Fence laws in Irvine, California
What the Irvine municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Irvine sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Irvine, California, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Two neighbors split the cost of a fence on the line in California.
- How tall
- An Irvine front yard fence starts at two and a half feet on the property line and gains one foot for every three feet it is set back, up to six feet, and the answer turns on how far back from the property line the fence stands, and whether a driveway opens onto that street. The figure is 30 inches, for fence height on the front property line.
- Permits
- Irvine follows the building code exemption: no permit for a fence or wall up to seven feet, and none for a retaining wall of four feet or less from the bottom of the footing where nothing is loaded on top of it, and the answer turns on the height, and whether anything loads the top of a retaining wall. The figure is 7 feet, for fence height exempt from a building permit.
- 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 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
- Irvine measures a fence from the lowest finished grade on either side to the top, so the downhill face governs.
- Corner lots
- Nothing in Irvine stands more than two and a half feet above grade inside the sight triangle of any street intersection. The figure is 30 inches, for fence height inside a street intersection sight triangle. It reaches the sight triangle at a street intersection only.
- Retaining walls
- Where an Irvine retaining wall is combined with a fence or wall on top, the total may reach ten feet above grade along a street side and twelve feet along a rear property line, and the answer turns on whether the combined wall runs along a street side or a rear property line. The figure is 10 feet, for combined height along a street side.
- Materials
- Irvine bans seven things: barbed wire, plain wire, electrically charged fences, plain exposed concrete block, plastic materials, chain link and grape stake, and the answer turns on whether the use is agricultural, industrial or institutional, and whether the fence can be seen from a street.
- 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 Irvine?
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California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Two 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.
This one is California law, not Irvine law. All California findings
Adjoining landowners are presumed to share an equal benefit from any fence dividing their properties and, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties in a written agreement, shall be presumed to be equally responsible for the reasonable costs of construction, maintenance, or necessary replacement of the fence.
Also on fences on the property line in Irvine
- 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 Irvine?
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Irvine answers this, but the answer changes depending on how far back from the property line the fence stands, and whether a driveway opens onto that street.
An Irvine front yard fence starts at two and a half feet on the property line and gains one foot for every three feet it is set back, up to six feet. A street side fence follows the same formula unless there is no driveway off that street, in which case six feet is allowed at the line. Rear and non-street side setbacks get six feet. Inside a sight triangle at any intersection nothing passes two and a half feet.
Fences and walls in the front setback area shall be no higher than two and one half feet above grade at the property line. The fence or wall may be one foot higher for every three feet the fence or wall is set back from the property line, up to a maximum of six feet above grade.
Irvine Zoning Code Chapter 3-35
The answer turns on how far back from the property line the fence stands, and whether a driveway opens onto that street.
- on the front property line
- Two and a half feet. 30 in
- set back from the front property line
- One more foot for every three feet of setback, to a ceiling of six feet. 3 ft
- in a street side setback with no driveway onto that street
- Six feet at the property line. 6 ft
Also on fence height in Irvine
- 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 Irvine?
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Irvine answers this, but the answer changes depending on the height, and whether anything loads the top of a retaining wall.
Irvine follows the building code exemption: no permit for a fence or wall up to seven feet, and none for a retaining wall of four feet or less from the bottom of the footing where nothing is loaded on top of it. The bulletin names what a superimposed load is, giving an ascending slope, another wall, a building and a driveway as examples. Everything else takes a permit and an engineered design.
The CBC exempts from a permit fences and walls up to seven feet high. Retaining walls four feet or less as measured from the bottom of the footing are also exempt provided there is no superimposed load, for example an ascending slope, or a structure such as another wall, building or driveway.
California Building Code Section 105.2
The answer turns on the height, and whether anything loads the top of a retaining wall.
- a fence or wall up to seven feet
- No building permit. 7 ft
- a retaining wall of four feet or less with no superimposed load
- No building permit. 4 ft
- anything else
- A permit and a plan based on an engineered design.
Also on permits in Irvine
- 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 Irvine
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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 Irvine 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 Irvine
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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 Irvine 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 Irvine
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Irvine answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Irvine measures a fence from the lowest finished grade on either side to the top, so the downhill face governs. A retaining wall is measured from the underside of the footing, and the bulletin then excludes any key in the footing design from that measurement. A key is the deeper lip cast beneath a footing to resist sliding, and leaving it out keeps a wall from crossing the four foot line on account of something buried below the footing itself.
The height of a fence shall be measured from the lowest finish grade from either side of the fence to the top of the fence.
Irvine Zoning Code Chapter 3-35, Walls and Fence Standards
Also on how height is measured in Irvine
- 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 Irvine
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Irvine answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Nothing in Irvine stands more than two and a half feet above grade inside the sight triangle of any street intersection. Thirty inches is lower than the three feet most California cities on this site allow at a corner. It is also the same figure a front yard fence gets on the property line, so the corner rule and the front line rule arrive at the same number by different routes.
The maximum height of a fence or wall shall be two and one-half feet above grade within the sight triangle of any street intersection.
Irvine Zoning Code Chapter 3-35
30 infence height inside a street intersection sight triangle
Also on corner visibility in Irvine
- set in state lawCalifornia 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. Cal. Sts. & Hy. Code 660California · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Irvine
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Irvine answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the combined wall runs along a street side or a rear property line.
Where an Irvine retaining wall is combined with a fence or wall on top, the total may reach ten feet above grade along a street side and twelve feet along a rear property line. Twelve feet is the tallest combined figure of any city read for this site. The bulletin also states that material, construction standards and zoning rules apply whether or not a permit is required, so an exempt fence is not an unregulated one.
Note: all material, construction standards and zoning rules apply regardless of whether a permit is required.
Irvine Zoning Code Chapter 3-35
The answer turns on whether the combined wall runs along a street side or a rear property line.
- a combined retaining wall and fence along a street side
- Ten feet above grade. 10 ft
- a combined retaining wall and fence along a rear property line
- Twelve feet above grade. 12 ft
Also on retaining walls in Irvine
- 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 Irvine
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Irvine answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the use is agricultural, industrial or institutional, and whether the fence can be seen from a street.
Irvine bans seven things: barbed wire, plain wire, electrically charged fences, plain exposed concrete block, plastic materials, chain link and grape stake. Plain exposed concrete block on that list is the surprise, and it means a bare gray block wall is not a lawful fence in Irvine. Two exceptions follow. Agricultural uses may have vinyl-coated chain link and plain wire. Industrial and institutional uses may have plain block, coated steel mesh or chain link with battens, but only where none of it is visible from a street.
Barbed wire, wire, electrically charged fences, plain exposed concrete block, plastic materials, chain link and grape stake are prohibited.
Irvine Zoning Code Chapter 3-35
The answer turns on whether the use is agricultural, industrial or institutional, and whether the fence can be seen from a street.
- residential and most other uses
- All seven materials are prohibited.
- agricultural uses
- Vinyl-coated chain link and plain wire fences with posts are allowed.
- industrial and institutional uses not visible from any street
- Plain block, polyester-coated steel mesh, and chain link with battens are allowed.
Also on materials in Irvine
- 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
Livestock and boundary fence law in Irvine
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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 Irvine 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 Irvine
- 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 Irvine itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841, Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841.4, spite fences
- City of Irvine, Community Development Department, Building and SafetyInformational Bulletin 185, Wall and Fence Requirements
- 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 Irvine 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