Fence laws in Concord, North Carolina
What the Concord municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Concord sets no rule of its own, the North Carolina rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Concord, North Carolina, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Two rules govern how a Concord fence meets its boundary and neither is about consent, and the answer turns on whether the fence has a better side, and the condition it is in. The figure is 20 degrees, for lean that requires prompt repair.
- How tall
- The residential design standards hold a front yard fence to four feet and say in the same sentence that the limit includes fences on corner lots, so a corner lot does not get a separate side street allowance the way it does in most codes, and the answer turns on whether the fence is in a front yard or a sight triangle. The figure is 4 feet, for front yard fence.
- Permits
- The residential site elements section, which is where the four foot front yard fence limit lives, ends its opening sentence with an unusual grant of discretion: the Administrator or a designee may waive individual requirements in the section case by case, provided the intent of the section is met, and the answer turns on whether the Administrator waives the requirement. The figure is 5 feet, for spacing of the required roadside shrubs.
- 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
- Concord has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Concord leaves the measuring rule to a zoning regulation adopted by a local government.
- Corner lots
- Concord keeps the dimensions out of the ordinance and points at the engineering document: fences and walls may not be placed in site triangles and have to comply with the Technical Standards Manual, and the answer turns on the triangle dimensions in the Technical Standards Manual.
- Retaining walls
- Concord 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
- Concord prohibits barbed wire fences and above ground electrified fences in all zone districts, with no exception for farms or industry, and permits underground electric fences designed to control domestic animals, and the answer turns on the material, the district and whether the fence is at the front.
- Livestock
- North Carolina puts the duty on the livestock owner everywhere in the state.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Concord?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Concord answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence has a better side, and the condition it is in.
Two rules govern how a Concord fence meets its boundary and neither is about consent. All fencing or wall segments along a single lot side have to be of a uniform material and a uniform color, so a run cannot be patched together from whatever came to hand. And wherever a fence has a side that looks more finished than the other, meaning one side shows support framing and the other does not, the finished side faces the perimeter or outside of the lot rather than the interior. Nothing in the ordinance requires the adjoining owner to agree, sets a distance from the line or says who pays. Maintenance is the owner obligation and is written with a measurable test on the end: a fence or wall post or section leaning more than twenty degrees from vertical has to be promptly repaired.
All fencing or wall segments located along a single lot side shall be composed of a uniform material and shall be of a uniform color.
8.3.6, Screening Requirements, items D, E and H
The answer turns on whether the fence has a better side, and the condition it is in.
- a run along one side of a lot
- One material, one color.
- a fence with one better side
- That side faces outward.
- a leaning fence
- Over twenty degrees off vertical and it has to be repaired. 20 degrees
Also on fences on the property line in Concord
- no rule, documents checkedNorth 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. N.C.G.S. ch. 68North Carolina · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Concord?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Concord answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is in a front yard or a sight triangle.
The residential design standards hold a front yard fence to four feet and say in the same sentence that the limit includes fences on corner lots, so a corner lot does not get a separate side street allowance the way it does in most codes. The same sentence adds that fences may not be placed within the sight triangle at all, whatever their height. Both requirements sit in the site elements subsection, which opens by stating that all housing types have to comply with it. Away from the front yard the article does not state a figure. What it does say is that a fence or garden and yard wall is one of the things permitted to stand in a required yard, listed alongside steps, stairs, fire escapes, uncovered decks, terraces, stoops and porches, so the question is where a fence may be rather than how tall it may be once it is behind the house.
Front yard fences, including fences on corner lots, shall not exceed four (4) feet in height. Fences may not be placed within the sight triangle.
The answer turns on whether the fence is in a front yard or a sight triangle.
- a front yard, including a corner lot
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a sight triangle
- No fence at all.
- a required yard behind the house
- A fence is permitted there, with no figure stated.
Also on fence height in Concord
- no rule, documents checkedNorth 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. N.C.G.S. ch. 68North Carolina · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Concord?
Compare permits across all 50 states
Concord answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the Administrator waives the requirement.
The residential site elements section, which is where the four foot front yard fence limit lives, ends its opening sentence with an unusual grant of discretion: the Administrator or a designee may waive individual requirements in the section case by case, provided the intent of the section is met. That is broader than a variance, because it needs no hardship, no hearing and no board, only a judgment that the intent survives. The other route past a standard is narrower and is written for security: chain link or metal slat fencing in a front yard is available in the industrial districts where the landowner demonstrates through a security plan that it is necessary for public safety or on-site security. Landscaping required in front of a fence may be integrated into streetscape, vehicular use area or perimeter buffer landscaping, but a required fence or wall may never be placed between the edge of the right-of-way and any required streetscape landscaping.
The Administrator, or his designee, may waive individual requirements in this section on a case-by-case basis, provided the intent of this Section is met.
7.7.4, with Article 8 Prohibited Fences
The answer turns on whether the Administrator waives the requirement.
- a residential site element requirement
- The Administrator may waive it case by case.
- chain link at the front on industrial land
- A demonstrated security plan.
- a fence over two and a half feet within twenty feet of the road
- An evergreen shrub every five feet on the road side. 5 ft
Also on permits in Concord
- set in state lawNorth 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. N.C.G.S. 160D-1110(c)North Carolina · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Concord
Compare pool barriers across all 50 states
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.
This one is North Carolina law, not Concord law. All North Carolina findings
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 Concord
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Concord 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.
This one is North Carolina law, not Concord law. All North Carolina findings
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 Concord
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Concord 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.
This one is North Carolina law, not Concord law. All North Carolina findings
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 Concord
Compare corner visibility across all 50 states
Concord answers this, but the answer changes depending on the triangle dimensions in the Technical Standards Manual.
Concord keeps the dimensions out of the ordinance and points at the engineering document: fences and walls may not be placed in site triangles and have to comply with the Technical Standards Manual. The residential design standards state the same prohibition in their own words alongside the four foot front yard limit, so the rule reaches an ordinary house fence as well as a screening wall. Screening for a storage area is required to sit outside all site triangles too. The practical effect is that the triangle is a no-build area rather than a height-limited one, which is stricter than the common approach of allowing a low fence inside it, and that the figures a homeowner needs are in a manual held by the engineering side of the city rather than in the development ordinance.
Fences and walls shall not be placed in site triangles and shall comply with the TSM.
8.3.6, Sight Triangles and Sight Distance Triangles
The answer turns on the triangle dimensions in the Technical Standards Manual.
- a site triangle
- No fence or wall in it at all.
- a residential front yard fence
- The same prohibition, stated again in Article 7.
- the dimensions
- They live in the Technical Standards Manual.
Also on corner visibility in Concord
- left to the townNorth 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. G.S. 160D-702North Carolina · Zoning code
Retaining wall rules in Concord
Compare retaining walls across all 50 states
Concord 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.
This one is North Carolina law, not Concord law. All North Carolina findings
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 Concord
Compare materials across all 50 states
Concord answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, the district and whether the fence is at the front.
Concord prohibits barbed wire fences and above ground electrified fences in all zone districts, with no exception for farms or industry, and permits underground electric fences designed to control domestic animals. Chain link and metal slat fencing are prohibited in the front yard in every district except the industrial ones, and even there only where the landowner demonstrates through a security plan that the fencing is necessary for public safety or on-site security. A fence of debris, junk, rolled plastic, sheet metal, plywood or waste material is prohibited in all districts unless the material has been recycled and reprocessed into a building material sold to the public that resembles new material. Where a fence or wall is doing screening work the ordinance asks for customary materials and for compatibility with the principal structure, and states that where specific materials are named for a particular kind of screening fence, every other material is prohibited.
Barbed wire fences and above ground electrified fences are prohibited in all zone districts. Underground electric fences designed for control of domestic animals are permitted.
8.3.6, Prohibited Fences, with Screening Requirements
The answer turns on the material, the district and whether the fence is at the front.
- barbed wire or an above ground electric fence
- Prohibited in every district.
- a buried pet fence
- Permitted.
- chain link or metal slats in a front yard
- Prohibited outside industrial land with a security plan.
Also on materials in Concord
- set in state lawNorth 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. N.C.G.S. 160A-194.1North Carolina · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Concord
Compare agricultural fencing across all 50 states
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.
This one is North Carolina law, not Concord law. All North Carolina findings
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 Concord
- 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
Documents behind this page
9 documents, of which 2 were published by Concord itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- 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
- City of ConcordConcord Development Ordinance, Article 8, Use Standards
- City of ConcordConcord Development Ordinance, Article 7, Base Zoning Districts
- 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
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 Concord publishes, plus the North Carolina rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in North Carolina 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