Fence laws in Livonia, Michigan
What the Livonia municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Livonia sets no rule of its own, the Michigan rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Livonia, Michigan, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Livonia gives two neighbors a veto and puts the posts on the builder side of the fence, and the answer turns on whether the neighbor consents in writing. The figure is 18 inches, for distance planting keeps from a side lot line.
- How tall
- A Livonia fence that encloses property or stands in a required side or rear yard may be neither sight obscuring nor more than four feet high, which rules out the ordinary six foot board fence unless it qualifies as a privacy fence, and the answer turns on whether the fence is sight obscuring and which yard it stands in. The figure is 4 feet, for ordinary fence in a side or rear yard.
- Permits
- Livonia requires a permit from the Inspection Department to erect, re-erect, alter, relocate or make a major repair on any fence or privacy screen, with major repair defined as work on the structural part and minor repair, such as painting or staining, exempt, and the answer turns on whether the work is a major or a minor repair.
- Pool barriers
- Michigan puts no pool fence height in its own statute.
- Spite fences
- Livonia has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Livonia measures from the surface of the ground to the highest point of the fence or of the supporting structure, so a post or a cap standing above the panels counts, which is the opposite of the cities that measure to the top of the boards, and the answer turns on whether the fence is a privacy fence or screen. The figure is 2 inches, for gap the panels keep above the ground.
- Corner lots
- Livonia protects a twenty five foot triangle drawn between the street right of way lines and holds everything inside it to thirty inches, measured from the top of the curb at street level or from the established street grade where there is no curb, and the answer turns on whether the obstruction is a tree and how high its branches start. The figure is 30 inches, for tallest obstruction in the corner 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
- Livonia requires a fence to be built of new material only, unless the Inspection Department has examined the other material and found it sound, usable and suitable for fencing, and the answer turns on the material, the use next door, and how high the wire sits. The figure is 6 feet, for lowest barbed wire may sit above grade.
- Livestock
- Michigan sets no height, wire count, board count or post spacing for a farm fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Livonia?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Livonia answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the neighbor consents in writing.
Livonia gives two neighbors a veto and puts the posts on the builder side of the fence. A privacy fence may not stand within or abutting property in a residential district unless the adjoining owner consents in writing, and it is then erected on the lot line itself, with only one fence allowed to separate two properties. Separately, no fence may be built in the side yard of a residential lot that has an adjacent or abutting driveway without the written consent of the owner of that driveway. Supporting posts, cross members and protruding bolts, screws and hardware go inside the lot and face the interior of the builder property, except that the posts of a privacy fence may be centered within the panels, which is the board on board construction the ordinance calls good both sides. Border planting along a side lot line in front of the building line is held to thirty inches and has to stay eighteen inches off the line.
No fence shall be constructed in the side yard of a residential lot which has an adjacent or abutting driveway, without the written consent of the owner of the abutting driveway.
The answer turns on whether the neighbor consents in writing.
- a side yard beside a neighbor driveway
- The driveway owner has to consent in writing.
- a privacy fence
- Written consent, then built on the lot line.
- border planting along a side line
- Thirty inches tall, eighteen inches back. 18 in
Also on fences on the property line in Livonia
- 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 Livonia?
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Livonia answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is sight obscuring and which yard it stands in.
A Livonia fence that encloses property or stands in a required side or rear yard may be neither sight obscuring nor more than four feet high, which rules out the ordinary six foot board fence unless it qualifies as a privacy fence. A privacy fence, meaning a decorative partition fence designed to obscure sight, may reach six feet four inches, and a privacy screen around a patio, deck, courtyard or pool may reach six feet six. Nothing may be built in a front yard, or nearer the front than the front building line of the house or the minimum required front yard, whichever gives the greater setback. On a corner lot a fence may enter the corner side yard at up to six feet only if it clears four conditions together, including a police department view that it will not block a driver line of sight and a determination by the Director of Inspection that its type, height, color and materials conform to adjoining fences and to neighborhood standards.
Fences which enclose property or are within the required side or rear yard shall not be sight-obscuring or exceed four (4) feet in height, measured from the surface of the ground, except for privacy fences as provided for elsewhere in this section.
The answer turns on whether the fence is sight obscuring and which yard it stands in.
- an ordinary fence in a side or rear yard
- Four feet, and see through. 4 ft
- a privacy fence
- Six feet four inches. 76 in
- a privacy screen in a rear yard
- Six feet six inches, ten feet off the rear line. 78 in
- a front yard
- No fence at all.
Also on fence height in Livonia
- 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 Livonia?
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Livonia answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the work is a major or a minor repair.
Livonia requires a permit from the Inspection Department to erect, re-erect, alter, relocate or make a major repair on any fence or privacy screen, with major repair defined as work on the structural part and minor repair, such as painting or staining, exempt. The owner is responsible for getting it unless a contractor has been hired, in which case the contractor is, and on a violation either or both may be prosecuted. The application is unusually demanding. It carries plans and specifications, and a plot plan showing the property lines, the buildings, the position of the fence relative to adjoining streets, houses and driveways, and the precise location of the fence posts against the lot lines, with the posts on the inside of the fence or centered unless the adjoining owners have agreed otherwise in writing. It also carries the adjoining owner written consent for a privacy fence, and either a written agreement with the neighbor about where the lot line is or a survey showing it.
Written agreement between the adjoining property owner(s) as to the lot line, or, alternatively, the production of a survey which shall be attached to the application and which shall show the property line; and
The answer turns on whether the work is a major or a minor repair.
- erecting, relocating or structurally repairing a fence
- A permit from the Inspection Department.
- painting or staining
- No permit.
- a decorative landscape treatment or a hedge
- No permit, if it is purely ornamental.
Also on permits in Livonia
- 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 Livonia
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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 Livonia 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 Livonia
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Livonia 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 Livonia law. All Michigan findings
Documents read before writing that:
How fence height is measured in Livonia
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Livonia answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is a privacy fence or screen.
Livonia measures from the surface of the ground to the highest point of the fence or of the supporting structure, so a post or a cap standing above the panels counts, which is the opposite of the cities that measure to the top of the boards. It then adds a requirement that explains the odd precision of its figures: the panels of a privacy fence have to sit two inches off the ground, and a privacy screen the same. Those two inches are for air and drainage rather than for looks, and they are why the privacy fence limit is six feet four rather than six feet. The ground itself supplies the datum along the whole run, so a fence on sloping land is read where it stands rather than from an averaged or a chosen point.
The panels of the privacy fence must be two (2) inches off the ground and shall not exceed six (6) feet, four (4) inches in height, measured from the surface of the ground to the highest point of the fence or the supporting structure.
The answer turns on whether the fence is a privacy fence or screen.
- reading any fence
- Ground to the highest point, posts included.
- a privacy fence or screen
- Panels two inches clear of the ground. 2 in
Also on how height is measured in Livonia
- 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 Livonia
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Livonia answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the obstruction is a tree and how high its branches start.
Livonia protects a twenty five foot triangle drawn between the street right of way lines and holds everything inside it to thirty inches, measured from the top of the curb at street level or from the established street grade where there is no curb. The rule names fences, walls, landscaping, plantings, shrubbery and any other obstruction to vision, so it does not depend on what the thing is. One exception exists and it is for trees: a shade tree is permitted where all its branches are at least six feet above street grade. A second visibility rule runs alongside it and applies everywhere rather than at corners, saying no fence, hedge or landscape material may materially obstruct the vision of motorists crossing a public sidewalk or entering a street from an adjacent driveway.
No fence, wall, landscaping, plantings, shrubbery or other obstruction to vision above a height of thirty (30) inches from the top of curb at street level, or the established street grade(s) in the event there is no curbing, shall be permitted within the triangular area formed at the intersection
The answer turns on whether the obstruction is a tree and how high its branches start.
- anything inside the triangle
- Thirty inches above the top of curb. 30 in
- the size of the triangle
- Twenty five feet along each right of way line. 25 ft
- a shade tree
- Allowed with every branch six feet up. 6 ft
Also on corner visibility in Livonia
- 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 Livonia
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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 Livonia 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 Livonia
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Livonia answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, the use next door, and how high the wire sits.
Livonia requires a fence to be built of new material only, unless the Inspection Department has examined the other material and found it sound, usable and suitable for fencing. Two specific things are then barred by name: plastic or other strips intertwined in chain link or woven wire, and fences made of opaque fiberglass panels. Barbed wire may not be constructed or maintained between or abutting residential properties, along a street or in front of a public place, though a manufacturing plant that does not abut housing, or a public utility installation in any district, may run stranded barbed wire on arms or cradles leaning inward over its own side at least six feet above grade. Coils of barbed wire, concertina wire and razor wire are prohibited in every district. Sharp or pointed tops, broken glass, spikes and projecting nails are all out, and a gate may not swing into a position where it presents a pointed member. Electrified fences are prohibited unless they are below ground.
Plastic or other type of strips intertwined in chain link or other kinds of woven wire fencing shall be prohibited, as well as fences constructed of opaque fiberglass panels.
The answer turns on the material, the use next door, and how high the wire sits.
- slats woven through chain link
- Prohibited.
- barbed wire at a plant away from housing
- Stranded only, leaning in, six feet up. 6 ft
- coils, concertina or razor wire
- Prohibited in every district.
- an electric fence
- Only below ground.
Also on materials in Livonia
- 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 Livonia
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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 Livonia 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 Livonia
- 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 Livonia itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Chapter 43, Fences and Fence Viewers, Act 34 of 1978
- City of LivoniaLivonia Code of Ordinances, Title 15, Chapter 15.44, City of Livonia Fence Ordinance
- 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 Livonia 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