Fence laws in Iowa City, Iowa
What the Iowa City municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Iowa City sets no rule of its own, the Iowa rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Iowa City, Iowa, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Fences, walls and hedges have to be set back at least two feet from any alley or street right-of-way line in Iowa City, a small figure that keeps a fence clear of the public edge without pushing it far into the yard, and the answer turns on what the line faces and whether a sidewalk exists yet. The figure is 2 feet, for setback from an alley or street right-of-way line.
- How tall
- Iowa City sets its ceiling by solidity rather than by yard, and the answer turns on how solid the fence is, the zoning within fifty feet and the shape of the lot. The figure is 8 feet, for fence or wall more than ten percent solid.
- Permits
- Iowa City names five things that need a building permit before construction and everything else needs none, and the answer turns on the kind of fence or wall and how tall it is. The figure is 6 feet, for height above which a fence or wall needs a permit.
- Pool barriers
- Chapter 135I sets the Iowa rules for swimming pools, spas and spray pads.
- Spite fences
- Iowa City has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Iowa names the ground, for the one kind of fence it regulates. The figure is 20 inches, for bottom rail, wire or board of a lawful fence, measured from the ground. It reaches a lawful fence under the partition fence law only.
- Corner lots
- Iowa City sets the trigger low and keeps the geometry elsewhere, and the answer turns on the intersection visibility standards in chapter 5, article D. The figure is 2 feet, for height above which a corner fence is caught by the visibility standards.
- Retaining walls
- Iowa City leaves retaining walls to the 2024 International Residential Code. It reaches houses, duplexes and townhouses up to three stories, and the structures beside them only.
- Materials
- Iowa City defines barbed wire rather than merely naming it, and the answer turns on the zone, what the fence encloses and the specification of the wire. The figure is 4 inches, for least spacing between barbs on a strand.
- Livestock
- Iowa names six builds that count as a lawful fence. The figure is 10 feet, for post spacing for a three rail lawful fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Iowa City?
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Iowa City answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the line faces and whether a sidewalk exists yet.
Fences, walls and hedges have to be set back at least two feet from any alley or street right-of-way line in Iowa City, a small figure that keeps a fence clear of the public edge without pushing it far into the yard. Nothing is stated about the distance from a neighbor, and the whole section only bites on a fence within a principal building setback or within five feet of a lot line, so a fence in the middle of a large lot falls outside it. Barbed wire and electric fences carry their own clearance: five feet from a public sidewalk, or four feet from the street right-of-way line where no sidewalk exists. And then a provision no other city in this project writes: a wire fence may go on the right-of-way line itself if the owner agrees to move it back the required distance within two months of a public sidewalk being laid, and that agreement has to be filed with the fence permit application.
Barbed wire and electric fences are prohibited within five feet (5′) of a public sidewalk or within four feet (4′) of a street right of way line where a public sidewalk does not exist. In the latter case, however, a barbed wire or electric fence may be installed or constructed along the right of way line if the property owner agrees to move the fence back the required distance within two (2) months after the installation of a public sidewalk.
The answer turns on what the line faces and whether a sidewalk exists yet.
- an alley or street line
- Two feet back. 2 ft
- wire near a sidewalk
- Five feet clear. 5 ft
- wire where no sidewalk exists
- Four feet, or a promise to move it. 2 months
- a neighbor line
- No distance stated.
Also on fences on the property line in Iowa City
- set in state lawIowa treats a fence on a boundary as a shared job. When one owner asks in writing, the law makes each owner of the touching land build and keep up the partition fence, or pay a share toward it. The duty runs the whole year, not part of it. Iowa Code 359A.1AIowa · Statute
- set in state lawIowa hands boundary fence fights to local officials called fence viewers. The township trustees for the place where the argument starts are the fence viewers, and they can hear and settle every question in the dispute. Iowa Code 359A.2AIowa · Statute
- set in state lawThe fence viewers give everyone in the dispute five days of written notice before a hearing. The notice gives the time and place and lists what will be decided. It also names the fence viewers and says whether any of them reported a conflict of interest. Iowa Code 359A.3Iowa · Statute
- set in state lawAfter the hearing the fence viewers write an order. It gives each owner the part of the fence to build, keep up, rebuild, trim or pay for. It also sets the value of that work and the deadline to finish it or pay. Iowa Code 359A.4Iowa · Statute
- set in state lawIowa lets a fence sit right on the boundary. A person building one may lay it on the line so part of it stands on each side, and keeps the same right to take it down as if the whole fence stood on one lot. Iowa Code 359A.16Iowa · Statute
- set in state lawIowa names six kinds of fence that count as a lawful fence. One is a wire, rail or board fence with its bottom line sixteen to twenty inches off the ground and its top line between forty eight and fifty four inches high. Fence viewers may also accept any other fence they judge equal to the six. Iowa Code 359A.18Iowa · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Iowa City?
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Iowa City answers this, but the answer changes depending on how solid the fence is, the zoning within fifty feet and the shape of the lot.
Iowa City sets its ceiling by solidity rather than by yard. No portion of a fence or wall more than ten percent solid may exceed eight feet, and the code defines solidity as the percentage of the fence over a random area made of opaque material that does not let light or air through. Below ten percent solid nothing is stated, so an open wire or rail fence has no height limit in this section. The front yard rule is the one that bites on a house. A fence over four feet is not permitted in the principal building front setback on residential property, or on any property within fifty feet of residential property along the same frontage, so a shop across the street from a house is caught. That limit rises to six feet for a double frontage lot or a reversed corner lot with frontage on an expressway or arterial. Retaining walls are lifted out of both rules.
no portion of a fence or wall more than ten percent (10%) solid shall exceed eight feet (8′) in height. The solidity is the percent of the fence over a random area which is made up of solid, opaque material, and which does not allow light or air to pass through. Retaining walls are exempt from the provisions of this paragraph.
The answer turns on how solid the fence is, the zoning within fifty feet and the shape of the lot.
- a fence more than a tenth solid
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a front setback beside houses
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a double frontage lot on an arterial
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a retaining wall
- Exempt from both.
Also on fence height in Iowa City
- no rule, documents checkedIowa sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The fence chapter gives heights only as specs for a lawful farm fence, and the state building code as adopted deletes the permit sections and never mentions fences at all. Height for a yard fence comes from city ordinance. Iowa Code 359A.18Iowa · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Iowa City?
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Iowa City answers this, but the answer changes depending on the kind of fence or wall and how tall it is.
Iowa City names five things that need a building permit before construction and everything else needs none. Electric fences. Barbed wire fences. Any fence or wall over six feet. Any retaining wall over four feet measured from the top of the footing to the top of the wall. And a retaining wall of any height that supports a surcharge or impounds flammable liquids. So an ordinary six foot back yard fence is exempt while a four and a half foot retaining wall is not, which reverses the usual order and reflects that the risk being regulated is collapse rather than appearance. The application goes to the department of housing and inspection services, the building official reviews it against the accessory uses article, and issues it once those provisions are met. Where a wire fence is built on the right-of-way line, the owner agreement to move it after a sidewalk goes in has to be submitted with the application.
Prior to construction of any of the following types of fences or walls, a building permit must be obtained from the department of housing and inspection services: 1. Electric fences; 2. Barbed wire fences; 3. Any fence or wall over six feet (6′) in height; 4. Any retaining wall over four feet (4′) in height measured from the top of the footing to the top of the wall; and 5. A retaining wall of any height that supports a surcharge or impounds flammable liquids.
The answer turns on the kind of fence or wall and how tall it is.
- a fence over six feet
- A building permit. 6 ft
- a retaining wall over four feet
- A permit, measured from the footing. 4 ft
- wire or electric fencing
- A permit at any height.
- an ordinary six foot fence
- No permit.
Also on permits in Iowa City
- set in state lawIowa has a state building code and it does not switch on by itself. It applies in a city or county only after the local governing body passes an ordinance accepting it and files a certified copy with the state commissioner. A place that adopted the code may later vote to withdraw from it. Iowa Code 103A.12Iowa · Statute
- set in state lawThe Iowa state building code adopts the 2024 International Residential Code for houses, duplexes and townhouses up to three stories, plus the structures beside them. The state version of the International Building Code covers everything else. Iowa Admin. Code 481-301.8Iowa · Building code
- set in state lawIowa strips the permit chapters out of the residential code it adopts. Sections R103 through R114 are deleted, and those are the sections that create the building department, the permit itself, and the list of work that needs no permit. The state building code text carries no fence permit rule and no fence height, so the local jurisdiction settles the permit question for a fence. The state version of the International Building Code deletes its sections 103, 104 and 105 the same way. Iowa Admin. Code 481-301.8(2)Iowa · Building code
Pool fence requirements in Iowa City
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Iowa answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Chapter 135I sets the Iowa rules for swimming pools, spas and spray pads. It reaches pools run by state and local government, by businesses and by private groups, and it names hotels, motels, camps, apartments, condominiums and country clubs. A pool meant for one family at a home falls outside the chapter.
This one is Iowa law, not Iowa City law. All Iowa findings
This chapter does not apply to facilities intended for single family use
Also on pool barriers in Iowa City
- set in state lawA pool covered by chapter 135I has to be ringed by a fence, wall, building or a mix of those, at least four feet high and built of lasting material. The rule leaves out a wading pool that is drained when not in use, and it leaves out a spray pad. Iowa Admin. Code 481-485.4(4)Iowa · Agency guidance
- set in state lawThe same Iowa rule limits the gaps in a pool barrier. No opening may let a four inch ball pass, and the barrier cannot be easy for a toddler to climb. The lowest horizontal support that can be reached from outside sits at least forty five inches above the ground. Iowa Admin. Code 481-485.4(4)Iowa · Agency guidance
Spite fence laws in Iowa City
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Iowa City law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Iowa has no spite fence law. The fence chapter and the nuisance chapter never mention a fence built to annoy a neighbor, and neither one sets a height that turns a fence into a legal wrong. Section 657.1 gives only a general test covering anything that blocks the free use of property, and section 657.2 lists twelve named nuisances, none of them a boundary fence.
This one is Iowa law, not Iowa City law. All Iowa findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Iowa Code ch. 359AIowa Legislature
- Iowa Code 657.1Iowa Legislature
- Iowa Code 657.2Iowa Legislature
How fence height is measured in Iowa City
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Iowa answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Iowa names the ground, for the one kind of fence it regulates. Section 359A.18 lists what counts as a lawful fence, and the rail, wire or board version puts the lowest piece sixteen to twenty inches from the ground and the top piece between forty eight and fifty four inches high. The ground is the starting point and the statute prints it. This is a livestock fence rule and it never reaches a yard. A city fence height comes from the city, since section 414.1 lets a city set the height of buildings and other structures without naming a surface.
This one is Iowa law, not Iowa City law. All Iowa findings
the lowest or bottom rail, wire, or board not more than twenty nor less than sixteen inches from the ground
20 inbottom rail, wire or board of a lawful fence, measured from the ground
Also on how height is measured in Iowa City
- no rule, documents checkedIowa City states eight feet, six feet, four feet and two feet for fences and never says what any of them is measured from. No grade is named for a fence, a berm is not addressed, and a fence built on a retaining wall is not addressed, which matters here because the same section treats retaining walls as a separate thing with its own rules. Two neighboring measurements are precise. A retaining wall is measured from the top of the footing to the top of the wall, which counts the buried part and is stricter than measuring from the ground. And the bottom strand of barbed wire in a commercial or industrial zone has to be no less than six feet above grade. The section also defines a percentage rather than a distance: solidity is the percentage of the fence over a random area made of solid opaque material that does not let light or air pass through. Section 14-4C-2.L.2Iowa City · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Iowa City
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Iowa City answers this, but the answer changes depending on the intersection visibility standards in chapter 5, article D.
Iowa City sets the trigger low and keeps the geometry elsewhere. On corner lots, any fence, wall or hedge over two feet in height has to comply with chapter 5, article D of the zoning code, the Intersection Visibility Standards, which was not read for this page, so the size of the protected area and the treatment of an open fence inside it are not recorded here. Two feet is the lowest trigger in this project and it catches a garden wall or a low hedge as readily as a privacy fence. What the fence section itself supplies at a corner is the ordinary front setback limit of four feet on residential frontages, and the solidity ceiling of eight feet for anything more than ten percent solid. The code treats a reversed corner lot as a special case for height, allowing six feet in the front setback where such a lot fronts an expressway or an arterial street.
On corner lots, fences, walls, and hedges over two feet (2′) in height must comply with the provisions of chapter 5, article D, "Intersection Visibility Standards", of this title.
The answer turns on the intersection visibility standards in chapter 5, article D.
- the trigger height
- Two feet. 2 ft
- the size of the area
- Set in chapter 5, article D, not read here.
- a residential front setback
- Four feet regardless.
- a reversed corner lot on an arterial
- Six feet.
Also on corner visibility in Iowa City
- set in state lawIowa gives obstructions in a road their own chapter, and it names fences. Chapter 318 bars putting an obstruction inside a highway right of way and lists the placing of fences as one of the examples, alongside crops, ditches, billboards and debris. Section 318.6 then calls anything placed there a public nuisance. The chapter is about the public strip and carries no triangle, no angle and no height. City zoning power comes from chapter 414 and county zoning from chapter 335, and that is where a corner clearance rule on a private lot is written in Iowa. Iowa Code 318.3Iowa · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Iowa City
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Iowa City does not set this. It leaves it to the 2024 International Residential Code.
Iowa adopts the 2024 International Residential Code for houses, duplexes and townhouses up to three stories and the structures beside them, then lists the changes it makes. None of those changes touch a wall that holds back earth, so the model code carries that rule unchanged. Iowa does delete sections R103 through R114, which is where the model code keeps the permit chapter and the list of work that needs no permit. So the foundation and retaining wall chapter stays in force while the permit call belongs to the city or county.
This one is Iowa law, not Iowa City law. All Iowa findings
The provisions of the International Residential Code, 2024 edition, published by the International Code Council, located at www.iccsafe.org, are hereby adopted by reference as the requirements for construction
The code hands this to the 2024 International Residential Code, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Iowa City
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Iowa City answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone, what the fence encloses and the specification of the wire.
Iowa City defines barbed wire rather than merely naming it. Barbed wire consists of twisted wires with barbs on each wire, the barbs on each wire have to be at least four inches apart, and any barbed wire that does not meet that description is prohibited, which quietly outlaws the close-spaced modern product. Concertina wire is prohibited outright. Barbed wire is otherwise permitted only in the commercial, industrial and research zones, with the bottom strand no less than six feet above grade, or anywhere for enclosing livestock on an allowed agricultural use. Electric fences are not permitted in any zone except for that same livestock, and where allowed they may not carry more than twenty five milliamperes or a pulsating current lower than a tenth of a second in a one second cycle, and must carry the seal of an approved testing laboratory. No other material is named and none is otherwise banned.
Barbed wire consists of twisted wires with barbs on each wire. The barbs on each wire must be at least four inches (4") apart. Any barbed wire that does not meet this description is prohibited. Concertina wire is prohibited.
The answer turns on the zone, what the fence encloses and the specification of the wire.
- barbs closer than four inches
- Prohibited. 4 in
- barbed wire in a business zone
- Bottom strand six feet up. 6 ft
- an electric fence
- Livestock only, twenty five milliamperes.
- any other material
- Not addressed.
Also on materials in Iowa City
- set in state lawIowa writes the barbs themselves into the law. One kind of lawful fence is three barbed wires carrying at least thirty six iron barbs of two points each, or twenty six barbs of four points each, on every rod of wire. Another is four wires, two barbed that way and two smooth. A rod is sixteen and a half feet. Iowa Code 359A.18Iowa · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Iowa City
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Iowa answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Iowa names six builds that count as a lawful fence. Three rails on posts no more than ten feet apart. Three boards at least six inches wide and three quarters of an inch thick on posts no more than eight feet apart. Three barbed wires, or four wires with two of them barbed, with the top wire forty eight to fifty four inches up. A wire fence with the bottom line sixteen to twenty inches off the ground and the top line forty eight to fifty four inches up. Four coated high tensile smooth wires on posts no more than two rods apart with the top wire at least forty inches up, a rod being sixteen and a half feet. Or anything the fence viewers judge equal to those.
This one is Iowa law, not Iowa City law. All Iowa findings
A lawful fence shall consist of: 1. Three rails of good substantial material fastened in or to good substantial posts not more than ten feet apart. 2. Three boards not less than six inches wide and three-quarters of an inch thick, fastened in or to good substantial posts not more than eight feet apart.
10 ftpost spacing for a three rail lawful fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Iowa City
- set in state lawIowa makes the livestock owner pay for damage from trespassing animals, including the cost of feeding and holding them, and that stays true whether or not the landowner takes the animals in. One thing cancels it. If the animals came through a fence the landowner was supposed to keep up under the fence chapter and did not, the livestock owner owes nothing. The fence chapter hands out those duties, so fence viewers settle the fence half of the question rather than which side owns animals. Iowa Code 169C.4(1)(a)Iowa · Statute
Documents behind this page
17 documents, of which 2 were published by Iowa City itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 359A.1A
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 359A.2A
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 359A.3
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 359A.4
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 359A.16
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 359A.18
- City of Iowa CityIowa City Code of Ordinances, Title 14, Zoning Code, Chapter 4, Article C, Accessory Uses and Buildings, Section 14-4C-2, Specific Approval Criteria
- Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and LicensingIowa Administrative Code, Chapter 481-301 (State Building Code)
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 103A.12
- City of Iowa CityIowa City Code of Ordinances, Title 14, Zoning Code, Chapter 8, Article B, Section 14-8B-4, Fence Permit
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 135I.2
- Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and LicensingIowa Administrative Code, Chapter 481-485 (Swimming Pools, Spas, and Spray Pads)
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Chapter 359A (Fences)
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 657.1
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 657.2
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code 2026, Section 318.3, Obstructions in highway right-of-way
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Chapter 169C, Trespassing or Stray Livestock
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 Iowa City publishes, plus the Iowa rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Iowa 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