Civil Engineering for Land Development in Utah.
We work with developers, architects, and landowners on civil engineering across Utah, from Wasatch Front infill and Silicon Slopes growth to bench development against the mountains and desert sites in the southwest. Paul is a licensed Utah PE.
Licensed Professional Engineer in Utah, Minnesota, Colorado, and North Dakota. The engineer designing your project is the same engineer answering your call.
(612) 567-2154 →How stormwater is regulated in Utah.
Utah splits construction stormwater into two permits rather than one, and layers a three-tier municipal structure on top. Which combination applies to your site changes both the cost and who reviews the plan.
The Construction General Permit UTRC00000 covers disturbance of an acre or more. A separate Common Plan Permit covers an acre or less on a single residential lot, at $150 a year. Most states run one permit with a common-plan clause, so this catches out-of-state teams.
Salt Lake City holds its own individual MS4 permit, UTS000002. Salt Lake County valley cities share the municipalities permit UTS000001. Everywhere else falls under the small MS4 general permit UTR090000. UDOT holds UTS000003 for the state system.
Construction between one and five acres with an R factor under 5 can qualify for a Low Erosivity Waiver at $100 for the project, instead of full permit coverage. On the right site that is a real saving, and it is routinely missed.
Who reviews a Utah project.
A land development project in Utah moves through city, county, and state review, with geologic hazard review layered in along the Wasatch Front. We coordinate the full stack and prepare the submittals.
Stormwater and drainage review, grading, utilities, and right-of-way. Several Utah cities set thresholds below the state acre and require their own discharge permit, so city review often starts earlier than people expect.
Plat, zoning, conditional use, and site plan review. Preliminary and final plat move through the commission alongside engineering review.
Construction stormwater coverage under UTRC00000 or the Common Plan Permit, the Low Erosivity Waiver, and the Notice of Termination at final stabilization. Applications run through NeT CGP on EPA's Central Data Exchange rather than a state portal.
Access and drainage permits on the interstate and state highway system. UDOT is itself an MS4 permittee under UTS000003, so its own stormwater requirements apply to work in state right-of-way.
Zoning and subdivision review outside city limits, plus county road access. Salt Lake County, Utah County, Weber County, and Washington County each run their own engineering standards.
Along the Wasatch Front, surface fault rupture and liquefaction studies are a condition of approval in many cities. Those reports come from a qualified engineering geologist, and the civil design has to be built around their findings rather than the other way around.
What is different about engineering in Utah.
Utah sites carry constraints that do not exist in the Midwest, and several of them decide the layout before drainage is even considered.
- •A fault setback can remove buildable area outright. Wasatch Front cities require surface fault rupture studies on sites in mapped fault zones, and a fault setback is a band on either side of the trace where structures for human occupancy are not permitted. That is not a design problem you engineer around, it is land you cannot build on, and it belongs in due diligence.
- •Liquefaction studies gate approval. Many cities require a site-specific liquefaction investigation based on a land use and liquefaction potential matrix, with residential in the IRC R-3 category typically exempt. Along the valley floor and near the Great Salt Lake this is routine rather than exceptional.
- •Two water systems, not one. Much of Utah runs a pressurized secondary irrigation system alongside culinary water. That is a second pipe network to design, separate, and protect, and cities have specific rules about crossings and materials. An out-of-state utility plan usually does not account for it at all.
- •Coverage expires annually, and can lapse permanently. Utah coverage is active for one year and has to be renewed annually until termination. Renewal can be filed up to 30 days before expiration, with a 60-day grace period after. Once that grace period closes the permit cannot be renewed, and the site is operating without a permit until a new Notice of Intent is filed.
- •City thresholds sit below the state acre. Salt Lake City requires a city discharge permit above a quarter acre of disturbance, a quarter of the state trigger. Assuming the one-acre state threshold is the only threshold is a straightforward way to start work without the right permit.
- •Detention rules swing hard between cities. Provo caps most development at 0.2 cfs per acre. Lehi requires detention on every development including the upstream drainage entering it. St. George often requires no storage at all next to a major wash. A design that cleared one Utah city can be wrong in the next.
Utah cities and what changes in each one.
Utah runs a three-tier MS4 structure, so the rules on your site depend on which permit your city sits under and what it has layered on top. These pages cover the differences.
Its own MS4 permit, a quarter-acre city threshold, and a 3-hour 100-year retention design storm.
Jordan Valley MS4, low impact development standards, and pocket ponds under a long-term agreement.
Detention on every development, upstream drainage included, and a pressurized irrigation system.
A 0.2 cfs per acre discharge cap, a 10-year design storm, and high water table standards.
Storm Water Design Manual, 24-hour drawdown, and a 1 percent minimum basin slope.
Desert hydrology, wash-adjacent sites with no storage requirement, and annual owner inspections.
We take projects in other Utah cities and in unincorporated county land as well. Call and describe the site, and we will confirm which permit and which reviewer actually applies before any design starts.
Common questions about civil engineering in Utah.
Are you licensed to practice in Utah?
Yes. Paul Wallick is a licensed Professional Engineer in Utah, along with Minnesota, Colorado, and North Dakota. Utah cities require drawings to be sealed by an engineer licensed in the state, and several put it directly in their design standards. Lehi, for example, requires the drainage plan to be stamped and signed by a Registered Professional Engineer licensed within the State of Utah.
When do I need a Utah construction stormwater permit?
When the project disturbs an acre or more, which puts you on the Construction General Permit UTRC00000. Non-residential disturbance under an acre that is part of a common plan of development goes on the same permit. A disturbance of an acre or less on a single residential lot goes on the separate Common Plan Permit instead, at $150 a year. The SWPPP is prepared before you apply, and the Notice of Intent is filed through NeT CGP.
What is the Low Erosivity Waiver and do I qualify?
It is a waiver for construction between one and five acres with an R factor under 5, taken from the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, which in practice means short projects during low-erosivity periods. The fee is $100 for the qualifying project and the waiver runs from the project start date to the end date on the application. EPA publishes a calculator for the R factor. It is worth checking on any small site before paying for full permit coverage.
Which MS4 permit covers my city?
Salt Lake City holds an individual permit, UTS000002. Salt Lake County valley municipalities are co-permittees on UTS000001. Everywhere else in Utah falls under the small MS4 general permit UTR090000. UDOT holds UTS000003 for the state highway system. Which one applies determines whose standards your post-construction design has to meet, so it is the first thing to confirm.
Do I need a geologic hazard study?
Along the Wasatch Front, often yes. Cities require surface fault rupture studies on sites within mapped fault zones and liquefaction investigations based on a land use and liquefaction potential matrix. Those reports are produced by a qualified engineering geologist rather than by us, but the findings drive the site layout, so we want them early rather than after a plan is drawn.
How do your fees compare to the large regional firms?
Meaningfully lower, for the same senior engineer. There is no project manager layer, no junior engineer learning on your project, and no big-firm overhead in the rate. You get a fixed fee for a defined scope rather than an open hourly meter.
Working on a Utah project?
Tell us about the site. You will get a same-business-day response from Paul, with a real read on the civil scope, the regulatory path, and the likely permitting timeline.