Fence laws in Bridgeport, Connecticut
What the Bridgeport municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Bridgeport sets no rule of its own, the Connecticut rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Bridgeport, Connecticut, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Bridgeport keeps a fence four inches inside the boundary, which is small enough to be practical and large enough to settle an argument about whose fence it is, and the answer turns on whether the fence is new or a replacement on existing posts. The figure is 4 inches, for setback from any lot line.
- How tall
- Bridgeport splits its lot into a primary yard, which is the one facing the main street, and everything else, and the answer turns on which yard the fence is in and the zone. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in a primary or non-primary street yard.
- Permits
- Connecticut runs one building code across the whole state.
- Pool barriers
- Bridgeport sets no statewide pool barrier rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Spite fences
- Connecticut lets a landowner sue the neighbor next door over a structure built out of spite.
- Measured from what
- Bridgeport uses two different reference points in the same subsection, and picks each one for a reason. The figure is 50 percent, for share of a pre-existing retaining wall counted toward fence height.
- Corner lots
- Ten feet from the intersection of the street right-of-way lines is the smallest corner distance found anywhere in this project, where twenty five feet is the common figure. The figure is 10 feet, for distance from the intersection of the right-of-way lines.
- Retaining walls
- A wall that holds back earth in Connecticut needs a building permit once it passes three feet. The figure is 3 feet, for height at which a wall that holds back earth needs a building permit. It reaches one and two family homes and townhouses, under the house half of the state building code only.
- Materials
- Barbed wire, concertina wire, razor wire or ribbon and anything similar are prohibited in Bridgeport except in the industrial zones, and electrified fencing is prohibited everywhere with no exception at all, and the answer turns on the zone and which yard the fence is in.
- Livestock
- Connecticut tells landowners to build and keep up fences good enough to hold their fields and keep livestock from roaming. The figure is 4 feet, for height of the upper strand on a wire fence outside a city.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Bridgeport?
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Bridgeport answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is new or a replacement on existing posts.
Bridgeport keeps a fence four inches inside the boundary, which is small enough to be practical and large enough to settle an argument about whose fence it is. The exception is the interesting part: where an owner is replacing an existing fence and keeping the existing posts, the new fence may sit on the lot line itself, so a rebuild in place is not forced to move four inches and abandon the old post holes. The finished side faces outward, using the same good, decorative or finished wording the code applies elsewhere. Nothing may be placed on a street, sidewalk or public right-of-way, with sidewalk cafes the only carve-out. Every fence also has to clear the visibility rule at intersections, which is the one requirement that overrides where the lot line runs.
Fences and walls must be constructed a minimum of 4 inches off any lot line towards the interior of the lot, except when replacing an existing fence while retaining the existing fence posts, the fence may be located on the lot line.
The answer turns on whether the fence is new or a replacement on existing posts.
- a new fence
- Four inches inside the line. 4 in
- a rebuild on the old posts
- On the line is allowed.
- the finished side
- Facing outward.
- the sidewalk
- Nothing placed on it.
Also on fences on the property line in Bridgeport
- set in state lawConnecticut splits a fence that sits on a property line between the two owners on either side. Each one builds and keeps up half of it. The middle of the fence goes on the dividing line. The law calls this a divisional fence. Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-43Connecticut · Statute
- set in state lawThe same law lists what counts as a fence good enough to hold livestock. Inside cities and next to house lots, a tight board fence stands four and one half feet high, and an open picket fence or a slat rail fence stands four feet high with limits on the gaps. Outside cities the list allows a rail fence four and one half feet high, a stone wall four feet high, or a wire fence of four strands. These heights are floors for holding animals, not caps on a yard fence. Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-43Connecticut · Statute
- set in state lawWhen a division fence falls into disrepair, the neighbor can call on the town selectmen to look at it. The selectmen give written notice to the person who has to fix it. Fifteen days pass, and if no repair happens the neighbor can do the work and collect double the cost. That sum becomes a lien on the land. Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-51Connecticut · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Bridgeport?
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Bridgeport answers this, but the answer changes depending on which yard the fence is in and the zone.
Bridgeport splits its lot into a primary yard, which is the one facing the main street, and everything else. A primary yard fence may not be more than four feet high in any zone. A fence in a non-primary street yard is held to the same four feet, and a rear or interior side yard fence may reach six. Four exceptions lift the primary yard figure. Fencing required for a buffer takes the buffer height instead. A designated sports field or court in a park zone may go taller. On an open outdoor site in the CX zone a front yard fence may reach six feet, and on an open outdoor site in an industrial zone it may reach eight. The primary yard fence also has to be less than sixty percent opaque, unless the lot is bigger than thirty thousand square feet in a neighborhood zone, where the commission may approve an opaque one.
Primary yard fences may not be more than 4 feet high in any zone
The answer turns on which yard the fence is in and the zone.
- a primary or other street yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a rear or interior side yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- an open outdoor site in an industrial zone
- Eight feet at the front. 8 ft
- a front yard fence anywhere
- Under sixty percent opaque. 60%
Also on fence height in Bridgeport
- no rule, documents checkedConnecticut sets no cap on how tall a fence at a house can be. Local zoning sets it. The fence chapter gives heights only for what counts as a fence good enough to hold livestock, and those are floors, not ceilings. The two spite fence laws give no height at all and turn on proving the structure went up out of spite, so they work as a nuisance claim rather than a building limit. Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-43 through 47-56Connecticut · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Bridgeport?
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Connecticut answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Connecticut runs one building code across the whole state. The State Building Inspector and the Codes and Standards Committee write it together, and the Commissioner of Administrative Services signs off. It is built on a national model code and covers how buildings and structures are designed, built and changed. Changes to it are held to a short list of subjects the law names.
This one is Connecticut law, not Bridgeport law. All Connecticut findings
adopt and administer a State Building Code based on a nationally recognized model building code for the purpose of regulating the design, construction and use of buildings or structures to be erected and the alteration of buildings or structures already erected
Also on permits in Bridgeport
- no rule, documents checkedSection 7.140 runs to two pages of placement, measurement, material and height rules and never mentions a permit, a fee or an application for a fence. Searching the whole zoning code for a fence permit returns nothing. The one approval the fence rules name is discretionary and runs the other way: on a lot larger than thirty thousand square feet in a neighborhood zone, the Planning and Zoning Commission may approve an opaque primary yard fence that the opacity rule would otherwise forbid. This is recorded as silence in the zoning code rather than a finding that Bridgeport requires nothing, because the city runs a separate zoning compliance application through its permitting portal and a building permit requirement could sit outside this document. Section 7.140, General Fence RequirementsBridgeport · Zoning code
Pool fence requirements in Bridgeport
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Bridgeport law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Connecticut puts its public pool barrier rule in the Public Health Code at Section 19-13-B33b. Both the Department of Public Health copy and the state eRegulations copy of that section are published only as PDF files. Neither PDF could be read here, so no barrier height is quoted and no text is repeated from memory.
This one is Connecticut law, not Bridgeport law. All Connecticut findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Conn. Agencies Regs. 19-13-B33bConnecticut Department of Public Health
- Conn. Agencies Regs. 19-13-B33bConnecticut eRegulations System
Spite fence laws in Bridgeport
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Connecticut answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Connecticut lets a landowner sue the neighbor next door over a structure built out of spite. The neighbor has to have put it up on purpose to annoy the landowner or hurt the way the land is used or sold. The law names no height and no fence in particular, so any structure can count. Courts read it together with Section 52-480, which lets a judge order the structure down.
This one is Connecticut law, not Bridgeport law. All Connecticut findings
An action may be maintained by the proprietor of any land against the owner or lessee of land adjacent, who maliciously erects any structure thereon, with intent to annoy or injure the plaintiff in his use or disposition of his land.
Also on spite fences in Bridgeport
- set in state lawA Connecticut court can order a spite structure stopped or taken down. The rule reaches an owner, a renter, or anyone else with the right to hold the land. The structure has to be meant to annoy and hurt the person on the land next door. This law names no height either. Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-480Connecticut · Statute
How fence height is measured in Bridgeport
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Bridgeport answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Bridgeport uses two different reference points in the same subsection, and picks each one for a reason. A fence in any street yard is measured from the elevation of the adjacent public sidewalk, or from the back of curb or edge of pavement where there is no sidewalk, so the height is judged from where a person walking past actually stands. A side or rear yard fence is measured from the natural existing grade at the base of the fence, which is the neighbor view rather than the street view, and saying natural existing grade rather than finished grade stops an owner regrading to gain height. Then the berm rule: any fence built on a berm, retaining wall or other wall has to count the height of that berm or wall toward the fence height, with one carve-out. Where a retaining wall already existed before this code took effect, only fifty percent of the wall counts, which splits the difference with an owner who did not build the situation.
Primary and non-primary yard fence height must be measured from the elevation of the adjacent public sidewalk, or, where no sidewalk exists, the back of curb or edge of pavement.
50%share of a pre-existing retaining wall counted toward fence height
Also on how height is measured in Bridgeport
- set in state lawConnecticut names the surface to measure a fence from, and it does it twice in the same chapter. Section 47-48 bans barbed wire along a sidewalk unless it is at least six and one half feet above the ground. Section 47-43 describes fences meant for use next to house lots and puts the lower slat of a slat rail fence no more than six inches from the ground. The ground is the starting point in both. Neither one covers a solid privacy fence. That one is sized by the local zoning commission under section 8-2, and the commission picks the measuring surface as well. Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-48Connecticut · Statute
Fence rules for corner lots in Bridgeport
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Bridgeport answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Ten feet from the intersection of the street right-of-way lines is the smallest corner distance found anywhere in this project, where twenty five feet is the common figure. Inside it, no wall, fence, plant or tree may be built or planted so as to obstruct or hinder the visibility of drivers. The code then adds two words that do more work than the distance: or eventually obstruct. That reaches the sapling planted at two feet which will be six feet in five years, and it makes the rule enforceable against something that complies on the day it goes in. No protected band of heights is given, so unlike most corner rules this one does not permit a low fence inside the area. It asks whether visibility is hindered, now or later, and leaves the judgment open.
At street intersections, no walls, fences, plants, or trees may be constructed or planted to obstruct or eventually obstruct or hinder the visibility of drivers within 10 feet of the intersection of the street right-of-way lines.
10 ftdistance from the intersection of the right-of-way lines
Also on corner visibility in Bridgeport
- left to the townThe town decides corner clearance in Connecticut, and state law gives it that power twice. Section 7-148 lets a town set lines past which no structure may be put up, and separately makes keeping the streets clear a town job. Section 8-2 adds the zoning power over the height of structures and the size of yards. Neither one gives a distance, an angle or a triangle, so the shape of a corner clearance is whatever the local ordinance says. Conn. Gen. Stat. 7-148Connecticut · Statute
Retaining wall rules in Bridgeport
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Connecticut answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A wall that holds back earth in Connecticut needs a building permit once it passes three feet. The model code the state starts from allows four feet and measures from the bottom of the footing. Connecticut cuts that to three feet and measures from the finished ground at the bottom of the wall to the finished ground at the top. A wall holding extra weight pushed onto the ground behind it needs a permit at any height. The state code sets the same three foot line for commercial work.
This one is Connecticut law, not Bridgeport law. All Connecticut findings
Retaining walls that are not higher than 3 feet (914 mm) measured from finished grade at the bottom of the wall to finished grade at the top of the wall, unless supporting a surcharge.
2022 Connecticut State Building Code, amendment to IRC Section R105.2
3 ftheight at which a wall that holds back earth needs a building permit
Also on retaining walls in Bridgeport
- set in state lawA wall that holds back earth in Connecticut needs a rail on top once the drop across it is more than four feet, but only when a walking surface, parking lot or driveway sits within two feet of the high side. The state wrote that rule itself, since the model code has none. Grass, planting beds and landscaped areas do not count as a walking surface, so a plain lawn above a wall needs no rail. 2022 Connecticut State Building Code, added IRC Section R404.4.1Connecticut · Building code
Fence materials allowed in Bridgeport
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Bridgeport answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone and which yard the fence is in.
Barbed wire, concertina wire, razor wire or ribbon and anything similar are prohibited in Bridgeport except in the industrial zones, and electrified fencing is prohibited everywhere with no exception at all. For an ordinary fence the code writes a permitted list rather than a ban list: wood, steel, aluminum, page wire in a wood frame, and PVC, with a figure in the code showing examples. Chain link is handled by position. It is not allowed in any primary yard, and not allowed in or at the perimeter of any non-primary street yard, but it may be used along an interior side or rear lot line where the street cannot see it. Masonry walls are allowed in side and rear yards. So the same chain link fence is lawful behind a Bridgeport house and unlawful along either street frontage.
Barbed wire, concertina wire, razor wire or ribbon, or any other similar type of wire, is not allowed except in the I zones.
The answer turns on the zone and which yard the fence is in.
- barbed or razor wire
- Industrial zones only.
- an electrified fence
- Nowhere in the city.
- chain link
- Interior side and rear lines only.
- an ordinary fence
- Wood, steel, aluminum, page wire or PVC.
Also on materials in Bridgeport
- set in state lawBarbed wire on a fence between two neighbors in Connecticut takes the neighbor's written consent when it runs within twenty five rods of that neighbor's house or barn. A rod is sixteen and a half feet, so that is about four hundred feet. The consent is not needed when either place is used for raising livestock. Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-47Connecticut · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Bridgeport
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Connecticut answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Connecticut tells landowners to build and keep up fences good enough to hold their fields and keep livestock from roaming. Outside cities, a fence counts when it is a rail fence four and a half feet high, a stone wall four feet high, or a wire fence of four strands. The wire version spaces the strands no more than twelve inches apart, puts the top strand at least four feet up, and sets posts no more than sixteen feet apart. Inside cities the list runs to a tight board fence four and a half feet high, a picket fence four feet high with gaps under four inches, and chain link at least four feet high on steel posts set in concrete.
This one is Connecticut law, not Bridgeport law. All Connecticut findings
a wire fence consisting of four strands not more than twelve inches apart, stretched tightly, the lower strand not more than twelve inches and the upper strand not less than four feet from the ground, with good substantial posts not more than sixteen feet apart
4 ftheight of the upper strand on a wire fence outside a city
Also on agricultural fencing in Bridgeport
- set in state lawThe answer in Connecticut depends on the fence. When the fence around the land is good enough, the owner of the animals pays for all the damage they do inside it. When it is not, the landowner collects nothing. Four things undo that: the animals were loose against the law, they were unruly animals no ordinary fence would hold, the animal owner drove them in, or they came in through a part of the fence that was good enough. In those cases the landowner may hold the animals and collect the damage plus a pound fee. Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-55Connecticut · Statute
Documents behind this page
9 documents, of which 1 was published by Bridgeport itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Connecticut General AssemblyConnecticut General Statutes, Chapter 823, Section 47-43
- City of BridgeportCity of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Zoning Code, adopted November 29, 2021, effective January 1, 2022, Section 7.140, General Fence Requirements, published by the city at zonebridgeport.com
- Connecticut General AssemblyConnecticut General Statutes, Chapter 925, Statutory Rights of Action and Defenses
- Connecticut General AssemblyConnecticut General Statutes, Chapter 916, Injunctions
- Connecticut General AssemblyConnecticut General Statutes, Chapter 541, Section 29-252
- Connecticut Department of Public HealthPublic Health Code, Section 19-13-B33b, Public pools
- Connecticut eRegulations SystemRegulations of Connecticut State Agencies, Section 19-13-B33b, Public pools
- Connecticut General AssemblyConnecticut General Statutes, Title 7, Chapter 98, Section 7-148, Scope of municipal powers
- Connecticut Department of Administrative Services, Office of the State Building Inspector2022 Connecticut State Building Code, Amendments to the 2021 International Residential Code
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 Bridgeport publishes, plus the Connecticut rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Connecticut 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