Fence laws in Royal Oak, Michigan
What the Royal Oak municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Royal Oak sets no rule of its own, the Michigan rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Royal Oak, Michigan, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- The chapter defines a fence as a barrier erected upon or immediately adjacent to a property line, which is what separates it from a privacy screen, defined as a barrier erected in the interior of a parcel and not upon or immediately adjacent to a line, and the answer turns on where the barrier stands and who owns it. The figure is 6 feet, for privacy screen setback from a property line.
- How tall
- Royal Oak states three figures and each is read from the ground on the owner side, and the answer turns on the yard, the kind of barrier, and what governs the land next door. The figure is 6 feet, for fence away from the front yard.
- Permits
- Building or installing any fence in Royal Oak without a fence permit is unlawful, with no height threshold and no exemption, and the answer turns on whether the application shows what the chapter requires.
- Pool barriers
- Michigan puts no pool fence height in its own statute.
- Spite fences
- Royal Oak has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Chapter 323 never defines grade, but it does say what each figure is read from and the answer is different three times, and the answer turns on which of the three limits is being measured.
- Corner lots
- On a corner lot no sight-obscuring fence may rise over three feet inside the triangle formed by the two property lines meeting at the intersection and a line joining points ten feet back along each, and the answer turns on whether the fence is sight-obscuring and how close it is to a corner or driveway. The figure is 10 feet, for leg of 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
- Royal Oak names no permitted material and no prohibited one, and the answer turns on what the Chief Building Inspector approves.
- Livestock
- Michigan sets no height, wire count, board count or post spacing for a farm fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Royal Oak?
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Royal Oak answers this, but the answer changes depending on where the barrier stands and who owns it.
The chapter defines a fence as a barrier erected upon or immediately adjacent to a property line, which is what separates it from a privacy screen, defined as a barrier erected in the interior of a parcel and not upon or immediately adjacent to a line. So the two kinds of barrier are told apart by where they stand rather than by what they look like, and they carry different heights and different setbacks because of it. No fence may be built on adjacent property, and none may encroach into the public right-of-way unless the City Commission permits it on a showing of necessity, a decision the chapter makes final and binding. Maintenance falls on whoever owns or leases the property the fence sits on, along with the area next to it, and where ownership of a fence on a property line is joint or cannot be determined, each adjacent owner or lessee is responsible for its care.
If ownership of a fence located upon a property line is joint or cannot be determined, then each party owning or leasing property adjacent to the fence shall be responsible for its care, upkeep, and maintenance.
323-2, with 323-3.B, F and 323-4
The answer turns on where the barrier stands and who owns it.
- a fence
- On or immediately next to the line.
- a privacy screen
- Inside the lot, six feet off the line. 6 ft
- a fence nobody can prove they own
- Both neighbors are responsible for it.
Also on fences on the property line in Royal Oak
- 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 Royal Oak?
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Royal Oak answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the kind of barrier, and what governs the land next door.
Royal Oak states three figures and each is read from the ground on the owner side. No fence may go above six feet above the adjoining ground level of the owner or lessee property, and no fence above four feet when it is placed in a front yard as the chapter defines that term. A privacy screen, which the chapter treats as a different thing entirely because it stands inside the lot rather than on the line, may reach eight feet, and it is permitted only in a rear yard and has to sit at least six feet back from the property line. The chapter then adds a sentence that changes all of it on a boundary: along shared property lines the least restrictive regulation requirement applies, so where two adjoining properties are governed differently the looser rule governs the fence between them.
No fence shall be erected, constructed, or reconstructed to a height of more than six feet above the adjoining ground level of the owner's or lessee's property.
The answer turns on the yard, the kind of barrier, and what governs the land next door.
- a fence generally
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a privacy screen
- Eight feet, rear yard only, six feet off the line. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Royal Oak
- 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 Royal Oak?
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Royal Oak answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the application shows what the chapter requires.
Building or installing any fence in Royal Oak without a fence permit is unlawful, with no height threshold and no exemption. The application goes to the Building Department before the work and has to state the applicant, the property and its owner, the nature and type of fence including posts and supporting members, the proposed height, and the proposed location in reference to all lot lines, drives, walkways, other fences, streets and buildings both on the property and on the properties adjacent to it. That last requirement, reaching onto the neighbor lot, is what makes the driveway and corner rules checkable before anything is built. The Building Official issues the permit where the fence conforms to all applicable code requirements and the fee set by City Commission resolution is tendered. The city expressly will not review deed covenants before issuing, and says the permit does not modify the applicant duties under them.
It shall be unlawful to construct or install, or cause to be constructed or installed, any fence upon any property within the City of Royal Oak without first obtaining a fence permit.
The answer turns on whether the application shows what the chapter requires.
- any fence
- A fence permit before the work.
- the application
- Locations on the lot and on the lots next door.
- a deed covenant
- The city will not review it, and the permit does not override it.
Also on permits in Royal Oak
- 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 Royal Oak
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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 Royal Oak 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 Royal Oak
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Royal Oak 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 Royal Oak law. All Michigan findings
Documents read before writing that:
How fence height is measured in Royal Oak
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Royal Oak answers this, but the answer changes depending on which of the three limits is being measured.
Chapter 323 never defines grade, but it does say what each figure is read from and the answer is different three times. The six foot and four foot fence limits are taken above the adjoining ground level of the owner or lessee property, so the ground on the builder side sets the datum and a neighbor sitting higher or lower does not change it. The corner limit is taken above the established lowest level of the adjacent sidewalk, or of the right-of-way where no sidewalk exists, so it follows the road rather than the lot and a raised yard loses height. The driveway limit is read above the sidewalk, alley or right-of-way it protects. Nothing in the chapter addresses a slope, a berm, a retaining wall or the depth a post is set, and the front yard itself is defined by a measurement, being the horizontal distance from the front lot line measured perpendicular to the building at its closest point.
On any corner lot, no sight-obscuring fence shall rise over three feet in height above the established lowest level of the adjacent sidewalk or right-of-way if no sidewalk exists
The answer turns on which of the three limits is being measured.
- the six and four foot limits
- Above the ground on the owner side.
- the corner limit
- Above the lowest level of the sidewalk.
- a slope, berm or post depth
- The chapter says nothing.
Also on how height is measured in Royal Oak
- 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 Royal Oak
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Royal Oak answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is sight-obscuring and how close it is to a corner or driveway.
On a corner lot no sight-obscuring fence may rise over three feet inside the triangle formed by the two property lines meeting at the intersection and a line joining points ten feet back along each. Ten feet is a short leg by Michigan standards, and the rule bites only on a sight-obscuring fence, so an open fence is unaffected by it. The reading is taken from the established lowest level of the adjacent sidewalk, or of the right-of-way where there is no sidewalk, rather than from the lot. The same three foot figure covers driveways: no sight-obscuring fence or privacy screen within ten feet of the point where a driveway meets a public sidewalk, alley or right-of-way may rise over three feet, and the chapter states the reason in the rule, that the visibility of a driver using the driveway is not to be obstructed.
No sight-obscuring fence or privacy screen that is located within 10 feet of the intersection of any driveway with a public sidewalk, alley, or right-of-way shall rise over three feet in height above said sidewalk, alley, or right-of-way in order that the visibility of a driver of a vehicle using said driveway shall not be obstructed.
The answer turns on whether the fence is sight-obscuring and how close it is to a corner or driveway.
- a corner lot triangle
- Three feet, with ten foot legs. 10 ft
- near a driveway
- Three feet within ten feet of the sidewalk. 3 ft
- an open fence
- Neither rule reaches it.
Also on corner visibility in Royal Oak
- 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 Royal Oak
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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 Royal Oak 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 Royal Oak
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Royal Oak answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the Chief Building Inspector approves.
Royal Oak names no permitted material and no prohibited one. What it requires instead is consistency and approval. Every constituent material of a fence or privacy screen, apart from bolts, screws, nails and similar hardware, has to be of identical or similar type, or of other materials the Chief Building Inspector judges reasonably compatible, and all materials used have to be approved by the Chief Building Official. Old or used materials may not form any part of a fence unless they are reasonably sound in that same official judgment. The one place the chapter takes the decision away from a person is in defining sight-obscuring, which is otherwise whatever the Chief Building Inspector determines is an effective visual barrier: a chain-link fence without slats is never sight-obscuring, whatever anyone thinks of it.
Old or used materials shall not be permitted to constitute any portion of a fence or privacy screen unless such materials shall be reasonably sound in the judgment of the Chief Building Inspector.
The answer turns on what the Chief Building Inspector approves.
- mixed materials
- Identical, similar, or judged compatible.
- secondhand material
- Only if the inspector finds it reasonably sound.
- chain link with no slats
- Never counted as sight-obscuring.
Also on materials in Royal Oak
- 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 Royal Oak
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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 Royal Oak 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 Royal Oak
- 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 Royal Oak itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Chapter 43, Fences and Fence Viewers, Act 34 of 1978
- City of Royal OakRoyal Oak Code, Chapter 323, 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 Royal Oak 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