Fence laws in North Carolina
What North Carolina statutes and statewide codes say about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line.
Fence laws in North Carolina, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- North Carolina has no statute splitting the cost of a fence on the boundary. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- How tall
- North Carolina sets no maximum fence height. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Permits
- North Carolina decides its home permit rule by price, not by height.
- Pool barriers
- The North Carolina pool safety statute is for public pools, and its scope section leaves out a private pool at a single family home used only by the people living there and their guests.
- Spite fences
- North Carolina has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- North Carolina leaves the measuring rule to a zoning regulation adopted by a local government.
- Corner lots
- North Carolina leaves corner clearance to city and county governing boards under Chapter 160D of the General Statutes.
- Retaining walls
- North Carolina leaves retaining walls to the North Carolina Residential Code, a volume of the North Carolina State Building Code adopted by the Residential Code Council.
- Materials
- North Carolina sets one standard for a battery charged security fence and takes the question away from cities. The figure is 5 feet, for minimum height of the non-electric fence or wall that has to surround a battery-charged security fence. It reaches battery charged security fences on land that is not zoned for homes only only.
- Livestock
- North Carolina puts the duty on the livestock owner everywhere in the state.
Who owns the fence between two properties in North Carolina?
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North Carolina law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
North Carolina had a boundary fence law and threw it out. Chapter 68 still prints the heading Article 2, Division Fences, and the only thing under it says sections 68-6 through 68-14 were repealed by Session Laws 1971, chapter 741. Article 1, Lawful Fences, went at the same time. Nothing took their place, so the state has no rule at all on splitting the cost of a fence on the line.
Documents read before writing that:
- N.C.G.S. ch. 68North Carolina General Assembly
- N.C.G.S. 160D-1110North Carolina General Assembly
How tall can a fence be in North Carolina?
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North Carolina law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
North Carolina sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The fence chapter that once held fence standards was repealed, and what is left is about livestock. The building permit statute draws its line at a dollar amount and names no height at all. The city or county development rules set the limit.
Documents read before writing that:
- N.C.G.S. ch. 68North Carolina General Assembly
- N.C.G.S. 160D-1110North Carolina General Assembly
Do I need a permit for a fence in North Carolina?
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North Carolina answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
North Carolina decides its home permit rule by price, not by height. Work on a single family home that costs forty thousand dollars or less and is done to the current State Building Code needs no permit. A short list of exceptions is left out of that, such as work on load bearing structures or changes to plumbing, heating or electrical systems. An ordinary yard fence costs far less than forty thousand dollars and hits none of those exceptions.
No permit issued under Article 9 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes is required for any construction, installation, repair, replacement, or alteration costing forty thousand dollars ($40,000) or less and performed in accordance with the current edition of the North Carolina State Building Code in any single-family residence, farm building, or commercial building
Pool fence requirements in North Carolina
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North Carolina answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The North Carolina pool safety statute is for public pools, and its scope section leaves out a private pool at a single family home used only by the people living there and their guests. It goes further than most states. The pool stays outside the statute even when guests book it through a rental app or pay a fee. One condition comes with that. Where money changes hands for access, the pool has to be kept in good and safe working order. The fence rule for a pool at a house comes from the North Carolina State Building Code instead.
A private pool serving a single family dwelling and used only by the residents of the dwelling and their guests, regardless of whether their guests gain use of the private pool through a sharing economy platform or pay a fee for its use.
Spite fence laws in North Carolina
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North Carolina law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
North Carolina has no spite fence law. What is left of the fence chapter covers livestock running loose, penning up stray animals, and the ponies on the Outer Banks. It names no height and says nothing about why a fence went up. The building permit statute does not cover it either. A claim about a fence built to annoy a neighbor rests on nuisance law made by judges, and on city and county zoning.
Documents read before writing that:
- N.C.G.S. ch. 68North Carolina General Assembly
- N.C.G.S. 160D-1110North Carolina General Assembly
How fence height is measured in North Carolina
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North Carolina does not set this. It leaves it to a zoning regulation adopted by a local government.
North Carolina never says where a fence height is measured from. What is left of Chapter 68 is about stock law fences and penned animals, and it carries no measuring rule. G.S. 160D-702 lets a local government set the height of buildings and other structures. The same section blocks a local government from controlling some design details of a house, and then puts height back outside that block, so height stays a local power. The point the measuring starts from goes with it.
a zoning regulation may regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures; the percentage of lots that may be occupied; the size of yards, courts, and other open spaces; the density of population; the location and use of buildings, structures, and land
The code hands this to a zoning regulation adopted by a local government, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence rules for corner lots in North Carolina
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North Carolina does not set this. It leaves it to city and county governing boards under Chapter 160D of the General Statutes.
North Carolina has no clear view triangle in state law. Chapter 160D gathers local development power in one place and lets a local government set the height of structures and the size of yards and open spaces, so a corner rule comes from there. Chapter 136, the highways chapter, covers something else. It talks about seeing past a sign only for political signs put in the right of way, and it sets sight distance standards for driveway permits. Neither one is a rule about a fence on private land.
a zoning regulation may regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures; the percentage of lots that may be occupied; the size of yards, courts, and other open spaces; the density of population; the location and use of buildings, structures, and land.
The code hands this to city and county governing boards under Chapter 160D of the General Statutes, which is not published in the code itself.
Retaining wall rules in North Carolina
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North Carolina does not set this. It leaves it to the North Carolina Residential Code, a volume of the North Carolina State Building Code adopted by the Residential Code Council.
North Carolina prints no retaining wall rule in its General Statutes. The Building Code Council and the Residential Code Council write and adopt the North Carolina State Building Code, and one of its volumes is the North Carolina Residential Code. Whether a wall that holds back earth needs a permit, and how it has to be built, both sit in that volume and not in the statute.
The Building Code Council and Residential Code Council may prepare and adopt, in accordance with the provisions of this Article, a North Carolina State Building Code.
The code hands this to the North Carolina Residential Code, a volume of the North Carolina State Building Code adopted by the Residential Code Council, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in North Carolina
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North Carolina answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
North Carolina sets one standard for a battery charged security fence and takes the question away from cities. The fence ties into a monitored alarm, sits on land not set aside for homes, and runs off a battery of no more than 12 volts. Its charger has to meet the International Electrotechnical Commission standard. It stands inside a fence or wall that carries no current and is at least 5 feet tall, reaches 10 feet, and carries WARNING-ELECTRIC FENCE signs no more than 30 feet apart. A city may not ban one on land that is not zoned for homes only.
(5) Is surrounded by a non-electric perimeter fence or wall that is not less than 5 feet in height. (6) Is 10 feet in height or 2 feet higher than the non-electric perimeter fence or wall, whichever is higher. (7) Is marked with conspicuous warning signs that are located on the battery-charged security fence at not more than 30-foot intervals and read: "WARNING-ELECTRIC FENCE".
5 ftminimum height of the non-electric fence or wall that has to surround a battery-charged security fence
Livestock and boundary fence law in North Carolina
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North Carolina answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
North Carolina puts the duty on the livestock owner everywhere in the state. Letting livestock run loose is a Class 3 misdemeanor. Livestock here means horses and other animals like them, cattle, sheep, goats, llamas and swine. Anyone may catch and pen an animal found running loose and get back the cost of keeping it plus any damage, and none of that depends on whether the land was fenced.
If any person shall allow his livestock to run at large, he shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.
Also on agricultural fencing in North Carolina
- no rule, documents checkedNorth Carolina no longer says what a lawful fence is anywhere in state law. Chapter 68 is called Fences and Stock Law, and sections 68-1 through 68-14, where the old fence specification sat, were repealed in 1969 and 1971. What is left is the livestock law, the process for penning and selling a stray animal, and the Outer Banks sections. None of them set a height, a wire count, a board count or a post spacing. Money owed under the chapter does not depend on the land being fenced, so there is nothing left for a fence standard to hang on. N.C.G.S. ch. 68North Carolina · Statute
Cities in North Carolina
20 cities with their own fence rules read from the city’s own code. Where a city says nothing on a topic, the state answer above is what applies.
Documents behind this page
7 documents, each read on the date shown. Nothing on this page rests on a summary of one.
- North Carolina General AssemblyNorth Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 68, Fences and Stock Law
- North Carolina General AssemblyNorth Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 160D, Article 11, Building Permits
- North Carolina General AssemblyNorth Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 130A, Article 8, Part 10, Public Swimming Pools
- North Carolina General AssemblyNorth Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 160D, Local Planning and Development Regulation
- North Carolina General AssemblyNorth Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 143, Article 9, Section 143-138, North Carolina State Building Code
- North Carolina General AssemblyNorth Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 160A, Section 160A-194.1, Regulation of battery-charged security fences
- North Carolina General AssemblyNorth Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 68, Fences and Stock Law, Article 3, Livestock Law
What this page does not cover
Everything above is state law. Fence height, setback, corner visibility and materials are set by city and county ordinance in almost every state, and a local rule can be far stricter than the statewide default. A parcel can also carry an easement, an overlay district, a fire hazard zone or a recorded HOA restriction, none of which appear in a statute.
This is general information drawn from published government documents. It is not legal advice, statutes are amended, and the date beside each finding is the date the document was read. How findings are made · What the terms mean