Fence laws in Detroit, Michigan
What the Detroit municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Detroit sets no rule of its own, the Michigan rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Detroit, Michigan, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Detroit still runs the nineteenth century partition fence rule and has modernized the awkward part of it with the street numbering, and the answer turns on which side of the fence carries the higher street number.
- How tall
- Detroit gives a fence a minimum as well as a maximum, which very few cities do, and the answer turns on the use, the yard, and whether the fence is opaque. The figure is 8 feet, for tallest ordinary fence between lots.
- Permits
- The Detroit Property Maintenance Code deals with fences in one sentence: fences shall be maintained in good repair, and the answer turns on whether the fence encloses a pool. The figure is 4 feet, for fence required around a pool.
- Pool barriers
- Michigan puts no pool fence height in its own statute.
- Spite fences
- Detroit has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Detroit reads a partition fence against the average grade of the two adjoining lots rather than the ground on either side, which is the fairest datum on this site and the only one that asks both neighbors to share the slope. The figure is 3 feet, for depth a fence post is sunk into the soil.
- Corner lots
- On a corner lot in the Detroit residential districts nothing opaque over thirty six inches above the nearest street curb elevation may stand inside the clear vision triangle, and that triangle is drawn by running each curb line forty five feet out from where they meet and joining the ends, and the answer turns on whether the obstruction is opaque, and how the streets meet. The figure is 36 inches, for tallest opaque object in the triangle.
- 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
- Barbed wire in Detroit is allowed only on business or industrial land, only on a fence already six feet or taller, and only on arms or brackets that extend inward over private property, so nothing leans out over a sidewalk or a neighbor, and the answer turns on the district, what is next door, and how high the wire sits. The figure is 6 feet, for lowest point wire may be attached.
- Livestock
- Michigan sets no height, wire count, board count or post spacing for a farm fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Detroit?
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Detroit answers this, but the answer changes depending on which side of the fence carries the higher street number.
Detroit still runs the nineteenth century partition fence rule and has modernized the awkward part of it with the street numbering. Every lot owner has to build and maintain a partition fence between their lot and the next, unless the adjoining owners agree by mutual consent to leave it out between dwellings, and the partition fence means only the stretch between the rear of the house and the alley or rear lot line. Which side the posts go on is settled by the house numbering system: posts are placed on the side leading to the higher number, except along East and West Grand Boulevard and Outer Drive, which are treated as though numbered like the parallel streets. The owner whose property the posts sit on builds and maintains the front half of that fence and the rear half of the opposite one. And the code fixes the boundary itself, saying the junction of the post and the boards or wire shall always be considered the lot line, while disclaiming any city responsibility for locating it.
Posts of all fences shall be placed on the side of the fence leading to the higher number as assigned by the City, except only the fences on East and West Grand Boulevard and Outer Drive shall be governed as though the Grand Boulevard and Outer Drive were numbered as on parallel streets.
The answer turns on which side of the fence carries the higher street number.
- the side with the higher street number
- The posts go there, and that owner builds two halves.
- the line itself
- The junction of post and boards is the lot line.
- two owners who agree
- The fence between dwellings may be left out.
Also on fences on the property line in Detroit
- 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 Detroit?
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Detroit answers this, but the answer changes depending on the use, the yard, and whether the fence is opaque.
Detroit gives a fence a minimum as well as a maximum, which very few cities do. Between adjoining lots and on streets, alleys and easements a fence may be no less than two feet and no more than eight, and one enclosing industrial or commercial property may reach twelve. Then a second set of numbers overrides the first for houses. A fence abutting the front yard of a single or two family dwelling stops at four feet, and at three if it is opaque, so an open fence buys a foot. The side and rear yards of those dwellings take six. The rule reaches across the boundary too: a use on a lot adjoining a single or two family dwelling has to observe the same limits on the fence separating the two. A deed restriction or a historic district provision specifying a taller front yard fence overrides the four feet.
Fences between adjoining lots and on streets, alleys, and easements shall not be less than two feet in height or more than eight feet in height, except fences enclosing industrial or commercial properties may be 12 feet in height;
The answer turns on the use, the yard, and whether the fence is opaque.
- between adjoining lots generally
- Two feet minimum, eight feet maximum. 8 ft
- the front yard of a house
- Four feet, or three if opaque. 4 ft
- the side or rear yard of a house
- Six feet. 6 ft
- industrial or commercial property
- Twelve feet. 12 ft
Also on fence height in Detroit
- 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 Detroit?
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Detroit answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence encloses a pool.
The Detroit Property Maintenance Code deals with fences in one sentence: fences shall be maintained in good repair. That is the whole of the upkeep duty, with no notice period, no inspection schedule and no list of what disrepair means, so it works as a standard an inspector applies rather than a test an owner can measure against. The swimming pool section next to it is far more specific. A pool has to be entirely enclosed by a wire mesh or other type of fence at least four feet high that prevents direct access, with a self-closing and self-latching gate kept in good repair that will positively close and latch when released from a still position of six inches. A pool not in use has to be completely drained and either permanently covered or filled in with Grade A soil or sand.
Fences shall be maintained in good repair.
The answer turns on whether the fence encloses a pool.
- any fence in the city
- Kept in good repair.
- a fence around a pool
- Four feet, preventing direct access, with a self latching gate. 4 ft
- that gate
- Closes and latches from six inches ajar. 6 in
Also on permits in Detroit
- 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 Detroit
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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 Detroit 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 Detroit
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Detroit 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 Detroit law. All Michigan findings
Documents read before writing that:
How fence height is measured in Detroit
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Detroit answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Detroit reads a partition fence against the average grade of the two adjoining lots rather than the ground on either side, which is the fairest datum on this site and the only one that asks both neighbors to share the slope. The same sentence tells a builder how far down to go: the post is sunk at least three feet into the soil, and it has to stand at least two feet above that averaged grade. The specification that surrounds it is equally exact, naming one and five eighths inch iron pipe, two inch angle irons embedded in concrete, four inch wood posts, four inch reinforced concrete posts, or any other member of equal stability, with woven wire, boards, metal or other approved materials properly fastened to them.
sunk in the soil at least three feet and that has a height above the average grade of the two adjoining lots of not less than two feet.
3 ftdepth a fence post is sunk into the soil
Also on how height is measured in Detroit
- 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 Detroit
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Detroit answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the obstruction is opaque, and how the streets meet.
On a corner lot in the Detroit residential districts nothing opaque over thirty six inches above the nearest street curb elevation may stand inside the clear vision triangle, and that triangle is drawn by running each curb line forty five feet out from where they meet and joining the ends. Forty five feet is among the largest legs on this site. The exceptions are carefully drawn and mostly about trees: a tree trimmed to the trunk to a line at least six feet above the intersection is fine, and so is a sapling or an open growth species not planted as a hedge, provided it is planted and trimmed to leave a clear cross view in every season. Utility poles, official warning signs and the supporting members of structures that already existed on 28 May 2005 are also out. Where streets do not meet at roughly right angles the Public Works Traffic Engineering Division may vary the requirement, but may not demand sight distance beyond two hundred and seventy five feet.
The "clear vision triangle" is that area formed by extending the two curb lines a distance of 45 feet from their point of intersection and connecting these points with an imaginary line, thereby making a triangle;
The answer turns on whether the obstruction is opaque, and how the streets meet.
- anything opaque in the triangle
- Thirty six inches above the curb. 36 in
- the size of the triangle
- Forty five feet down each curb line. 45 ft
- a tree trimmed to six feet
- Exempt.
- streets meeting at an odd angle
- Traffic Engineering may vary it, up to two hundred and seventy five feet. 275 ft
Also on corner visibility in Detroit
- 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 Detroit
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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 Detroit 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 Detroit
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Detroit answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, what is next door, and how high the wire sits.
Barbed wire in Detroit is allowed only on business or industrial land, only on a fence already six feet or taller, and only on arms or brackets that extend inward over private property, so nothing leans out over a sidewalk or a neighbor. No part of it may sit closer to the ground than six feet. Two flat bans follow. A single or two family dwelling may not attach barbed wire to any fence at all, and neither may a use on a lot adjoining one, on the fence that separates them. Razor wire and electrified fencing are barred from every residential, business and special zoning district, which leaves them to the industrial districts, and even there razor wire may not sit closer to the ground than six feet.
Razor wire and electrified fencing shall not be allowed in any residential, business, or special zoning district classification. Where permitted, razor wire shall not be placed at any point closer to the ground than six feet.
The answer turns on the district, what is next door, and how high the wire sits.
- barbed wire on business or industrial land
- On a six foot fence, angled inward, nothing below six feet. 6 ft
- a house, or a use adjoining one
- No barbed wire at all.
- razor wire or an electric fence
- Industrial districts only.
Also on materials in Detroit
- 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 Detroit
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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 Detroit 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 Detroit
- 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
12 documents, of which 3 were published by Detroit itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Chapter 43, Fences and Fence Viewers, Act 34 of 1978
- City of Detroit2019 Detroit City Code, Chapter 50, Zoning, Section 50-14-381, 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
- City of Detroit2019 Detroit City Code, Chapter 8, Article XV, Property Maintenance Code, Sections 8-15-108 and 8-15-109
- 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
- City of Detroit2019 Detroit City Code, Chapter 50, Zoning, Section 50-13-22, Traffic safety sight area
- 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 Detroit 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