City Code Section
- A. General. All grading operations for which a permit is required is subject to inspection by the City Administrator. When required by the City Administrator, special inspection of grading operations and special testing must be performed in accordance with the provisions of Subsection 24.70.120 C.
- B. Grading designation. All grading in excess of 5,000 cubic yards must be performed in accordance with the approved grading plan prepared by a civil engineer and must be designated as “engineered grading.” Grading involving less than 5,000 cubic yards may also be designated as “engineered grading” by the City Administrator if the grading will:
- 1. support a building or structure of a permanent nature;
- 2. support other engineering works such as, but not limited to, tanks, towers, machinery, retaining wall, and paving;
- 3. be deemed a potential hazard under Section 24.70.030. The permittee with the approval of the City Administrator may also choose to have the grading performed as “engineered grading.” Otherwise, the grading must be designated as “regular grading.”
- C. Engineered grading requirements. For engineered grading, it is the responsibility of the civil engineer who prepares the approved grading plan to incorporate all recommendations from the soil engineering and engineering geology reports into the grading plan. The civil engineer is also responsible for the professional inspection and approval of the grading within the civil engineer’s area of technical specialty. This responsibility includes, but need not be limited to, inspection and approval as to the establishment of line, grade, and drainage of the development area. The civil engineer must act as the coordinating agent in the event that need arises for liaison between the other professionals, the contractor, and the City Administrator. The civil engineer will also be responsible for the preparation of revised plans and the submission of as-graded grading plans upon completion of the work. The grading contractor must submit in a form prescribed by the City Administrator a statement of compliance to said as-graded plan.
- Soil engineering and engineering geology reports will be required as specified in Section 24.70.050. During grading all necessary reports, compaction data, and soil engineering and engineering geology recommendations must be submitted to the civil engineer and the City Administrator by the soil engineer and the engineering geologist. The soil engineer’s area of responsibility includes, but need not be limited to, the professional inspection and approval concerning the preparation of ground to receive fills, testing for required compaction, stability of all finish slopes, and the design of buttress fills, where required, incorporating data supplied by the engineering geologist.
- The engineering geologist’s area of responsibility includes, but need not be limited to, professional inspection and approval of the adequacy of natural ground for receiving fills and the stability of cut slopes with respect to geological matters, and the need for subdrains or other ground water drainage devices. The engineering geologist must report the findings to the soil engineer and the civil engineer for engineering analysis.
- The City Administrator may inspect the project at the various stages of work requiring approval and at more frequent intervals necessary to determine that adequate control is being exercised by the professional consultants.
- D. Regular grading requirements. The City Administrator may require inspection and testing by an approved testing agency. The testing agency’s responsibility includes, but need not be limited to, approval concerning the inspection of cleared areas and benches to receive fill, and the compaction of fills. When the City Administrator has cause to believe that geological factors may be involved the grading operation will be required to conform to “engineered grading” requirements.
- E. Notification of noncompliance. If, in the course of fulfilling their responsibility under this Chapter, the civil engineer, the soil engineer, the engineering geologist, or the testing agency finds that the work is not being done in conformity with this Chapter or the approved grading plans, the discrepancies must be reported immediately in writing to the person in charge of the grading work and to the City Administrator. Recommendations for corrective measures, if necessary, must be submitted.
- F. Transfer of responsibility for approval. If the civil engineer, the soil engineer, the engineering geologist, or the testing agency of record are changed during the course of the work, the work must be stopped until the replacement has agreed to accept the responsibility within the area of their technical competence for approval upon completion of the work.