Fence laws in Daly City, California
What the Daly City municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Daly City sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Daly City, California, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Daly City describes the public right of way as the strip of lawn behind the sidewalk, running anywhere from zero to twelve feet back or as far as the water meter, and holding the gas, electric, water and sewer lines. The figure is 12 feet, for how far behind the sidewalk the city easement can reach.
- How tall
- Daly City runs six feet in side and rear yards and three feet in any required front yard, in every zoning district, and the answer turns on which yard the fence is in, and how far it stands from a street corner. The figure is 6 feet, for fence height in a side or rear yard.
- Permits
- A fence of six feet or less in Daly City needs no building permit, which lines the permit up exactly with the height limit for a side or rear yard. The figure is 6 feet, for fence height below which no building permit is required.
- Pool barriers
- A pool fence in California stands at least sixty inches high. The figure is 60 inches, for minimum height of a pool enclosure.
- Spite fences
- A fence standing in a utility easement in Daly City can be taken out by the utility company to reach its equipment, and the handout states that putting it back is the owner’s expense. It reaches fences and retaining walls standing in a utility easement only.
- Measured from what
- Daly City measures from the highest ground level adjoining the fence on either side.
- Corner lots
- California writes no clear view triangle into state law. It reaches the right of way of a state highway, whether or not the whole width is paved only.
- Retaining walls
- Daly City draws its retaining wall line at forty eight inches from the bottom of the footing, and the answer turns on the height from the bottom of the footing, and what the wall is holding back. The figure is 48 inches, for retaining wall height from the bottom of the footing.
- Materials
- California sets a wire standard for a lawful fence in grazing counties. The figure is 3 strands, for barbed wires in a lawful wire fence. It reaches lawful fences in grazing counties only.
- Livestock
- California calls a fence lawful when it is strong enough to keep livestock from getting in or out. The figure is 4 feet, for height of the top wire on a lawful wire fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Daly City?
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Daly City answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Daly City describes the public right of way as the strip of lawn behind the sidewalk, running anywhere from zero to twelve feet back or as far as the water meter, and holding the gas, electric, water and sewer lines. Building a fence or retaining wall over a city easement or in the right of way takes an encroachment permit from Public Works. Twelve feet is deep enough that a fence built where the lawn appears to end can sit well inside it.
The City easement or in the public right-of-way (the street) is a strip of lawn behind the sidewalk which may be between zero and twelve feet (12') from the back of the sidewalk or before the water meter.
Daly City Municipal Code 17.40.020
12 fthow far behind the sidewalk the city easement can reach
Also on fences on the property line in Daly City
- set in state lawTwo neighbors split the cost of a fence on the line in California. The law starts from the idea that both get the same benefit from it, so both owe the same share of building it, keeping it up and replacing it. A neighbor about to spend that money gives the other one thirty days written notice first. Either neighbor can show the even split is wrong, and a court can then order less than half or nothing at all. Civ. Code 841California · Statute
- set in state lawThe notice has to say six things: that the law starts from an even split, what is wrong with the fence now, what is planned instead, what it is expected to cost, how the cost gets shared, and when the work happens. Civ. Code 841(b)(1)California · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Daly City?
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Daly City answers this, but the answer changes depending on which yard the fence is in, and how far it stands from a street corner.
Daly City runs six feet in side and rear yards and three feet in any required front yard, in every zoning district. The corner rule is the distinctive one: three feet applies within thirty five feet of the street corner on a corner lot, measured as a distance from the corner rather than as a triangle drawn along two curb lines. On a corner lot that turns the low fence zone into a quarter circle, and thirty five feet is a long reach.
Fences in all zoning districts shall not exceed six feet (6’) in height in side and rear yards and shall not exceed three feet (3') in height in any required front yard or within thirty-five feet (35') of the street corner on any corner lot.
Daly City Municipal Code 17.40.020
The answer turns on which yard the fence is in, and how far it stands from a street corner.
- in a side or rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- in any required front yard
- Three feet. 3 ft
- within thirty five feet of the street corner on a corner lot
- Three feet, measured as a distance from the corner itself. 35 ft
Also on fence height in Daly City
- no rule, documents checkedCalifornia sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. Cities and counties write that in their zoning codes and the answer changes a lot from one town to the next. The one height in state law is the ten feet in the spite fence rule, and that only matters when the fence was put up to annoy a neighbor. It is not a building limit. Civ. Code 841California · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Daly City?
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Daly City answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A fence of six feet or less in Daly City needs no building permit, which lines the permit up exactly with the height limit for a side or rear yard. The city adds one condition that applies whatever the height: any fence or wall extending into the front yard has to be approved for visibility to oncoming traffic and for clearance to fire hydrants, gas and water valves and utility boxes.
The construction and installation of fences that is six feet (6') high or less does not require a building permit.
Daly City Municipal Code 17.40.020
6 ftfence height below which no building permit is required
Also on permits in Daly City
- set in state lawCalifornia does not write its own building code from scratch. Section 17922 adopts Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations and requires it to ask for much the same things as the International Building Code and the International Residential Code, with state additions and cuts. So the permit rule for a fence starts out as outside code text that California then edits. Health & Saf. Code 17922California · Statute
- set in state lawA California city or county can make the statewide building code stricter, but not quietly. Section 17958.7 makes the city council say in writing why each change is needed because of local weather, ground or land shape. That finding goes to the California Building Standards Commission, and the change does nothing until it is filed. The finding is a public record, which is why a local permit line can sit well below the statewide one. Health & Saf. Code 17958.7California · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Daly City
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California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A pool fence in California stands at least sixty inches high. No more than two inches may be left between the ground and the bottom of it, and no gap in it may pass a four inch ball. The outside face has no handholds or footholds a child under five could climb. Gates open away from the pool and close and latch by themselves, with the latch set no lower than sixty inches above the ground.
This one is California law, not Daly City law. All California findings
An enclosure shall have all of the following characteristics: (a) Any access gates through the enclosure open away from the swimming pool, and are self-closing with a self-latching device placed no lower than 60 inches above the ground. (b) A minimum height of 60 inches. (c) A maximum vertical clearance from the ground to the bottom of the enclosure of two inches. (d) Gaps or voids, if any, do not allow passage of a sphere equal to or greater than four inches in diameter. (e) An outside surface free of protrusions, cavities, or other physical characteristics that would serve as handholds or footholds that could enable a child below the age of five years to climb over.
60 inminimum height of a pool enclosure
Spite fence laws in Daly City
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Daly City answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A fence standing in a utility easement in Daly City can be taken out by the utility company to reach its equipment, and the handout states that putting it back is the owner’s expense. A permanent retaining wall that blocks access to an easement is subject to removal by the owner who built it. Easements in Daly City are not only at the front: a rear yard can carry one where a utility was granted a strip for a pole or a line.
Extending fences within the easement may be removed by the utility company in order to gain access to an equipment for maintenance and repair
Daly City Municipal Code 17.40.020
Also on spite fences in Daly City
- set in state lawA fence over ten feet tall in California is a private nuisance when it was put up or kept there to annoy the neighbor and the extra height serves no purpose. Height on its own is not enough. The case turns on proving why the fence is there. The rule covers anything built like a fence, not only a fence. Civ. Code 841.4California · Statute
How fence height is measured in Daly City
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Daly City answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Daly City measures from the highest ground level adjoining the fence on either side. On a city built across hillsides that decides most disputes before they start: the uphill neighbor’s grade is the one the tape starts from, and the downhill side sees a fence taller than six feet with nothing wrong with it. Roseville, Redding and Downey all reach the same result with different words.
The fence height is determined by measuring from the highest ground level adjoining the fence on either side (DCMC 17.40.020).
Daly City Municipal Code 17.40.020
Also on how height is measured in Daly City
- left to the townCalifornia gives a fence height and never says what it is measured from. Civil Code section 841.4 makes a fence over ten feet a private nuisance when it is kept up to annoy a neighbor. It does not say whether the ten feet starts at bare dirt, at the finished yard, or at the high side of a slope. Government Code section 65850 is why the state stops there: it lets any county or city set the place, height and size of structures. So the number and the surface it starts from are both written into local zoning. Cal. Gov. Code 65850(c)(1)California · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Daly City
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California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
California writes no clear view triangle into state law. The Streets and Highways Code counts a fence as an encroachment once it stands in, under or over any part of a state highway right of way. Section 670 then makes putting one there without a written permit from the department a misdemeanor. That covers the public strip, not the corner of a private yard. Government Code section 65850 gives every city and county the power to set the height and place of structures, and that is where a corner triangle gets written in California.
This one is California law, not Daly City law. All California findings
“Encroachment” includes any tower, pole, pole line, pipe, pipe line, fence, billboard, stand or building, or any structure, object of any kind or character not particularly mentioned in this section, or special event, which is in, under, or over any portion of the highway.
Retaining wall rules in Daly City
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Daly City answers this, but the answer changes depending on the height from the bottom of the footing, and what the wall is holding back.
Daly City draws its retaining wall line at forty eight inches from the bottom of the footing. Over that, or under it with a surcharge or an excavated uphill slope behind it, the wall needs a building permit and a design by a licensed professional engineer. Under forty eight inches a wood wall is allowed, but only if it carries nothing beyond landscaping backfill and is built of pressure treated lumber or a species naturally resistant to decay.
Retaining walls less than forty-eight inches (48") in height may be constructed of wood, provided:
Daly City Municipal Code 17.40.020
The answer turns on the height from the bottom of the footing, and what the wall is holding back.
- under forty eight inches, holding only landscaping backfill
- Wood is allowed, pressure treated or naturally decay resistant. 48 in
- over forty eight inches, or with a surcharge or an excavated uphill slope
- A building permit and a design by a licensed professional engineer.
Also on retaining walls in Daly City
- left to the townCalifornia has no rule of its own in statute for a wall that holds back earth. The rule is in Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, which section 17922 adopts by reference and requires to match the newest editions of a named list of outside codes, the International Building Code and the International Residential Code among them. The same section leaves setbacks, side yards, rear yards and property line rules entirely to cities and counties. Health & Saf. Code 17922(a)California · Statute
Fence materials allowed in Daly City
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California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
California sets a wire standard for a lawful fence in grazing counties. A wire fence takes three tight barbed wires on solid posts set no more than a rod apart, with one wire at least four feet up. Any fence as strong and as tall as that one counts too.
This one is California law, not Daly City law. All California findings
No wire fence is a good and substantial fence within the meaning of this article unless it has three tightly stretched barbed wires securely fastened to posts of reasonable strength, firmly set in the ground not more than one rod apart, one of which wires shall be at least four feet above the surface of the ground.
3 strandsbarbed wires in a lawful wire fence
Livestock and boundary fence law in Daly City
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California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
California calls a fence lawful when it is strong enough to keep livestock from getting in or out. A wire fence gets real numbers: three tight barbed wires on posts set no more than one rod apart, with one of those wires at least four feet off the ground. Any other fence as tall, as strong and as good at holding animals counts too, and so does a cattle guard wide and deep enough to turn them.
This one is California law, not Daly City law. All California findings
No wire fence is a good and substantial fence within the meaning of this article unless it has three tightly stretched barbed wires securely fastened to posts of reasonable strength, firmly set in the ground not more than one rod apart, one of which wires shall be at least four feet above the surface of the ground.
4 ftheight of the top wire on a lawful wire fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Daly City
- depends, see the pageCalifornia answers this one county by county. Section 17123 names Siskiyou, Lassen and Modoc, plus parts of Trinity and Shasta, as land used mainly for grazing. Section 17124 lets the board of supervisors of any county put the same label on the county or part of it. Where the label applies, the land has to be fully fenced before the person on it may take in a stray animal or hold it for payment. Cal. Food & Agric. Code 17122California · Statute
Documents behind this page
10 documents, of which 1 was published by Daly City itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841, Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013
- City of Daly City, Economic and Community Development DepartmentFences and Retaining Walls
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841.4, spite fences
- California LegislatureCalifornia Health and Safety Code Section 17922, adoption of building standards
- California LegislatureCalifornia Health and Safety Code Section 17958.7, local modification of building standards
- California LegislatureCalifornia Health and Safety Code Section 115923, enclosure requirements
- California LegislatureCalifornia Government Code, Title 7, Division 1, Chapter 4, Article 2, Section 65850
- California LegislatureCalifornia Streets and Highways Code, Division 1, Chapter 3, Section 660
- California LegislatureCalifornia Food and Agricultural Code, Division 9, Part 2, Chapter 3, Article 5
- California LegislatureCalifornia Food and Agricultural Code, Division 9, Part 2, Chapter 3, Article 5
What this page does not cover
A city ordinance is not the only rule that reaches a fence. The zoning district a parcel sits in can change the height allowed on it, and so can an overlay district, a recorded easement, a fire hazard severity zone or a coastal zone. A homeowner association can be stricter than the city and nothing in the municipal code will say so. None of those appear here.
The rules above are the ones Daly City publishes, plus the California rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in California has the state layer in full.
This is general information drawn from published government documents. It is not legal advice, ordinances are amended, and the date beside each finding is the date the document was read. How findings are made · What the terms mean