Oakland Municipal Code 15.04.3.2.065 CBC Chapter 18B prohibits the disturbance of soil during the rainy season. Permittees shall not undertake any grading work without the approval of the building official.
Permittees shall also have their site specific best site management practices (BMPs) in place to ensure that there is no soil discharge onto the street or that no landslides occur on the site.
Approval for grading work is normally not granted during the wet season except for emergency stabilization. An Alternate Material and Methods Request (AMR) must be submitted to request grading during the moratorium. AMR applicant must provide compelling reasons why grading needs to be performed during the wet weather season. This will involve obtaining a letter from their geotechnical engineers with specific recommendations about grading during the wet weather season. Shoring plans and calculations shall be submitted to prevent undermining adjoining buildings, sidewalks, and roadway sections. A schedule of the entire project must be submitted, and the construction management plans must specifically address any grading to be performed during the wet weather season, including close monitoring by the Engineer-in-charge.
Note that site conditions, topography, and demonstrated positive experience conducting grading work within the City of Oakland will be also reviewed to determine if an applicant can conduct grading work during the moratorium.