Fence laws in Reno, Nevada
What the Reno municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Reno sets no rule of its own, the Nevada rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Reno, Nevada, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Reno states no setback from a side or rear line and instead states a containment rule, and the answer turns on whether the line is private, a right-of-way, an easement or a ditch. The figure is 0 feet, for setback stated from a private property line.
- How tall
- Outside the employment districts, a wall or fence four feet or less may go in a required front yard, and six feet or less may go on the lot lines and run back from them to the buildings in any zone except a required front yard, and the answer turns on the district, the yard and whether the fence is inside a setback. The figure is 4 feet, for wall or fence height allowed in a required front yard.
- Permits
- Construction of any fence or wall in Reno requires a permit, under this article and under Chapter 14.18 of Title 14, the building and construction title, so both the zoning rules and the building rules apply to the same application.
- Pool barriers
- Nevada pool law covers a public pool, which it describes as any structure holding a man made body of water meant to be used by people as a group for swimming or bathing, whether or not anyone is charged for it.
- Spite fences
- Reno has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Where a fence or wall stands on top of a retaining wall, its height is measured from the top of the retaining wall.
- Corner lots
- Reno leaves corner clearance to the most recent edition of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials policy and design manual for highways and streets.
- Retaining walls
- Reno leaves retaining walls to the building code adopted by the governing body of each city or county.
- Materials
- Barbed wire, razor ribbon and razor tape are prohibited, with three exceptions: the UT zoning districts, a public detention or correctional facility, and anything the title itself exempts, and the answer turns on the material, the district and what the fence encloses. The figure is 9 feet, for total height of a utility fence with barbed wire above it.
- Livestock
- Nevada says what a legal fence for livestock has to be. The figure is 20 feet, for maximum spacing between posts on a legal fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Reno?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Reno answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the line is private, a right-of-way, an easement or a ditch.
Reno states no setback from a side or rear line and instead states a containment rule. Projects have to be developed so that every wall and fence sits on private property or in common areas, and nothing may be placed in a City right-of-way or an easement without the City Engineer approving it in writing. Where a fence does end up in a right-of-way or easement with that approval, it also needs a written agreement with the adjacent property owner or the maintenance organization, so the neighbor gets a say. On a through lot, the code fixes which yard is which, calling the yard on the addressed street the front and the opposite one the rear, and allows a fence of six feet or less on the rear lot line. A property abutting a water supply ditch has to carry fencing of at least four and a half feet that the Administrator finds reasonably non-climbable, with tension wires top and bottom.
Projects shall be developed so all walls and fences are located on private property or common areas. Fences and walls shall not be placed in the City right-of-way or easements without written approval by the City Engineer.
The answer turns on whether the line is private, a right-of-way, an easement or a ditch.
- a private lot line
- On the line, no setback. 0 ft
- a right-of-way or easement
- The City Engineer, in writing.
- a non-primary front yard
- Five feet back from the sidewalk buys six feet of height. 5 ft
- a water supply ditch
- Four and a half feet, non-climbable.
Also on fences on the property line in Reno
- no rule, documents checkedNevada has no law about splitting the cost of a fence on the line. Nothing in state law makes one neighbor pay a share of a boundary fence, and nothing sets a notice step before building one. The livestock chapter does say what a legal fence has to look like, but that definition decides who pays for damage done by stray animals, not who pays for the fence. The grazing chapter and the property chapter say nothing about cost either. That leaves a deal between the two neighbors or a city rule. NRS ch. 569Nevada · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Reno?
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Reno answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the yard and whether the fence is inside a setback.
Outside the employment districts, a wall or fence four feet or less may go in a required front yard, and six feet or less may go on the lot lines and run back from them to the buildings in any zone except a required front yard. Three routes go higher. A fence outside a setback area altogether may reach ten feet, limited to side, rear and secondary front yards. Where a property abuts an arterial, expressway or freeway, a fence over six feet may be built on the property line facing it. And a front yard that is not the primary access may carry six feet if it is set back at least five feet from the sidewalk, with the setback area landscaped, and the Administrator decides which frontage is the primary access by looking at how the neighbors face. In the employment districts six feet is allowed in the front yard outright. Fence posts in residential districts may stand two feet above the fence if they are at least six feet apart.
Walls or fences four feet or less in height may be erected in the required front yard area in any zone.
The answer turns on the district, the yard and whether the fence is inside a setback.
- a required front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a lot line away from the front
- Six feet. 6 ft
- clear of every setback
- Ten feet, in side, rear and secondary front yards. 10 ft
- a post in a residential district
- Two feet above the fence, six feet apart. 2 ft
Also on fence height in Reno
- no rule, documents checkedNevada does not limit how tall a fence at a house can be. NRS 278.580 leaves building codes to each city and county, so no state code carries a fence height or a fence permit rule. The only fence heights in Nevada law are the forty eight inch top barrier on a livestock fence and the five and six foot barriers around a public pool. Cities and counties set the height rule for a yard fence. NRS 278.580Nevada · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Reno?
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Reno answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Construction of any fence or wall in Reno requires a permit, under this article and under Chapter 14.18 of Title 14, the building and construction title, so both the zoning rules and the building rules apply to the same application. There is no exemption by height and none by material. Every application has to describe the land and the nature of the work, and the plot plan has to show the existing structures, every easement on the lot, the location, length, height and materials of each fence segment, the location and width of every pedestrian and vehicle gate, the property lines with a survey if one is required, the adjacent street speed limit and any adjacent stop or yield signs, and homeowners association approval where there is an association. Asking for the speed limit and the signs is unusual and follows directly from the corner rule being an AASHTO sight distance calculation.
Construction of fences and walls in the City of Reno shall require a permit in compliance with the provisions and standards stated in this article and in Chapter 14.18 (Fences) of Title 14 (Building and Construction) of the Reno Municipal Code.
Also on permits in Reno
- set in state lawNevada has no building code of its own. NRS 278.580 lets the governing body of any city or county adopt a building code, write the rules that enforce it, and set the permit fees. The statute names only two things a local code has to carry: the earthquake parts of the International Building Code, and standards for studying earthquake hazards. Whether a fence needs a permit is a city or county question. NRS 278.580Nevada · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Reno
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Nevada answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Nevada pool law covers a public pool, which it describes as any structure holding a man made body of water meant to be used by people as a group for swimming or bathing, whether or not anyone is charged for it. A pool at a private home is left out when the owner or someone living there controls it and only family and invited guests use it. Foster homes, small child care homes and some private club pools are left out too.
This one is Nevada law, not Reno law. All Nevada findings
means any structure containing an artificial body of water that is intended to be used collectively by persons for swimming or bathing, regardless of whether a fee is charged for its use
Also on pool barriers in Reno
- set in state lawNevada requires a barrier that closes off the whole pool area at a public pool. It can be a fence, a wall, a building or something else. It has to keep small children out and give nothing to grab or stand on from the outside, and no part of a pool enclosure may double as a walkway people use to get somewhere else. NAC 444.136Nevada · Agency guidance
- set in state lawNevada sets two barrier heights for public pools, and both are taller than the four feet common in other states. A pool at a hotel, motel, other lodging, trailer park, apartment building, condominium or other building with many homes in it takes a barrier at least five feet high. Every other covered pool takes at least six feet. A layout where a gate or door opens straight from a room into the pool area is not allowed. NAC 444.136Nevada · Agency guidance
- set in state lawThe Nevada pool barrier rule also limits the gaps. Upright pieces sit no more than four inches apart, and any opening along the bottom stays under four inches tall. A gate or door into the pool area carries a permanent lock and a latch that closes and catches on its own, set at least three and a half feet above the ground. NAC 444.136Nevada · Agency guidance
Spite fence laws in Reno
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Reno law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Nevada has no spite fence law and no height that makes a fence a legal wrong on its own. A spite fence is one built to bother a neighbor rather than to do a job. The nuisance sections of chapter 40 never use the word fence, and NRS 40.140 gives only a broad test covering anything that blocks the free use of property. The public nuisance sections of chapter 202 mention a fence once, to say that fencing public land is not a nuisance when a federal agency allows or requires it.
This one is Nevada law, not Reno law. All Nevada findings
Documents read before writing that:
- NRS 40.140Nevada Legislature
- NRS ch. 202Nevada Legislature
- NRS ch. 111Nevada Legislature
How fence height is measured in Reno
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Reno answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Where a fence or wall stands on top of a retaining wall, its height is measured from the top of the retaining wall. That is a deliberate choice and it runs the opposite way from most cities in this project, which either add the wall to the fence or read the pair from the lower grade. In Reno the retaining wall does not count at all, so a six foot fence on a four foot retaining wall is a six foot fence. The rule has an obvious reason behind it on ground like Reno, where a cut and fill lot leaves one side of a boundary well above the other and the owner on the high side would otherwise get no usable fence. One other exemption removes the height rules entirely rather than changing the datum: fencing or walls used to retain water for flood management and protection are exempt from the height requirements in the title.
Where a fence or wall is constructed on top of a retaining wall, the height of such fence or wall shall be measured from the top of the retaining wall.
Also on how height is measured in Reno
- set in state lawNevada answers the measuring question in one place, the livestock title. A legal fence has at least four side to side barriers, the lowest no more than twelve inches from the ground and the top at least forty eight inches above the ground. The ground is the starting point. The planning and zoning chapter has no match for it. NRS 278.020 gives cities and counties power over the improvement of land and over where structures go and how sound they are, without ever using the word height, so a fence at a house has no state starting point at all. NRS 569.431Nevada · Statute
Fence rules for corner lots in Reno
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Reno does not set this. It leaves it to the most recent edition of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials policy and design manual for highways and streets.
All fencing has to maintain a clear vision triangle in accordance with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and that is the whole of the corner rule. The code states no leg length, no protected band of height, no datum and no exception for an open fence. The city handout adds only that the street vision triangle standards are defined in the most recent edition of the AASHTO policy and design manual, which means the answer can change when a national body publishes a new edition rather than when the City Council passes an ordinance. What the permit process does ask for instead is the information needed to work the triangle out: every fence plot plan has to show the adjacent street speed limit and any adjacent stop or yield signs, which are exactly the inputs an AASHTO sight distance calculation takes.
All fencing shall maintain a clear vision triangle in accordance with American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials AASHTO.
The code hands this to the most recent edition of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials policy and design manual for highways and streets, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Reno
- set in state lawNevada does have a state rule about blocking the view at an intersection, and it sits in the highway chapter rather than in any zoning law. NRS 405.110 says an advertising sign may not stand where it hides a clear view of a crossing highway. It reaches signs and advertising, nothing else. It draws no triangle, gives no distance, and says nothing about a fence on a house lot, so a corner fence is still a city or county matter under NRS 278. NRS 405.110Nevada · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Reno
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Reno does not set this. It leaves it to the building code adopted by the governing body of each city or county.
Nevada has no rule of its own for a wall that holds back earth. NRS 278.580 lets the governing body of a city or county adopt a building code covering the design, strength and materials of structures, and adopt the rules that enforce it. Whether that kind of wall needs a permit, and how tall it can stand before it does, is answered by the code that city or county adopted.
This one is Nevada law, not Reno law. All Nevada findings
the governing body of any city or county may adopt a building code, specifying the design, soundness and materials of structures, and may adopt rules, ordinances and regulations for the enforcement of the building code
The code hands this to the building code adopted by the governing body of each city or county, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Reno
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Reno answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, the district and what the fence encloses.
Barbed wire, razor ribbon and razor tape are prohibited, with three exceptions: the UT zoning districts, a public detention or correctional facility, and anything the title itself exempts. A public utility in any zone may enclose itself with a six foot fence and put barbed wire above it so long as the total stays under nine feet, and the arms carrying the wire have to point inward or straight up rather than out over the sidewalk. In the employment districts the same nine foot arrangement is allowed above any conventional six foot fence, and the Administrator may allow it in an Urban district side or rear yard that does not face a street or residential land. Battery charged and electric fencing is allowed only on land not designated residential, with a battery of no more than twelve volts direct current, a non-electric perimeter fence at least five feet tall, a cap at ten feet or two feet above that perimeter, and warning signs every forty feet. Chain link is not allowed along a major drainageway.
Barbed wire, razor ribbon, or razor tape fencing is prohibited, except in UT zoning districts, in conjunction with a public detention or correctional facility, or unless exempted by this Title.
The answer turns on the material, the district and what the fence encloses.
- barbed wire at a utility
- Above six feet of fence, to nine feet total. 9 ft
- razor ribbon or tape
- UT districts and jails only.
- a battery charged fence
- Non-residential land, twelve volts, signs every forty feet. 40 ft
- chain link by a drainageway
- Not allowed except where specified.
Also on materials in Reno
- set in state lawNevada orders every county board to pass a rule on battery charged fences, and the state says what that rule has to contain. The fence goes on land not marked for homes, or on rural home land. It runs off a battery of no more than 12 volts and meets the international standard for the charger. It sits behind a fence or wall with no current in it at least 5 feet tall, stops at 10 feet, and carries warning signs no more than 40 feet apart. A county may not ban one outright and may not charge a separate permit for it. NRS 244.3677Nevada · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Reno
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Nevada answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Nevada says what a legal fence for livestock has to be. It carries at least four side to side barriers of wire, board, pole or similar material in common use nearby, with posts no more than twenty feet apart. Each post has to hold a sideways pull of 250 pounds at a point four feet up, and each barrier has to hold the same pull halfway between two posts.
This one is Nevada law, not Reno law. All Nevada findings
a fence with not less than four horizontal barriers, consisting of wires, boards, poles or other fence material in common use in the neighborhood, with posts set not more than 20 feet apart.
20 ftmaximum spacing between posts on a legal fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Reno
- set in state lawThe same Nevada rule fixes the spacing and the height of a legal fence. The lowest barrier sits no more than twelve inches off the ground, no two barriers are more than twelve inches apart, and the top barrier stands at least forty eight inches above the ground. NRS 569.431Nevada · Statute
- set in state lawNevada is a fence out state for cropland. The farmer builds the fence, not the animal owner. Nobody may collect for livestock damage to cultivated land, and no Nevada court may award it, if the land was not closed in by a legal fence when the animals got in. NRS 569.450Nevada · Statute
- set in state lawOnce land is closed in by a legal fence the rule turns around. If livestock break into ground held by a legal fence, the owner or manager of the animals pays the landowner for all the damage. A second trespass caused by that person neglecting the animals costs double. NRS 569.440Nevada · Statute
- set in state lawNevada calls every unfenced piece of land outside cities and towns open range when cattle, sheep or other farm animals graze or roam there by custom, license, lease or permit. That matters most on the highway. Under NRS 568.360 a person who owns or controls an animal running on open range does not have to keep it off a highway crossing that range and pays nothing for a crash there. Letting an animal into a fenced highway right of way through carelessness is different, and that does bring liability. NRS 568.355Nevada · Statute
Documents behind this page
11 documents, of which 1 was published by Reno itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Nevada LegislatureNevada Revised Statutes, Chapter 569 (Estrays and Livestock)
- Nevada LegislatureNevada Revised Statutes, Chapter 568 (Grazing and Ranging)
- Nevada LegislatureNevada Revised Statutes, Chapter 111 (Estates in Property; Conveyancing and Recording)
- City of RenoCity of Reno Development Services, General Standards for Fences and Walls, reproducing Reno Municipal Code Section 18.04.809
- Nevada LegislatureNevada Revised Statutes, Section 278.580
- Nevada State Board of HealthNevada Administrative Code, Chapter 444
- Nevada LegislatureNevada Revised Statutes, Section 444.065
- Nevada LegislatureNevada Revised Statutes, Chapter 40 (Actions and Proceedings in Particular Cases Concerning Property)
- Nevada LegislatureNevada Revised Statutes, Chapter 202 (Crimes Against Public Health and Safety)
- Nevada LegislatureNevada Revised Statutes, Chapter 405, Control and Preservation of Public Highways
- Nevada LegislatureNevada Revised Statutes, Chapter 244, Counties: Government, Section 244.3677, Ordinance regulating battery charged fences: Requirements; prohibitions
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 Reno publishes, plus the Nevada rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Nevada 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