- Masonry fence permit exemption
- up to 5 ft, if not retaining earth
- Earth-retaining wall
- always needs a permit, any height
- Fees
- separate plan review + grading permit fee
- Seismic rule
- no wood walls in Category D, E, F
- Governing code
- 2025 CBC as amended, Ord. 3307-25
Summary
A wall in Redondo Beach that holds back earth needs a building permit no matter how short it is. The city's amended Building Code lets a plain wood fence up to 6 feet or a masonry fence up to 5 feet go up without a permit, but that exemption disappears the moment the structure is built on a slope or retains soil.
Section [A] 105.2 Work Exempt from Permit, Items 1, 2, 9, of the California Building Code are hereby amended to read as follows: ... 2. ... Wood fences not exceeding 6 feet (1,829 mm) in height including concrete or masonry pilasters unless fence is built on slope and retains earth, and masonry and concrete fences that are not over 5 feet (1,524 mm) in height unless built on a slope or retaining earth.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4889554; v14 updated 2026-05-12).
Full Breakdown
2) for local conditions. " Once a wall's job is to hold back soil rather than just enclose a yard, the height-based exemption no longer applies and a permit from the Building Official is required regardless of how low the wall is. 09, Grading permits and fees, confirms retaining walls are treated as their own line item: subsection (b) states a plan review fee applies when plans are submitted, set under the current Master Fee Schedule, and that "[s]eparate plan review fees shall apply to retaining walls or major drainage structures as required elsewhere in this Code," and subsection (c) applies the same separate-fee treatment to the grading permit itself.
" These three provisions were most recently carried forward by Ord. , effective January 1, 2026, adopting the 2025 California Building Code with Redondo Beach's local amendments. Together they mean an earth-retaining wall triggers building-permit review, its own plan-review and permit fee on top of any grading permit, and design under the CBC's retaining-wall engineering sections, none of which a simple property-line fence has to meet.
Violations & Fines
Building or maintaining an unpermitted retaining wall is a Municipal Code violation under the general penalty section, § 1-2.01, which makes any failure to comply with the Code a misdemeanor unless charged as an infraction, with each day the violation continues counted as a separate offense. The Building Official can require plans, a plan review fee and a grading or building permit before work proceeds, and unpermitted or noncompliant retaining wall construction can be red-tagged pending correction and fee payment under the Master Fee Schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a short retaining wall in Redondo Beach need a permit?
Are there separate fees for a retaining wall?
Can a Redondo Beach retaining wall be built of wood?
What happens if I build a retaining wall without a permit?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Redondo Beach
California rules heatmap·Compare Redondo Beach to another location·View the California fence regulations overview
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Retaining Walls in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Los Angeles County handle retaining walls.