Fence laws in Dearborn, Michigan
What the Dearborn municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Dearborn sets no rule of its own, the Michigan rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Dearborn, Michigan, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Dearborn settles the posts argument with a compass, and the answer turns on which way the street runs.
- How tall
- A line fence in a Dearborn residential district stops at six feet, and the decorative top the city permits does not sit on top of that figure, it sits inside it: a one foot decorative top is allowed provided the height of the fence still does not exceed six feet, and the answer turns on the district and where on the lot the fence runs. The figure is 6 feet, for residential line fence.
- Permits
- Dearborn calls its fence permit a compliance certificate and requires one for five separate acts: building, replacing, removing, repairing or relocating a line fence, and the answer turns on what is being done to the fence and how much of it. The figure is 10 percent, for repair exempt from a compliance certificate.
- Pool barriers
- Michigan puts no pool fence height in its own statute.
- Spite fences
- Dearborn has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Below ground Dearborn is exact, and the answer turns on whether the measurement is below ground or above it. The figure is 3 feet, for depth a fence post is sunk.
- Corner lots
- Dearborn handles the corner with a slope rather than a triangle, and the answer turns on whether the side street has housing on it. The figure is 2 feet, for fence height at the front lot line.
- Retaining walls
- A retaining wall in Michigan needs no building permit if it is four feet tall or less, measured from the bottom of the footing up to the top of the wall. The figure is 4 feet, for height at or below which a retaining wall needs no building permit. It reaches one and two family homes and townhouses under the Michigan residential code only.
- Materials
- The permitted styles are listed and left open ended: board-on-board, shadow-box, privacy, semi-privacy, solid, chain link, cyclone, picket and wrought iron, among others, with a one foot decorative top allowed on the solid and semi-solid styles, and the answer turns on the style, the district and what the fence encloses. The figure is 90 degrees, for minimum angle at the top of a picket.
- Livestock
- Michigan sets no height, wire count, board count or post spacing for a farm fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Dearborn?
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Dearborn answers this, but the answer changes depending on which way the street runs.
Dearborn settles the posts argument with a compass. Line fences are built on common property lines, and on a street running generally east and west the posts go contiguous to and on the westerly side of the dividing line with the boards or woven wire on the easterly side, while on a street running north and south the posts go on the northerly side and the material on the southerly side. Which neighbor ends up looking at the frame is therefore a fact about the street grid, not a negotiation. On top of that the finished appearance of a fence faces the exterior of the lot, and where one side is more finished than the other it is that side that faces out. Only one fence may be built on any common or adjoining property line. The cost side is equally unusual: adjacent owners may build and maintain a fence between their lots at equal expense to each, unless they agree to leave it out in whole or in part, and every owner is made responsible for the upkeep of fences on their partition lines and boundaries.
On all streets running generally east and west, the posts shall be placed contiguous to and on the westerly side of the dividing line, and the boards, woven wire or other material on the easterly side of the posts
5-127(5), with 5-127(4) and 5-122
The answer turns on which way the street runs.
- an east to west street
- Posts on the west side of the line.
- a north to south street
- Posts on the north side of the line.
- a shared line fence
- Equal expense to each owner, unless they agree to skip it.
Also on fences on the property line in Dearborn
- set in state lawIn Michigan the owner who builds a fence on the line pays for it and for keeping it up, and the neighbor owes nothing. Most states split that cost. The neighbor starts owing a share of what the fence is worth now only when that neighbor or their renter begins using it to hold animals, and even then the neighbor can build a separate fence instead. The whole act covers only fences that hold animals, because section 43.51 defines a fence that way. MCL 43.53(1)Michigan · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Dearborn?
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Dearborn answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and where on the lot the fence runs.
A line fence in a Dearborn residential district stops at six feet, and the decorative top the city permits does not sit on top of that figure, it sits inside it: a one foot decorative top is allowed provided the height of the fence still does not exceed six feet. No fence may extend into the owner front yard, and none may go beyond the rear yard or project into a side yard further than three feet from the side grade door opening, which is written to allow just enough fence to enclose a side door. Decorative fences and corner lot houses are exempted from that, the latter allowed to reach the established front building line where the adjacent yard is not a front yard. A privacy screen is capped at six feet, kept to the rear yard on the interior of the lot, and needs six feet of clearance from any other fence, structure or property line. Commercial districts take six feet and industrial districts eight.
Line fences in residential districts shall not exceed six feet in height.
5-128(1)(a) through (c), with 5-128(2) and 5-129
The answer turns on the district and where on the lot the fence runs.
- a residential line fence
- Six feet, decorative top included. 6 ft
- a side yard around a grade door
- Three feet out from the door opening. 3 ft
- an industrial district
- Eight feet. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Dearborn
- no rule, documents checkedMichigan sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The state fence act defines a fence by what it holds in, not by height, and names no number. The seven feet in the residential code rules is the point where a permit starts being needed, not a cap. The city, village or township sets the limit. MCL 43.51Michigan · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Dearborn?
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Dearborn answers this, but the answer changes depending on what is being done to the fence and how much of it.
Dearborn calls its fence permit a compliance certificate and requires one for five separate acts: building, replacing, removing, repairing or relocating a line fence. Needing one to take a fence down is rare. Three exceptions are written in. Minor repairs are exempt where they do not exceed ten percent of the length of the fence along any one property line in any twelve month period, the fence is a permitted style and the repair uses like material. A decorative fence needs no certificate but still has to meet the general requirements. And no separate certificate is needed where approved work includes relocating a gate or part of a fence on the adjoining property. Where the department orders an owner to build, replace, remove, repair or relocate a condemned fence, every adjacent owner is responsible for the expense, the director sets a reasonable cost including survey, application and permit fee, and a prorated share is charged to each. An unpaid share may be paid by the city and, if not collected by the end of the year, reported to council and collected as a special assessment.
It shall be unlawful for any person to build, replace, remove, repair or relocate a line fence in the city without first having secured a compliance certificate therefor from the department.
The answer turns on what is being done to the fence and how much of it.
- building, moving or removing a line fence
- A compliance certificate.
- a repair under a tenth of the run in a year
- No certificate, if the material matches. 10%
- a fence the city condemns
- Every adjacent owner pays a prorated share.
Also on permits in Dearborn
- set in state lawA fence in Michigan seven feet tall or shorter needs no building permit. The state writes that number into its own rule rather than taking the model code as it comes. Rule 505 replaces section R105.2 of the residential code. The same no permit list also covers a separate shed up to 200 square feet, a retaining wall under four feet with no extra weight on the soil behind it, and a store bought pool less than 24 inches deep. Skipping the permit does not make legal any work that breaks the code or a city rule. R 408.30505Michigan · Building code
Pool fence requirements in Dearborn
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Michigan answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Michigan puts no pool fence height in its own statute. The state construction code act builds the Michigan code out of the national model codes, including the International Residential Code, plus whatever changes the director makes. So the fence rule for a pool at a house comes from that model code. The same act says a Michigan version of a code has to be free to the public before anyone can enforce it.
This one is Michigan law, not Dearborn law. All Michigan findings
The code shall consist of the international residential code, the international building code, the international mechanical code, the international plumbing code, the international existing building code, and the international energy conservation code published by the international code council and the national electrical code published by the national fire prevention association, with amendments, additions, or deletions as the director determines appropriate.
Spite fence laws in Dearborn
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Dearborn law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Michigan has no spite fence law. The state fence act covers who pays, who the fence viewer is, and what a fence viewer can decide, and section 43.55 says plainly that a fence viewer does not settle boundary arguments. Nothing in the act turns on why a fence went up or how tall it is. A claim about a fence built to annoy rests on ordinary nuisance law made by judges, and on city zoning.
This one is Michigan law, not Dearborn law. All Michigan findings
Documents read before writing that:
How fence height is measured in Dearborn
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Dearborn answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the measurement is below ground or above it.
Below ground Dearborn is exact. Every fence built or repaired needs posts of iron pipe at a stated diameter, wood at four inches across, reinforced concrete at four inches across, or another material of equal stability, sunk in the soil at least three feet and encased in concrete, with the fencing material properly fastened to those posts. Above ground the article never defines grade at all, so the six foot residential figure and the tapering corner heights are stated without saying where the reading starts, what happens on a slope, or which of two neighboring lots sets the level. The only vertical reference point named anywhere in the article is the eight foot clearance for barbed wire, measured above ground. A privacy screen carries the one other spatial figure, needing six feet of clearance from any other fence, structure or property line.
All fences built or repaired shall have posts made of either iron pipe one and five-eighths inches outside diameter, wood posts four inches in diameter, reinforced concrete posts four inches across, or any other material of equal stability sunk in the soil at least three feet encased in concrete.
The answer turns on whether the measurement is below ground or above it.
- setting the posts
- Three feet into the soil, in concrete. 3 ft
- reading the height
- The article never says where from.
- a privacy screen
- Six feet clear of anything else. 6 ft
Also on how height is measured in Dearborn
- left to the townMichigan never says where a fence height is measured from. Section 125.3201 of the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act lets a local government limit the height of buildings and other structures, and stops there. The state fence law says even less. Section 43.51 calls a fence anything good enough to hold an animal, with no number and no starting point. So the county, township or city writes both the limit and the way it is measured. MCL 125.3201(4)Michigan · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Dearborn
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Dearborn answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the side street has housing on it.
Dearborn handles the corner with a slope rather than a triangle. A fence is permitted on the side street lot line between the established building line and the front lot line, and it has to taper from four feet at the building line down to two feet at the front lot line, or else hold a uniform two feet the whole way. Two feet at the street is a low figure by Michigan standards and the taper gives back height as the fence moves away from the intersection. Where a corner lot faces a side street with no residential housing on it, the rule relaxes on position instead of height, allowing the fence on the property line or no closer than one foot from the edge of the sidewalk. A vacant residence-zoned lot may carry no fence closer to the street than the established front building line, and a house with a side yard at least sixteen feet wide but no side door has to keep the enclosing fence ten feet behind the building line.
Fences shall be permitted on the side street lot line on corner lots between the established building line and the front lot line. Such fences shall taper from four feet in height at the building line to two feet at the front lot line or such fences may have a uniform height of two feet.
The answer turns on whether the side street has housing on it.
- a corner lot side street
- Four feet tapering to two, or a flat two. 2 ft
- a side street with no housing on it
- On the line, or a foot off the sidewalk. 1 ft
- a wide side yard with no door
- Ten feet behind the building line. 10 ft
Also on corner visibility in Dearborn
- set in state lawMichigan has a 1925 law about fences that sit in the road. Act 368 of 1925, in Chapter 247 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, lets the commissioner in charge of a road order an owner to pull back any fence, building or other thing that crosses into a public highway, and gives the owner thirty days. The order has to state how wide the road is and where the fence sits compared to the center line. An owner who ignores it owes a dollar a day. The law covers the road itself and nothing else. A clear view triangle at a corner comes from a city rule written under the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act. MCL 247.171Michigan · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Dearborn
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Michigan answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A retaining wall in Michigan needs no building permit if it is four feet tall or less, measured from the bottom of the footing up to the top of the wall. The footing sits below the ground, so the four feet starts lower than the yard does. Michigan writes this itself. Rule 505 replaces section R105.2 of the residential code. A wall holding up a surcharge needs a permit at any height. A surcharge means extra weight pressing on the soil behind the wall, such as a driveway or a building. Skipping the permit does not make legal any work that breaks the code or a city rule.
This one is Michigan law, not Dearborn law. All Michigan findings
A retaining wall that is not more than 4 feet (1 219 mm) in height measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, unless supporting a surcharge.
4 ftheight at or below which a retaining wall needs no building permit
Fence materials allowed in Dearborn
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Dearborn answers this, but the answer changes depending on the style, the district and what the fence encloses.
The permitted styles are listed and left open ended: board-on-board, shadow-box, privacy, semi-privacy, solid, chain link, cyclone, picket and wrought iron, among others, with a one foot decorative top allowed on the solid and semi-solid styles. What is barred is named just as plainly, and one entry is a surprise. Masonry fences are prohibited, as are vinyl slats pushed through chain link or cyclone fencing, and animal enclosures such as dog runs, kennels and pens. Decorative fences are prohibited on side and rear property lines. Electric current and razor wire are out everywhere. Barbed wire is allowed only at the top of a security fence around storage in the three heavier industrial districts, never in the lightest one, never in a front yard or along an arterial or collector road, never lower than eight feet above the ground, and only on supports slanting inward over the site. A separate paragraph bars any spike, nail or sharp pointed instrument on a fence, a stair railing or the adjacent sidewalk, and requires a picket top to have an angle of not less than ninety degrees.
Prohibited fence styles include, but are not limited to, masonry fences and vinyl slats inserted in chain-link or cyclone fences.
5-127(1) and (2), with 5-127(3)(b), (c) and (d)
The answer turns on the style, the district and what the fence encloses.
- a masonry fence or slatted chain link
- Prohibited.
- a picket top
- An angle of at least ninety degrees. 90 degrees
- barbed wire in a heavy industrial district
- Eight feet up, slanting inward, off the main roads. 8 ft
Also on materials in Dearborn
- set in state lawMichigan says in its construction code act what a low voltage electric fence is. It counts as one only if it stands on land zoned for something other than homes and runs off a battery of 12 volts or less. It also has to sit inside a fence or wall that carries no current and stands at least 5 feet tall. It stops at 10 feet and carries shock warning signs no more than 60 feet apart, written in English and Spanish. A fence that meets the whole list needs no permit when a registered alarm company installs it. MCL 125.1528aMichigan · Building code
Livestock and boundary fence law in Dearborn
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Michigan answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Michigan sets no height, wire count, board count or post spacing for a farm fence. The fence viewers act defines a fence by what it does rather than what it is made of, so anything that holds an animal counts, and so does a natural barrier such as a river or a thick hedge. The animals it has to hold are the ones named in the running at large act: cattle, horses, sheep, swine, mules, burros or goats.
This one is Michigan law, not Dearborn law. All Michigan findings
means a structure or natural barrier which is sufficient to confine an animal as defined in section 1 of Act No. 328 of the Public Acts of 1976
Also on agricultural fencing in Dearborn
- set in state lawMichigan puts the duty on the animal owner across the whole state. An animal may not run loose anywhere in Michigan. The owner may not let it happen, and neither may anybody else who knows what they are doing. Running at large means the animal is off the owner's land and out of the owner's control. A person whose property gets damaged can ask the owner to pay, and nothing in the act asks that person to have built a fence first. MCL 433.12Michigan · Statute
Documents behind this page
10 documents, of which 1 was published by Dearborn itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Chapter 43, Fences and Fence Viewers, Act 34 of 1978
- City of DearbornDearborn Code of Ordinances, Chapter 5, Article IV, Fences
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Chapter 43, Fences and Fence Viewers, Act 34 of 1978
- Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Construction CodesMichigan Administrative Code, Construction Code, Part 5, Residential Code, R 408.30500 to R 408.30547g
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Stille-DeRossett-Hale Single State Construction Code Act, Act 230 of 1972
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Chapter 43, Fences and Fence Viewers, Act 34 of 1978
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Michigan Zoning Enabling Act, Section 125.3201
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Act 368 of 1925, Highway Obstructions and Encroachments, Section 247.171, Encroachments; removal order, service; temporary permit
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Stille-DeRossett-Hale Single State Construction Code Act, Act 230 of 1972, Section 28a
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Animals Running at Large, Act 328 of 1976
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 Dearborn publishes, plus the Michigan rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Michigan 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