How To Build A Fence – Building codes and permits

by Gwyer Maitland

Local building codes can determine a lot about how to build a fence.

For example: Suppose you are on a corner lot, you may have specific height restrictions that are legitimate. If it’s too high when you’re finished, it may
restrict the field of vision of passing motorists which can increase the likelihood of accidents and be a safety issue for kids playing in the neighborhood or pedestrians passing by.

On my first house, I had a neighbor who said he would file a complaint if I built the fence in front of my house over 4 feet because he said it would block his view. It irritated me that he was telling me what to do with my house and I had a male dog who could jump higher than four feet who liked to roam.

Because of my lack of experience at that time, I wasn’t really considering his point of view fairly.

In retrospect, he was right.

A higher fence would have made getting out of his driveway trickier because he wouldn’t have been able to see to the end of the block and watch oncoming traffic as he backed out of his driveway.

How You Build Your Fence Can Create Poor Curb Appeal

From an aesthetic point of view and curb appeal perspective, a 6 foot fence would have impacted the subsequent resale of my house negatively. I ended up building an attractive redwood picket fence about 3 ½ feet high, with a trellised gate and bamboo decorated entry point. This highlighted the garden and the front of the house instead of hiding it.

By the way this was my first fence ever - and although it took me about a week to complete a few hours at a time – and even though I did not use a formal design, it really came out nice.

Side Note: About 26 years later, I visited my old stomping grounds and looked at the old house. The fence is still there, although the pass through trellis had been removed. Just goes to show that if you build them right, a fence can actually become a classic. I wonder if it takes 30 years for a fence to be considered a classic – like a car, maybe 26 years qualifies…

Building Codes

Building codes also determine things like set back requirements – like how close to the curb you can set your fence posts or how far away from your neighbor’s garage you need to be.

There may also specific restrictions regarding what percentage of the area of the property can be developed and built upon and in some municipalities that includes fences.

More than likely there are covenant restrictions attached to the title of the property if you live in a development which means the covenants determine exactly how to build a fence

Building Permit

Depending on the size of the fence you want to build and the local codes where you live, you may have to get a permit prior to building your fence and this may have a direct impact on how to build a fence.

If the permit is required, it’s cheaper and faster to pull a permit in many cases than having to take the fence out or reconstruct it if a building inspector red flags your work. This often happens because one of the neighbors has nothing better to do than call the city to complain - like Gladys Cravitz on Bewitched.

Even though building departments and inspectors can be a pain, I have found that you can actually get a lot of help from them and most of the regulations actually have a purpose. Take some time and pick their brains about details. Many of these people have a lot of experience and are full of good ideas.

Use the municipalities as a resource, before you decide how to build a fence on your property even if you don't need a permit.