Fence laws in Hawaii
What Hawaii statutes and statewide codes say about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line.
Fence laws in Hawaii, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Hawaii settles boundary fence questions in court instead of with a fixed cost split.
- How tall
- Hawaii sets no maximum fence height. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Permits
- Hawaii has one set of state building codes covering all construction in the state.
- Pool barriers
- Hawaii leaves pool barriers to Section 3109.3 of the Hawaii State Building Code as amended.
- Spite fences
- Hawaii has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Hawaii leaves the measuring rule to the county councils, through county zoning ordinances.
- Corner lots
- Hawaii has no state sight triangle, because land use runs through the four counties. It reaches the right of way of a state highway, not a county road or private land only.
- Retaining walls
- The Hawaii State Building Code has one rule aimed straight at a wall that holds back earth, and it is about the wood. It reaches buildings under the Hawaii State Building Code, as each county adopts it only.
- Materials
- Hawaii counts a battery charged security fence as a lawful fence when it is used for something other than farming, and then sets the conditions it has to meet. It reaches a battery charged security fence used for something other than farming only.
- Livestock
- A lawful fence in Hawaii can be stone, posts and rails, posts and boards, posts and wire, or other fit material. The figure is 4 feet, for least height of a lawful stock fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Hawaii?
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Hawaii answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Hawaii settles boundary fence questions in court instead of with a fixed cost split. A person who owns land, leases it, or lives on it by agreement with the owner, and wants it fenced or wants a fence already there kept up, files a petition in the circuit court for that circuit. The petition names the land, the boundary and the next door owners, and the court summons those neighbors.
Any person owning, leasing, or occupying land under an agreement with the owner or lessee, who desires to fence the land, or who, having fenced the land, desires to provide for the maintenance of the fence, may file a petition in the circuit court of the circuit in which the land is situated praying for the hearing and determination of the matter.
Also on fences on the property line in Hawaii
- set in state lawThe judge and both sides walk the fence line, then the court picks the kind of fence that fits the situation. The same order says which stretch each side builds or keeps up, or what share of the cost each side pays, and it sets a deadline for the work. When a party ignores the order, the court can have the work done at that party's expense and enter a judgment for the amount. HRS 664-23(a)Hawaii · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Hawaii?
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Hawaii law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Hawaii sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The state fence law sets only a floor for a lawful stock fence and no ceiling for a yard fence. Height comes from county ordinance, because each county adopts and amends the building code for its own area.
Documents read before writing that:
- HRS 142-61Hawaii State Legislature
- HRS 107-28Hawaii State Legislature
Do I need a permit for a fence in Hawaii?
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Hawaii answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Hawaii has one set of state building codes covering all construction in the state. They are built from the state fire code, the Uniform Plumbing Code, the National Electrical Code, and the International Building Code, International Residential Code and International Energy Conservation Code.
There is established the Hawaii state building codes applicable to all construction in the State of Hawaii.
Also on permits in Hawaii
- set in state lawThe counties, not the state, run the building code in Hawaii. Each county changes and adopts the state building codes for its own area within two years, and it does that without the state council signing off. If a county misses the two year mark, the state codes stand as the county code in the meantime. So a fence permit rule comes from the county. HRS 107-28(a)Hawaii · Statute
- set in state lawHawaii writes a fence permit exemption straight into statute, and it is a farm rule. On agricultural land a fence that is not masonry may reach ten feet and a masonry fence may reach six feet with no building permit and no building code. The exemption also covers farm buildings that nobody lives or lodges in, and those buildings still have to follow state and county zoning. HRS 46-88(a)(6)Hawaii · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Hawaii
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Hawaii does not set this. It leaves it to Section 3109.3 of the Hawaii State Building Code as amended.
Hawaii has a pool barrier rule and no Hawaii statute carries it. It is section 3109.3 of the International Building Code as changed by the Hawaii State Building Code, which the State Building Code Council adopted on November 13, 2018. The rule reaches public pools, and a pool at a hotel is left out. A pool behind a house falls outside it, and the rule for that pool comes from the county that adopted and amended the code.
Public swimming pools shall be completely enclosed by a fence at least 4 feet (1290 mm) in height or a screen enclosure.
Section 3109.3, public swimming pools, as amended
The code hands this to Section 3109.3 of the Hawaii State Building Code as amended, which is not published in the code itself.
Spite fence laws in Hawaii
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Hawaii law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Hawaii has no spite fence law. Chapter 664 Part II covers fence petitions, cost splits and appeals. Chapter 663 covers tort actions, which is the law on one person harming another. Neither one limits a fence built to annoy a neighbor or ties anything to why the fence went up. Chapter 142 Part III is about lawful fences and animal trespass only.
Documents read before writing that:
- HRS 664-21 through 664-26Hawaii State Legislature
- HRS Chapter 663Hawaii State Legislature
- HRS 142-61Hawaii State Legislature
How fence height is measured in Hawaii
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Hawaii does not set this. It leaves it to the county councils, through county zoning ordinances.
Hawaii never says where a fence height starts. Fence height belongs to the counties, the way every land use question in the state does. Section 46-4 gives each county the power to set the height of buildings and other structures. The state fence law, section 142-61, says a lawful fence must be no less than four feet high and says nothing about what those four feet rise from. So the county ordinance sets the number for a yard fence, and the county is the only place a starting point could be written.
The location, height, bulk, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures;
The code hands this to the county councils, through county zoning ordinances, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence rules for corner lots in Hawaii
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Hawaii answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Hawaii has no state sight triangle, because land use runs through the four counties. The highways chapter does bar putting any structure or object even partly inside a state highway right of way without a written permit from the director of transportation. A fence is a structure, so that reaches a fence which crosses onto the road strip. It says nothing about how low a fence has to be near a corner on private land, and chapter 46 leaves that to county ordinance.
Place, erect, leave, or store any structure, motor or other vehicle, equipment, or any other object wholly or partially within the right-of-way of any state highway; provided that this paragraph shall not apply to the holding or displaying of movable signs, for the purpose of carrying on political campaign activities.
Retaining wall rules in Hawaii
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Hawaii answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The Hawaii State Building Code has one rule aimed straight at a wall that holds back earth, and it is about the wood. Wood in a retaining wall or a crib wall has to be treated to AWPA Standard U1, the national standard for pressure treated wood that sits against soil. A crib wall is a retaining wall built as a stack of open boxes filled with rock or dirt. The state code sets no height at which such a wall needs a permit. Each county adopts and amends the state code for its own area, so the county answers the permit question.
2304.11.4 Retaining walls. Wood in retaining or crib wall shall be treated to AWPA Standard U1.
Hawaii State Building Code, amendment to IBC Section 2304.11, new Section 2304.11.4
Fence materials allowed in Hawaii
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Hawaii answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Hawaii counts a battery charged security fence as a lawful fence when it is used for something other than farming, and then sets the conditions it has to meet. Those conditions cover the alarm it ties into, the land it sits on, the battery, the solid fence around it, its height and its warning signs.
A battery-charged security fence used for non-agricultural purposes shall be a lawful fence; provided that the battery-charged security fence:
Livestock and boundary fence law in Hawaii
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Hawaii answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A lawful fence in Hawaii can be stone, posts and rails, posts and boards, posts and wire, or other fit material. It has to stand at least four feet high, be built solid and close, be kept in good repair, and turn back stock. Woven wire, also called hog wire, counts when it meets the same height and stock turning test. The sea, rivers, ponds and steep bluffs count as lawful fences wherever animals cannot get past them.
Every fence made of stone, posts and rails, posts and boards, posts and wire, or other suitable materials shall be a lawful fence; provided that the lawful fence shall be no less than four feet in height, substantially built, strong and close, existing in good state of repair, and capable of turning either all stock or all stock excepting swine, attempting to pass through the fence.
4 ftleast height of a lawful stock fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Hawaii
- set in state lawHawaii puts the loss on the animal owner, not on the neighbor who fenced. When cattle, a horse, mule, donkey, pig, sheep or goat gets onto fenced crop land, the animal owner pays the full damage once it is proved. Sections 142-64 and 142-65 carry the same rule over to crop land that is not fenced and to fenced land that is not farmed. HRS 142-63Hawaii · Statute
Documents behind this page
13 documents, each read on the date shown. Nothing on this page rests on a summary of one.
- Hawaii State LegislatureHawaii Revised Statutes, Section 664-21
- Hawaii State LegislatureHawaii Revised Statutes, Section 664-23
- Hawaii State LegislatureHawaii Revised Statutes, Section 142-61
- Hawaii State LegislatureHawaii Revised Statutes, Section 107-28
- Hawaii State LegislatureHawaii Revised Statutes, Section 107-25
- Hawaii State LegislatureHawaii Revised Statutes, Section 46-88
- Hawaii State Building Code CouncilHawaii State Building Code, adopted by the State Building Code Council 11/13/2018
- Hawaii State LegislatureHawaii Revised Statutes, Chapter 664 (Boundaries, Fences, Ways, Water Rights)
- Hawaii State LegislatureHawaii Revised Statutes, Chapter 663 (Tort Actions)
- Hawaii State LegislatureHawaii Revised Statutes, Section 46-4, County zoning
- Hawaii State LegislatureHawaii Revised Statutes, Chapter 264, Highways, Section 264-6, State highway not to be disturbed without permit
- Hawaii State LegislatureHawaii Revised Statutes, Chapter 142, Part III, Fences and Trespasses by Animals
- Hawaii State LegislatureHawaii Revised Statutes, Section 142-63
What this page does not cover
Everything above is state law. Fence height, setback, corner visibility and materials are set by city and county ordinance in almost every state, and a local rule can be far stricter than the statewide default. A parcel can also carry an easement, an overlay district, a fire hazard zone or a recorded HOA restriction, none of which appear in a statute.
This is general information drawn from published government documents. It is not legal advice, statutes are amended, and the date beside each finding is the date the document was read. How findings are made · What the terms mean