It is that time of the month again when we share with all of you some of our knowledge on a topic that a number of you have asked for more information on. This month, our topic is: Retaining Walls and why counties such as Cobb County have permitting and engineering regulations above a certain height.
On the surface you may think that stone walls are a basic, straightforward subject that are not worthy of an entire article dedicated to it. In fact, depending upon which county you live in Georgia – here in Cobb County being one of those – you must take into account whether your wall requires to be permitted and/or engineering. And then what if you are trying to build a free-standing wall vs. a wall that is built with block and then faced with stone (considered a true retaining wall).
The point is, you can not just plan and build a wall, even on your property, without taking these important questions into consideration. Here in Cobb County, you must get permits and engineering for any retaining wall over 3 feet high. If you don’t, they can tell you to tear it down, and you are required to abide by their request.
How about other counties in the state of Georgia? Here is a comprehensive list of each county, their requirements on permitting and engineering of retaining walls, and the phone number for either the city, county or in some cases that county’s building inspector:
https://www.retainingwallcompanies.com/guidelines/ga.html
The question becomes: why do places like Cobb County require permitting and engineering on any retaining walls in the first place? Here is their reasoning: the reason why is that even though it is an added cost, they actually have forensic engineers that can go out if a wall fails and determine if it was built to spec. If the plans were wrong or the wall wasn’t built to spec, it takes you the homeowner out of the equation of responsibility.
In reality these requirements are a wise insurance plan to have. Why? Because even if the wall fails after you have moved to another home you would still be responsible for any damages, monetarily from the failure if you did not follow the counties’ regulations. The regulations actually help to protect you.
For more helpful information on retaining walls, free-standing walls, permitting, engineering and all other stone and landscaping materials and projects you have, come on into Stone Distributors and our knowledgeable people will be happy to help. We have a large variety of different types of Flagstone, Fieldstone, garden boulders, stones and other landscaping materials available.
Contact us at (678) 354-0566 or by visiting us online at https://www.stonedist.com or on our Stone Distributors Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/stonedist/. We are open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; closed on Sundays.
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