Fence laws in San Jose, California
What the San Jose municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where San Jose sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in San Jose, 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
- San Jose sets fence height by which yard the fence stands in, and by whether that yard faces a street, and the answer turns on which yard the fence is in and whether that yard runs along a street. The figure is 3 feet, for a fence in a front yard, or a side yard running along a street. It reaches single family and duplex properties only.
- Permits
- In San Jose the height limit and the permit trigger are the same line.
- 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
- San Jose measures a retaining wall two different ways in two different rules, and the difference decides which department is involved. The figure is 4 feet, for wall height from the bottom of the footing that brings in a grading permit.
- Corner lots
- San Jose writes its sight line rule as a duty rather than a measured triangle. It reaches a rear or side fence near a driveway only.
- Retaining walls
- A retaining wall in San Jose needs a building permit at two feet, measured from the existing ground. The figure is 2 feet, for height at which a retaining wall starts needing a building permit.
- Materials
- San Jose lists the ordinary fence materials and rules out one class of them outright.
- 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 San Jose?
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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 San Jose 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 San Jose
- 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 San Jose?
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San Jose answers this, but the answer changes depending on which yard the fence is in and whether that yard runs along a street.
San Jose sets fence height by which yard the fence stands in, and by whether that yard faces a street. A front yard fence stops at three feet. So does a side yard fence running along a street, which is the rule that catches corner lots. Everywhere else, side and rear, the limit is seven feet. That seven is worth noticing: almost every city in California stops at six, so a San Jose homeowner has a foot more room than the usual answer gives.
Rear and side yards not along the street
SJMC 20.30 Part 6 and SJMC 17.24, as published by the city
The answer turns on which yard the fence is in and whether that yard runs along a street.
- the fence is in the front yard, or in a side yard along the street
- Three feet, and a corner lot has two of these rather than one. 3 ft
- the fence is in a side or rear yard that does not run along a street
- Seven feet, which is a foot more than the six most California cities allow. 7 ft
Also on fence height in San Jose
- 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 San Jose?
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San Jose answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
In San Jose the height limit and the permit trigger are the same line. Build inside the limits and no building permit is needed at all. Go over them and the project needs two approvals rather than one: a building permit and a planning permit. A retaining wall over the limit needs a third from Public Works. Other cities set a permit threshold above the height limit, which leaves a band where a fence is legal but still needs paperwork. San Jose has no such band.
A building permit is not required to construct a fence or retaining wall unless the project exceeds the maximum heights set forth in the municipal code.
Also on permits in San Jose
- 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 San Jose
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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 San Jose 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 San Jose
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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 San Jose 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 San Jose
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San Jose answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
San Jose measures a retaining wall two different ways in two different rules, and the difference decides which department is involved. The building permit is triggered by height above existing ground. The grading permit from Public Works is triggered by the wall measured from the bottom of its footing, which counts the buried part as well. The same wall can be under the line one way and over it the other, so the number that matters depends on which permit is being asked about.
If the wall supports a surcharge and/or measures 4 feet or more as measured from bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, you will need a Grading Permit from Public Works.
Retaining wall height restrictions
4 ftwall height from the bottom of the footing that brings in a grading permit
Also on how height is measured in San Jose
- 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 San Jose
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San Jose answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
San Jose writes its sight line rule as a duty rather than a measured triangle. A rear or side fence has to be low enough that a driver backing out of the driveway can see the street, and the seven foot allowance gives way to that wherever the two collide. There is no stated distance from the corner and no table, so the test is whether the view is there rather than whether the fence sits outside a marked wedge.
Rear and side fence heights must be low enough to provide sightlines to the street from the driveway.
Fence height restrictions, footnote
Also on corner visibility in San Jose
- 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 San Jose
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San Jose answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A retaining wall in San Jose needs a building permit at two feet, measured from the existing ground. That is the lowest trigger of any city read for this site so far, and it is five feet below where a fence needs one. Which planning permit comes with it depends on the zoning: a planned development district needs a Planned Development Permit, everywhere else needs a Special Use Permit.
If the retaining wall is greater than 2 feet in height as measured from existing grade, a building permit is required
Retaining wall height restrictions
2 ftheight at which a retaining wall starts needing a building permit
Also on retaining walls in San Jose
- 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 San Jose
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San Jose answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
San Jose lists the ordinary fence materials and rules out one class of them outright. Wood, chain link, wrought iron, decorative steel, masonry and concrete are all named as usual. Barbed wire is not allowed, and neither is anything else the city calls harmful, which is written broadly enough to take in razor wire and spikes rather than listing them one by one.
It is typically constructed of wood, chain link, wrought iron, decorative steel, masonry, concrete or other similar types of materials. Barbed wire or other harmful materials are not allowed.
Also on materials in San Jose
- 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 San Jose
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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 San Jose 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 San Jose
- 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 San Jose 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 San Jose, Development Services Permit CenterFences and Retaining Walls, single family and duplex properties
- 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 San Jose 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