Fence laws in New Brunswick, New Jersey
What the New Brunswick municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where New Brunswick sets no rule of its own, the New Jersey rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in New Brunswick, New Jersey, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- All fences, shrubs and trees have to be installed within the property lines of the lot, so nothing overhangs a neighbor, and the answer turns on which frontage counts as the primary one. The figure is 5 feet, for front yard fence setback in R-1 through R-4.
- How tall
- New Brunswick puts every zone in one table and the pattern is steady, and the answer turns on the zone and the yard. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in a residential front yard.
- Permits
- The fence section names one approval and it is an unusual one, and the answer turns on what the property abuts.
- Pool barriers
- New Brunswick sets no statewide pool barrier rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Spite fences
- New Brunswick has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- New Brunswick leaves the measuring rule to a municipal zoning ordinance adopted under the Municipal Land Use Law.
- Corner lots
- A fence on a New Brunswick lot at the intersection of two streets may not be greater than thirty inches tall within any required sight triangle at that intersection, and the intersection sight lines may not be obstructed at all, and the answer turns on where the fence sits relative to the intersection. The figure is 30 inches, for height limit inside a required sight triangle.
- Retaining walls
- New Jersey writes its own rule for a wall that holds back earth instead of leaving it to the national code. The figure is 4 feet, for retaining wall height at or above which a construction permit is required.
- Materials
- No New Brunswick fence may be constructed of any material, or in any manner, that may be dangerous to persons, and barbed wire, razor wire, concertina wire and similar materials are prohibited outright in every zone, and the answer turns on the zone and the yard. The figure is 50 percent, for open design standard for a front yard fence.
- Livestock
- New Jersey sets one height for a lawful fence and one job for it to do. The figure is 50 inches, for minimum height of a lawful fence, which the statute states as four feet and two inches.
Who owns the fence between two properties in New Brunswick?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
New Brunswick answers this, but the answer changes depending on which frontage counts as the primary one.
All fences, shrubs and trees have to be installed within the property lines of the lot, so nothing overhangs a neighbor. In R-1 through R-4 a front yard fence sits five feet back from the line, or four feet on a public side yard. The corner lot rules are where New Brunswick goes further than most. Only the primary frontage counts as the front for fence purposes, and the secondary frontage may be fenced to the side and rear standards, but four conditions apply: the fence may come no closer than thirty feet to the primary frontage front lot line, it may come no closer to that line than the rearmost corner of the house, a lot whose secondary frontage is shorter than its primary one cannot use the section at all, and a lot fronting two or more of the listed primary streets cannot use it either.
All fences, shrubs, trees, etc. shall be installed within the property lines of the lot.
Section 17.03.070(B)(3) and (D)
The answer turns on which frontage counts as the primary one.
- a lot line
- Everything stays inside it.
- a front yard in R-1 to R-4
- Five feet back. 5 ft
- a corner lot secondary frontage
- Thirty feet off the primary front line. 30 ft
- a short secondary frontage
- The corner lot rule cannot be used.
Also on fences on the property line in New Brunswick
- set in state lawNew Jersey only splits a fence on the line when at least one of the two neighbors is pasturing or keeping animals. Each neighbor who uses the land that way builds and keeps up a fair share. A neighbor who leaves the land empty and open, or who keeps no animals, owes nothing toward it. That is narrower than most states, where both sides share the cost whatever the land is used for. N.J.S.A. 4:20-7New Jersey · Statute
How tall can a fence be in New Brunswick?
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New Brunswick answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone and the yard.
New Brunswick puts every zone in one table and the pattern is steady. In the R-1 through R-7 residential zones and most commercial and institutional zones a front yard fence is held to four feet, with six feet in the side and rear yards. The C-5, C-6, O-1 and O-2 zones allow six feet at the front as well. The I-1 and I-2 industrial zones allow twelve feet in every yard, front included. In R-1 through R-4 a front yard fence also has to sit five feet back, or four feet on a public side yard. One route goes higher on a house lot: where a residential property abuts an I-1, I-2 or I-2E zone, or a property with an industrial or mechanic and repair use, the owner may ask the administrative officer for up to eight feet with no open design requirement along that line.
All fences in all zones shall comply with the requirements set forth in Table 1 and the requirements of Section 17.07.060.
Section 17.03.070(A)(2), with Table 1
The answer turns on the zone and the yard.
- a residential front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a side or rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- an industrial zone
- Twelve feet in any yard. 12 ft
- a house next to industry
- Eight feet on application. 8 ft
Also on fence height in New Brunswick
- no rule, documents checkedNew Jersey does not limit how tall a fence at a house can be. State law gives that job to the towns, which may set the size, height and shape of fences between neighboring lots. Height is a town rule in every New Jersey town. R.S. 40:48-1(29)New Jersey · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in New Brunswick?
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New Brunswick answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the property abuts.
The fence section names one approval and it is an unusual one. Where a residential property abuts an I-1, I-2 or I-2E zone, or abuts a property with an industrial or mechanic and repair use, the owner may request permission from the administrative officer, through a zoning permit application, to install up to an eight foot fence with no open design requirement along the boundary between the two uses. So the tallest solid fence available to a house in New Brunswick is granted by application rather than held as of right, and the permit route exists in the code because of it. The same officer decides the primary frontage of a corner lot where the street list and the front door test do not settle it. Retaining walls and steps are excepted from the fence requirements altogether.
If a residential property abuts a property zoned I-1, I-2, I-2E, or abuts a property outside those zones with industrial or mechanic/repair uses the owner of the residential property may request permission from the administrative officer (via zoning permit application) to install up to an eight foot fence with no open design requirements along the property line between the residential and industrial use.
Section 17.03.070(E), with (C) and (D)(3)
The answer turns on what the property abuts.
- a tall fence against industry
- A zoning permit application.
- an unclear corner lot
- The administrative officer decides the front.
- a retaining wall or steps
- Outside the fence rules.
- an ordinary fence
- No permit named in the section.
Also on permits in New Brunswick
- set in state lawNew Jersey runs one construction code for the whole state. The Commissioner of Community Affairs adopts it after a public hearing, and it covers building work everywhere in the state. The list of work that needs a permit, and the list of work that does not, sit inside that code at N.J.A.C. 5:23 and not in the statute. N.J.S.A. 52:27D-123New Jersey · Statute
Pool fence requirements in New Brunswick
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New Brunswick law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
New Jersey does have a pool barrier rule. It sits in the state construction code at N.J.A.C. 5:23-3.21, which takes in the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code and then changes parts of it. The Department of Community Affairs publishes that rule only as a PDF and its text could not be read, so no height is claimed here. The numbers live in the national code rather than in New Jersey text.
This one is New Jersey law, not New Brunswick law. All New Jersey findings
Documents read before writing that:
- N.J.A.C. 5:23-3.21New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
- N.J.S.A. 52:27D-123New Jersey Legislature
Spite fence laws in New Brunswick
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
New Brunswick law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
New Jersey has no statewide spite fence law. A spite fence is one built to bother a neighbor rather than to do a job. Title 4, Chapter 20 covers fences on the line and says nothing about spite. State law instead lets each town set the size and height of fences between neighbors, so the answer is a town rule.
This one is New Jersey law, not New Brunswick law. All New Jersey findings
Documents read before writing that:
- N.J.S.A. 4:20-7New Jersey Legislature
- R.S. 40:48-1(29)New Jersey Legislature
How fence height is measured in New Brunswick
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
New Brunswick does not set this. It leaves it to a municipal zoning ordinance adopted under the Municipal Land Use Law.
New Jersey states a fence number and never says where to measure it from. The state construction code says no permit is needed for a fence six feet or less in height, and it never says six feet above what. The Municipal Land Use Law fills the gap by handing the bulk, height, number of stories, direction and size of buildings and other structures to a town zoning rule. The town decides where the measuring starts.
This one is New Jersey law, not New Brunswick law. All New Jersey findings
Regulate the bulk, height, number of stories, orientation, and size of buildings and the other structures; the percentage of lot or development area that may be occupied by structures; lot sizes and dimensions
The code hands this to a municipal zoning ordinance adopted under the Municipal Land Use Law, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on how height is measured in New Brunswick
- no rule, documents checkedThe table states four feet, six feet, eight feet, twelve feet and thirty inches and the section never says what any of them is measured from. No grade is named, a berm is not addressed, and no allowance is made for a post cap. A fence on top of a retaining wall is not answered, and retaining walls are in fact excepted from the fence requirements entirely, which leaves the combination open. What the section measures carefully is horizontal. The corner lot rules run off the rearmost corner of the primary structure, the relative length of the two frontages, and a published list of streets. The front yard setbacks are given as five feet and four feet. Openness is given as a percentage without saying how it is to be worked out across a panel. Section 17.03.070(A)New Brunswick · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in New Brunswick
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New Brunswick answers this, but the answer changes depending on where the fence sits relative to the intersection.
A fence on a New Brunswick lot at the intersection of two streets may not be greater than thirty inches tall within any required sight triangle at that intersection, and the intersection sight lines may not be obstructed at all. The section does not draw the triangle itself, referring instead to any required one. Two other rules do the visible work at a corner. In any residential zone no fence is permitted in a front yard area which will restrict visibility, which is a judgment rather than a measurement and sits on top of the four foot table limit. And the eight foot industrial boundary fence, the one solid tall fence a house lot can get, may not be installed within thirty feet of an intersection of two or more streets.
Any fence installed on a lot at the intersection of two streets shall not be greater than thirty (30) inches tall within any required sight triangle at that intersection, nor shall the intersection sight lines be obstructed.
Section 17.03.070(B)(4), with (A)(1) and (E)
The answer turns on where the fence sits relative to the intersection.
- inside a sight triangle
- Thirty inches. 30 in
- the triangle itself
- Not drawn in this section.
- a residential front yard
- Nothing that restricts visibility.
- the eight foot industrial fence
- Thirty feet clear of an intersection. 30 ft
Also on corner visibility in New Brunswick
- set in state lawNew Jersey protects the driver view in its highways title, and only for signs that need a state permit. Section 27:5-9 sets the conditions on that permit, and one of them is that the sign may not block a clear view of the road ahead or of official signs and signals. Nothing there reaches a fence at a house. A town gets the power to draw a corner sight triangle, the clear space kept open where two streets meet, from the Municipal Land Use Law. N.J.S.A. 27:5-9New Jersey · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in New Brunswick
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New Jersey answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
New Jersey writes its own rule for a wall that holds back earth instead of leaving it to the national code. A construction permit is needed to build, enlarge, change, rebuild or tear down such a wall four feet or taller, and also a shorter one that hurts a foundation. The four feet counts every wall on the same slope added together, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall. Walls the town already reviewed in subdivision and site plan work, and walls a county engineer or the state transportation department reviews, are left out.
This one is New Jersey law, not New Brunswick law. All New Jersey findings
No person shall construct, enlarge, alter, reconstruct, or demolish a retaining wall or series of retaining walls having a total height four feet or greater, or a retaining wall less than four feet having a negative impact on a foundation, without first obtaining a construction permit.
4 ftretaining wall height at or above which a construction permit is required
Fence materials allowed in New Brunswick
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New Brunswick answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone and the yard.
No New Brunswick fence may be constructed of any material, or in any manner, that may be dangerous to persons, and barbed wire, razor wire, concertina wire and similar materials are prohibited outright in every zone. In the residential zones the table adds two more rules that shape what a front yard fence looks like: it has to meet a fifty percent open design standard, and chain link is not permitted in a front yard in R-1 through R-5C. The side of any fence facing an adjoining property or a public right-of-way has to be finished. The only place the code lets a solid fence go tall on a house lot is the industrial boundary case, where an eight foot fence may be approved with no open design requirement, which is the exception that proves how firmly the open standard applies elsewhere.
No fence shall be constructed of any material or in a manner which may be dangerous to persons. Barbed wire, razor wire, concertina wire or any similar material types are prohibited.
Section 17.03.070(B)(1) and (B)(2), with Table 1
The answer turns on the zone and the yard.
- sharp wire of any kind
- Prohibited in every zone.
- a residential front yard
- Half open, and no chain link. 50%
- the neighbor side
- Finished.
- a fence against industry
- Solid, if approved.
Also on materials in New Brunswick
- set in state lawNew Jersey calls an electric security fence a perimeter fence intrusion protection system, and it sets nine things such a fence has to do. It ties into an alarm somebody watches. It cannot go on land a town has set aside for homes only. It runs off a storage battery of no more than 12 volts and meets the international standard for the charger. It stands behind a fence or wall with no current in it at least five feet tall, stops at ten feet, carries warning signs no more than 40 feet apart, and is put in by somebody trained or certified to install it. N.J.S.A. 45:5A-54New Jersey · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in New Brunswick
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New Jersey answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
New Jersey sets one height for a lawful fence and one job for it to do. It stands four feet and two inches from the surface of the ground, and it has to be close, strong and tight enough that horses and cattle cannot get through or under. Where the fence sits on the line and either neighbor works the land, it also has to be tight enough to stop sheep. Low meadow along a stream or river that floods is left out of that last part.
This one is New Jersey law, not New Brunswick law. All New Jersey findings
if four feet and two inches high measuring from the level or surface of the earth, and close, strong and sufficient to prevent horses and cattle from going through or under it.
50 inminimum height of a lawful fence, which the statute states as four feet and two inches
Also on agricultural fencing in New Brunswick
- set in state lawNew Jersey ties the damage claim to the fence. When horses, cattle or sheep get over, push through or break down a fence the chapter calls lawful, the owner of the animals pays the hurt neighbor for all of it. Two neutral people from the neighborhood set the amount, one picked by each side, and each has to own the same sort of property that was damaged. If the animal owner will not pick, the hurt neighbor picks both. If the two cannot agree, they bring in a third. N.J.S.A. 4:20-22New Jersey · Statute
- set in state lawNew Jersey bans barbed wire between neighbors unless the neighbor agrees to it. A fence on the line made of barbed wire, or of wire with barbs or points strung on it, is not a lawful fence without the next door owner's consent, and the statute forbids it outright without that consent. Most farm states treat barbed wire as the normal build. New Jersey does the opposite. N.J.S.A. 4:20-3New Jersey · Statute
Documents behind this page
12 documents, of which 1 was published by New Brunswick itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- New Jersey LegislatureNew Jersey Statutes (Unannotated), Title 4, Section 4:20-7, Duty to make and maintain portion of partition fence
- City of New BrunswickNew Brunswick Municipal Code, Title 17, Zoning, Chapter 17.03, General Regulations, Section 17.03.070, Fences
- New Jersey LegislatureAssembly Bill A697 (2022 session), reproducing R.S.40:48-1 paragraph 29, Fences
- New Jersey LegislatureNew Jersey Statutes (Unannotated), Title 52, Section 52:27D-123, State Uniform Construction Code; adoption
- New Jersey Department of Community AffairsN.J.A.C. 5:23-3, Uniform Construction Code subcodes (PDF, could not be read)
- New Jersey Business Action Center, Department of StateMunicipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.
- New Jersey LegislatureNew Jersey Statutes, Title 27, Highways, Chapter 5, Roadside Sign Control and Outdoor Advertising
- New Jersey Department of Community AffairsNew Jersey Administrative Code, Title 5, Chapter 23, Uniform Construction Code, Subchapter 2, Administration and Enforcement
- New Jersey LegislatureP.L.2021, Chapter 2, An Act concerning perimeter fence intrusion protection systems and other alarm systems
- New Jersey LegislatureNew Jersey Statutes (Unannotated), Title 4, Agriculture and Domestic Animals, Section 4:20-1, Sufficiency of fences in general
- New Jersey LegislatureNew Jersey Statutes (Unannotated), Title 4, Agriculture and Domestic Animals, Section 4:20-22, Damages by animals breaking through lawful fences
- New Jersey LegislatureNew Jersey Statutes (Unannotated), Title 4, Agriculture and Domestic Animals, Section 4:20-3, Partition fences of barbed wire
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 New Brunswick publishes, plus the New Jersey rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in New Jersey 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