Fence laws in Fontana, California
What the Fontana municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Fontana sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Fontana, California, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A fence on a shared line in Fontana may need a fence agreement between the two owners before the permit is issued, and a survey may be required to establish where the line actually runs. It reaches a fence built on a common property line only.
- How tall
- Fontana sets no maximum fence height. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Permits
- A fence in Fontana needs a building permit at 42 inches, and the standard the permit is issued against runs to a maximum of six feet. The figure is 42 inches, for height at which a fence starts needing a building permit.
- Pool barriers
- Where a fence doubles as a pool barrier in Fontana it has to stand five feet, a foot above the state minimum, and the smooth unclimbable face has to point away from the water so nothing on the pool side can be used as a foothold. The figure is 5 feet, for least height of a fence used as part of a pool barrier. It reaches a fence forming part of a required swimming pool barrier only.
- Spite fences
- A 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. The figure is 10 feet, for spite fence threshold, with malice required.
- Measured from what
- Fontana leaves the measuring rule to the legislative body of each county and city, through its zoning ordinance.
- 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
- Fontana draws the line between a fence and a retaining wall in six words: a fence does not hold anything back.
- Materials
- Fontana publishes how the fence is built rather than only how tall it may be. The figure is 2 feet, for least depth of the concrete footing under a fence post.
- 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 Fontana?
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Fontana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A fence on a shared line in Fontana may need a fence agreement between the two owners before the permit is issued, and a survey may be required to establish where the line actually runs. Long Beach asks for the same thing and goes further by wanting both signatures notarized. Fontana leaves it as may rather than shall, so it turns on the case rather than applying to every boundary fence.
A FENCE AGREEMENT may be required if the fence is to be constructed on a common property line.
Fencing Requirements, revised 22 July 2020
Also on fences on the property line in Fontana
- 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 Fontana?
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Fontana law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
California 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.
This one is California law, not Fontana law. All California findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Civ. Code 841California Legislature
- Civ. Code 841.4California Legislature
Do I need a permit for a fence in Fontana?
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Fontana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A fence in Fontana needs a building permit at 42 inches, and the standard the permit is issued against runs to a maximum of six feet. So the band where a fence is legal and needs no paperwork is narrow: anything from three and a half feet up is permitted work. Commercial properties have no exemption at all, because plans have to be submitted for any fence or gate on one.
A building permit is not required for fences that are less than 42 inches in height.
Fencing Requirements, revised 22 July 2020
42 inheight at which a fence starts needing a building permit
Also on permits in Fontana
- 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 Fontana
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Fontana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Where a fence doubles as a pool barrier in Fontana it has to stand five feet, a foot above the state minimum, and the smooth unclimbable face has to point away from the water so nothing on the pool side can be used as a foothold. What makes the rule reach further than most is the definition underneath it: a pool is any body of water or any structure holding water more than eighteen inches deep. That takes in a stock tank, a large inflatable and a decorative pond.
any body of water or any structure that contains water over 18 inches in depth
Fencing Requirements, revised 22 July 2020
5 ftleast height of a fence used as part of a pool barrier
Also on pool barriers in Fontana
- set in state lawA 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. Health & Saf. Code 115923California · Statute
Spite fence laws in Fontana
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California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A 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.
This one is California law, not Fontana law. All California findings
Any fence or other structure in the nature of a fence unnecessarily exceeding 10 feet in height maliciously erected or maintained for the purpose of annoying the owner or occupant of adjoining property is a private nuisance.
10 ftspite fence threshold, with malice required
How fence height is measured in Fontana
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Fontana does not set this. It leaves it to the legislative body of each county and city, through its zoning ordinance.
California 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.
This one is California law, not Fontana law. All California findings
Regulate all of the following: (1) The location, height, bulk, number of stories, and size of buildings and structures.
The code hands this to the legislative body of each county and city, through its zoning ordinance, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence rules for corner lots in Fontana
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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 Fontana 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 Fontana
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Fontana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Fontana draws the line between a fence and a retaining wall in six words: a fence does not hold anything back. The moment a structure is retaining earth or any other material it stops being a fence, stops being covered by the fencing handout, and becomes a retaining wall with its own engineering. It is the plainest statement of that distinction found in any city on this site.
Fences shall not retain earth or any other material.
Fencing Requirements, revised 22 July 2020
Also on retaining walls in Fontana
- 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 Fontana
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Fontana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Fontana publishes how the fence is built rather than only how tall it may be. Every post sits in a concrete footing at least twelve inches across and two feet deep, with at least eighteen inches of the post buried in the concrete. The first inspection happens after the holes are dug and before the posts go in and the concrete is poured, so the footings are seen empty. No other city on this site sets out a buildable specification like it.
Posts shall be encased in a concrete footing that is a minimum of twelve (12) inches in diameter and two (2) feet in depth. Posts shall have a minimum embedment of 18 inches into the concrete.
Fencing Requirements, revised 22 July 2020
2 ftleast depth of the concrete footing under a fence post
Also on materials in Fontana
- set in state lawCalifornia 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. Cal. Food & Agric. Code 17121California · Statute
- set in state lawFontana names the wood. A fence post is heart redwood, heart cedar, or pressure treated stock of equal strength marked for ground contact by an accredited agency. Steel may be substituted one for one, but only a specific pipe: two and a half inch outside diameter SS-40. The handout then rules out the cheap alternatives by name, because galvanized schedule 40 pipe, electrical conduit, EMT and light gauge chain link posts are all declared not equivalent. Fencing Requirements, revised 22 July 2020Fontana · Building code
Livestock and boundary fence law in Fontana
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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 Fontana 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 Fontana
- 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 Fontana itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841, Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013
- City of Fontana, Department of Building and SafetyFencing Requirements, revised 22 July 2020
- 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 Fontana 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