Kansas Engineering and Permit Requirements

The Kansas Residential Code 2018 (IRC 2018) states:

R404.4 Retaining Walls

Retaining walls that are not laterally supported at the top and that retain in excess of 48 inches (1219 mm) of unbalanced fill, or retaining walls exceeding 24 inches (610 mm) in height that resist lateral loads in addition to soil, shall be designed in accordance with accepted engineering practice to ensure stability against overturning, sliding, excessive foundation pressure and water uplift. Retaining walls shall be designed for a safety factor of 1.5 against lateral sliding and overturning. This section shall not apply to foundation walls supporting buildings.

Any wall over 4-ft or any wall over 2-ft supporting a surcharge requires engineering. DIY Retaining Wall provides engineering services in Kansas.

The frost depth is 12″ in the state of Kansas. Concrete walls with a poured concrete footing must extend to the frost depth, while SRW walls do not need embedment that exceeds the frost depth.