Fence laws in Orange, California
What the Orange municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Orange sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Orange, California, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Orange puts perimeter fences on the property line unless the Community Development Director allows otherwise, and then bars a second fence running parallel to an existing one within five feet of it. The figure is 5 feet, for minimum gap between a new parallel fence and an existing one.
- How tall
- Orange applies two limits to the same side or rear fence and both have to hold: six feet measured from the highest ground touching it, and ten feet measured from the lowest, and the answer turns on which yard the fence stands in, the fall of the ground across it, and what the lot abuts. The figure is 6 feet, for side and rear fence height measured from the highest contiguous ground.
- Permits
- California does not write its own building code from scratch.
- 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
- Orange measures from adjacent grade to the top of the structure and then names the things people add afterwards.
- 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
- Orange leaves retaining walls to Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, the California Building Standards Code, which tracks the International Building Code and the International Residential Code.
- Materials
- Orange gates electrified fencing on lot size rather than on zone, which is unusual, and the answer turns on the size of the lot, and whether the electrified fence sits inside another fence.
- 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 Orange?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Orange answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Orange puts perimeter fences on the property line unless the Community Development Director allows otherwise, and then bars a second fence running parallel to an existing one within five feet of it. Very few California cities read for this site regulate the gap between two fences at all. The effect is to stop a neighbor answering a boundary fence with a second one a pace away.
No parallel fence or wall shall be constructed less than five feet from an existing fence or wall, unless approved by the Community Development Director.
Orange Municipal Code 17.12.070
5 ftminimum gap between a new parallel fence and an existing one
Also on fences on the property line in Orange
- 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 Orange?
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Orange answers this, but the answer changes depending on which yard the fence stands in, the fall of the ground across it, and what the lot abuts.
Orange applies two limits to the same side or rear fence and both have to hold: six feet measured from the highest ground touching it, and ten feet measured from the lowest. A front yard gets three and a half feet. Eight feet is available where the lot backs onto a nonresidential district, and the same eight where a noise study puts the property within three hundred feet of a freeway or railroad.
Six feet, as measured from the highest elevation of land contiguous to the fence, and 10 feet as measured from the lowest elevation contiguous to the fence.
Orange Municipal Code 17.12.070(B)
The answer turns on which yard the fence stands in, the fall of the ground across it, and what the lot abuts.
- a side or rear yard on a standard lot
- Six feet from the high side and ten from the low, both at once. 6 ft
- a required front yard
- Three and a half feet. 42 in
- a lot abutting a nonresidential zoning district
- Eight feet from the high side, ten from the low. 8 ft
- within three hundred feet of a freeway or railroad under the noise contours
- A sound wall to eight feet. 300 ft
Also on fence height in Orange
- 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 Orange?
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California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
California 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.
This one is California law, not Orange law. All California findings
The building standards and rules and regulations shall impose substantially the same requirements as are contained in the most recent editions of the following international or uniform industry codes as adopted by the organizations specified:
Also on permits in Orange
- 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 Orange
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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 Orange 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 Orange
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
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 Orange 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 Orange
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Orange answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Orange measures from adjacent grade to the top of the structure and then names the things people add afterwards. Decorative latticework, privacy toppers and screens all count toward the height, and the list is written as examples rather than a closed set. That closes the common move of building to the limit and then adding a foot of lattice to it.
Fence and wall heights shall be measured from adjacent grade to the top of the fence or wall structure. Any items connected to the fence or wall, such as, but not limited to, decorative latticework, privacy toppers, and screens, shall be counted towards the overall height of the fence or wall, as referenced in Figure 17.12.070(B)(1).
Orange Municipal Code 17.12.070(B)(1)
Also on how height is measured in Orange
- 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 Orange
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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 Orange 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 Orange
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Orange does not set this. It leaves it to Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, the California Building Standards Code, which tracks the International Building Code and the International Residential Code.
California 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.
This one is California law, not Orange law. All California findings
The building standards and rules and regulations shall impose substantially the same requirements as are contained in the most recent editions of the following international or uniform industry codes as adopted by the organizations specified:
The code hands this to Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, the California Building Standards Code, which tracks the International Building Code and the International Residential Code, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Orange
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Orange answers this, but the answer changes depending on the size of the lot, and whether the electrified fence sits inside another fence.
Orange gates electrified fencing on lot size rather than on zone, which is unusual. A lot under twenty thousand square feet may not have one at all. A lot at or above that may, but only inside an enclosing perimeter fence, so the live wire can never be the thing a passerby touches. No electrified fence may serve as the perimeter itself.
Electrified fences are not allowed on any lots less than 20,000 square feet or as perimeter fencing. A lot 20,000 square feet or more may have electrified fences inside an enclosing perimeter fence.
Orange Municipal Code 17.12.070
The answer turns on the size of the lot, and whether the electrified fence sits inside another fence.
- a lot under twenty thousand square feet
- No electrified fence.
- a lot of twenty thousand square feet or more
- Allowed, but only inside an enclosing perimeter fence.
- any lot, as the perimeter fence itself
- Not allowed.
Also on materials in Orange
- 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 Orange
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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 Orange 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 Orange
- 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 Orange itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841, Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013
- City of OrangeOrange Municipal Code, Title 17, Chapter 17.12, General Regulations Applicable to All Districts
- 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 Orange 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