Most homeowners never see what happens between a design sketch and a finished retaining wall. They see a quote, then a crew, then a finished structure. What they don’t see is the review step in between, the point where a design gets checked against real soil conditions, seismic requirements, and code before a single block gets set.
We think that step is the difference between a wall that holds up for decades and one that looks fine for a few years before something goes wrong underground where nobody can see it. This article walks through what our review process actually involves, and why we treat it as a required step on every structural project, not an optional upgrade.
Why a Design Needs a Review at All
A masonry crew can build almost anything you draw for them. The question a review answers isn’t “can this be built,” it’s “will this specific wall, on this specific slope, in this specific soil, hold up against the lateral forces it will actually face.” That includes hydrostatic pressure from seasonal rain, seismic loading specific to Southern California, and surcharge loads from anything sitting above the wall, like a driveway or a neighboring structure.
Skipping that check doesn’t save time in any way that matters. It just moves the risk from the design phase, where it’s cheap to catch, to the years after construction, where it shows up as cracking, leaning, or drainage failure. It’s the same reason we walk through the full structural picture in our retaining wall services before ever quoting a fixed price.
What Gets Reviewed on Every Structural Project
The review covers the same core categories on every project, whether it’s a new hillside wall or a repair to an existing one:
- Soil and slope conditions: the grade, soil type, and drainage pattern behind and beneath the proposed wall.
- Wall height and loading: whether the design accounts for the full lateral earth pressure and any surcharge load above the wall, not just its own weight.
- Seismic requirements: California-specific lateral force calculations required for the region and soil class.
- Drainage design: weep holes, gravel backfill, and drainage pipe sizing, since drainage failure is the single most common cause of the early wall failures we’re called out to repair.
- Code and permit alignment: whether the design, as drawn, meets LADBS requirements for the wall’s height and site conditions.
None of these categories exist in isolation. A change in soil type can change the seismic calculation, which can change the footing size, which can change whether the project needs a permit at all, so the review looks at the whole picture rather than checking boxes independently.
Who Does the Reviewing
On any project that legally requires structural calculations, we bring in a licensed structural engineer as part of our design-build process, rather than treating the engineering relationship as a separate step the homeowner has to manage themselves. The engineer reviews the design against the site’s specific soil and slope conditions and either stamps the plans as submitted or requires changes before we move forward. Engineers practicing in this field are licensed and, in many cases, active members of professional bodies like the Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC), which maintains standards for the profession referenced throughout this process.
Backed by four generations of master craftsmanship and operating under CSLB License #1002003 (C-29 Masonry classification) along with approximately 5 additional trade licenses, our team oversees the construction side of that relationship on every project, coordinating between the engineer’s requirements and what actually gets built in the field so nothing gets lost in translation between the plan set and the jobsite.
What This Looks Like on a Real Project
On a hillside retaining wall project, for example, the review process typically means the engineer calculates the expected soil pressure and seismic load for that specific slope, specifies the footing depth and reinforcement needed to resist it, and confirms the drainage design will actually move water away from the structure rather than trapping it. Regional seismic hazard data, including maps maintained by the California Geological Survey, informs how those calculations are applied across different parts of Los Angeles.
Only once that’s finalized does construction begin, and any field condition that doesn’t match the original assumptions, like unexpected rock or a spring, goes back to the engineer rather than getting handled as a judgment call on-site. That’s the same standard we apply on our hillside retaining wall projects, where slope and soil conditions can vary significantly within a few feet.
Why This Matters for a Homeowner Who Isn’t an Engineer
You don’t need to understand lateral earth pressure calculations to benefit from this process. What it means in practice is that the wall on your property was checked against your actual site conditions by someone qualified to catch a problem before it’s built into the structure, not after.
It also means the project has a paper trail, stamped plans and a permit, that protects your home’s value and your liability if the wall is ever questioned during a sale or after a storm. That paper trail matters for the same reason it’s worth confirming who is actually licensed to do the work before signing a contract in the first place.
About the Author: This article was written by the team at DiBara Masonry, bringing four generations of master craftsmanship to every project as holders of CSLB License #1002003 (C-29 Masonry) alongside about 5 additional trade licenses. Our team oversees coordination between construction crews and the licensed structural engineers involved in every permitted project, ensuring designs are field-verified from groundbreaking to final inspection. Learn more about our team.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Smaller, non-structural work often doesn’t require one. But any retaining wall over 4 feet in height, or a shorter wall supporting a surcharge load like a driveway or slope, generally requires a formal engineering review and a permit under Los Angeles building code.
It varies by project complexity and current permit review times, but it’s built into our standard project schedule rather than treated as an unplanned delay, since we start that process at the same time as the initial design rather than after.
For any wall that legally requires it, no, that work cannot be permitted without stamped plans. Even where it isn’t strictly required by code, we recommend it for any wall over a few feet in height, since a design mistake is far more expensive to fix after the wall is built than to catch in review.
A properly engineered, permitted, and correctly built wall failing from a design or engineering error is rare, and liability in that scenario would generally sit with whoever was responsible for that specific failure point. It’s a separate question from a wall that fails due to a missed maintenance issue, like a clogged drain, after construction is complete.
Yes. As the property owner, you should keep a copy of the stamped plans and the final permit for your records, both for resale value and in case the structure is ever reviewed again in the future.
It’s the sideways force soil exerts against a wall as it tries to move downhill or settle. Height, soil type, and moisture all change how much force a wall has to resist, which is exactly what the engineering review calculates before construction, rather than after.
On any project that legally requires structural calculations, we bring in a licensed structural engineer as part of our design-build process, so you aren’t left coordinating a separate vendor relationship or wondering where responsibility sits if a question comes up later.
Any field condition that doesn’t match the original assumptions, like unexpected rock or a spring, goes back to the engineer rather than getting handled as a judgment call on-site. That’s exactly the kind of decision the review process exists to protect.
No. A home inspection is a general visual assessment, typically done at time of sale. A structural review is a calculation-based engineering check performed before construction, specific to the loads, soil, and code requirements of that one project.
The scope of the review scales with the project. A minor drainage retrofit doesn’t need the same structural calculations as a new hillside wall, but any repair that touches the wall’s structural integrity, like a footing extension, gets the same soil-and-load review before we proceed.
