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Redding · Building on your lot

Grading and erosion control in Redding

Redding's own rules on grading and erosion control, with the code text for every value.

Each rule below links to the section of the Redding Municipal Code it was read from, with the code text one click away (checked October 2026). General information, not legal advice.

What Redding's code says

Redding code What Redding's code adds
When a grading permit is needed
  • You need a grading permit for more than 50 cubic yards.
    Also for digs over 3 feet, cuts over 4 feet steeper than 2:1, drainage changes; always within 50 feet of seasonal streams or 100-year floodplain.
    § 16.12.050 · code text
    Does not exceed fifty cubic yards of earth material;
Grading without a permit
  • Excavation: up to fifty cubic yards, up to three feet vertical depth, no cut slope that is both higher than four feet and steeper than two horizontal to one vertical, with no drainage-pattern change; fill: up to fifty cubic yards, less than three feet vertical depth, on natural terrain flatter than five horizontal to one vertical, not supporting structures and with no drainage-pattern change.
    Applies: Not within fifty feet of a seasonal watercourse or in the one-hundred-year floodplain (a permit is always needed there)
    § 16.12.050 · code text
    An excavation which: a. Does not exceed fifty cubic yards of earth material; b. Does not exceed three feet in vertical depth at its deepest point measured from the original ground surface; c. Does not create a cut slope greater than four feet in height and steeper than two horizontal to one vertical; and d. Does not change the existing drainage pattern.
  • Exempt: digging for basements, footings, pools, retaining walls or other structures with a valid building permit.
    Applies: Fill made from the dug soil, or a dig left over 4 feet high and unsupported, is not exempt.
    § 16.12.050 · code text
    An excavation below finished grade for basements and footings of a building or for a swimming pool, retaining wall, or other structure authorized by a valid building permit.

Who this affects

HomeownersContractorsDesigners

Frequently asked questions

What are the grading rules in Redding?

Redding's code: You need a grading permit for more than 50 cubic yards. (Also for digs over 3 feet, cuts over 4 feet steeper than 2:1, drainage changes; always within 50 feet of seasonal streams or 100-year floodplain.) (§ 16.12.050); Excavation: up to fifty cubic yards, up to three feet vertical depth, no cut slope that is both higher than four feet and steeper than two horizontal to one vertical, with no drainage-pattern change; fill: up to fifty cubic yards, less than three feet vertical depth, on natural terrain flatter than five horizontal to one vertical, not supporting structures and with no drainage-pattern change. (Not within fifty feet of a seasonal watercourse or in the one-hundred-year floodplain (a permit is always needed there)) (§ 16.12.050).

General information, not legal advice.

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