St. George Fence and Block Wall Guide: Permit Fees, Utah Rules and Desert Soils

A free cost and process guide for homeowners in St. George and the rest of Washington County, from Fence Install Pros.

Fences and walls in St. George

Many St. George yards are enclosed with block walls rather than wood or vinyl fences, and walls bring engineering questions that a simple fence does not. Prices depend on length, height, material and soil conditions, and only a contractor can quote them. This guide covers the public costs and rules, and the questions that keep a wall standing.

Permit costs

Ask the City of St. George whether your fence or wall needs a permit; taller walls and retaining walls often do. Where a building permit applies, the city's building fee sheet uses the 1997 Uniform Building Code fee scale: $181.25 for a $10,000 valuation and $321.25 for $20,000, with a minimum building permit of $60.60. When plan check applies, it adds 65% of the building permit fee. The fee sheet also lists swimming pool permits at $200; pool barriers have their own safety rules, so ask the city about them.

Who may build it

Utah law exempts alteration, repair and remodeling work with a contracted value under $7,000, labor and materials included, from contractor licensing. A short fence repair may fall below that; a new block wall usually does not, and the contractor then needs a Utah license.

Soils come first

The Utah Geological Survey's hazard maps for the St. George–Hurricane area cover expansive soil and rock, collapsible soil, gypsiferous soil and rock, caliche and shallow bedrock. Each affects footings:

caliche and shallow bedrock make digging slow and costly;
collapsible and expansive soils move when water reaches them, which cracks walls;
irrigation near a wall can soften soil under its footing.

Ask each contractor how they will size the footing, and whether a soils evaluation or engineering is needed for your wall.

Step-by-step

1. Confirm the property line with a survey. 2. Call Utah's one-call service so utilities are marked. 3. Check permit and HOA rules. 4. Collect quotes on the same layout. 5. Build, then walk the finished wall or fence and test every gate.

Comparing quotes

Ask for footing size and depth, reinforcement, wall height, cap and finish, gates and hardware, drainage weep holes for retaining walls, removal of old fencing and permit.

Keep irrigation away

Point sprinklers away from walls and keep drip lines a few feet back. Water at the base of a wall is the most common cause of settling and cracking on these soils.

Records

Keep the survey, permit, engineering if any, contract and warranty together.

Sources for this guide

The City of St. George's building fee sheet uses the 1997 Uniform Building Code fee scale: $181.25 for a $10,000 valuation, $321.25 for $20,000, $442.25 for $30,000 and $643.75 for $50,000, with a minimum building permit of $60.60 ($60.00 permit plus $0.60 D.O.C.). Source: City of St. George, Building Fee Sheet (1997 UBC fee scale)
Utah law exempts alteration, repair and remodeling work with a contracted value under $7,000, labor and materials included, from contractor licensing; even on those jobs, work on a plumbing or electrical system must be done by an electrical or plumbing contractor holding a Utah license. Source: Utah Code 58-55-305 (version effective May 7, 2025)
The Utah Geological Survey's hazard maps for the St. George–Hurricane area cover expansive soil and rock, collapsible soil, gypsiferous soil and rock, caliche, shallow bedrock, wind-blown sand, breccia pipes and paleokarst, soil piping and erosion, and shallow groundwater. The survey describes the area as one of Utah's fastest-growing regions for more than two decades, and notes that as land well suited for development grows scarce, building has moved into less favorable areas. Source: Utah Geological Survey, Geologic-Hazard and Adverse-Construction-Condition Maps for the St. George–Hurricane Area
St. George's building fee sheet adds a plan check fee of 65% of the building permit fee and a 1% D.O.C. charge on the building permit fee, and lists swimming pool permits at $200. Source: City of St. George, Building Fee Sheet (1997 UBC fee scale)

Sources checked 2026-10-26. Every cost figure on this page comes from a source named above; fees and rules change, so confirm current amounts with the office that sets them before you budget.

More for St. George homeowners: Fencing in St. George, UT.