Fence laws in Durham, North Carolina
What the Durham municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Durham sets no rule of its own, the North Carolina rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Durham, North Carolina, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Durham states the good side rule and then removes the argument about which side is which, and the answer turns on which side the posts show on, and what the fence backs onto. The figure is 80 percent, for opacity of a perimeter fence facing housing.
- How tall
- Durham sets its heights in a table with two columns, one for the Rural Tier and one for everywhere else, and the rows turn on whether the fence has street frontage, and the answer turns on the tier, whether the fence faces a street, and whether it is electric. The figure is 4 feet, for non-electric fence on a street frontage.
- Permits
- The approval Durham names in the fence section is a minor special use permit, required for an electric fence located within a street frontage and for the taller electric heights in the table, and the answer turns on whether the property needs a certificate of appropriateness.
- 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
- Durham has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Durham exempts posts, columns and other vertical supports from the height limits entirely, and that exemption reaches the lighting and ornamentation sitting on top of them, so a lamp on a gate pier is not measured, and the answer turns on whether anything spans between the supports above the limit.
- Corner lots
- Durham keeps the corner rule out of the fence section and imports it in one line: sight distance triangles are maintained pursuant to paragraph 12.3.1D of the ordinance, and the answer turns on the triangle dimensions set in paragraph 12.3.1D. The figure is 6 feet, for fence along a corner lot side street.
- Retaining walls
- Durham 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
- Razor wire, concertina wire, barbed wire and similar materials are prohibited in all residential districts and on sites adjacent to residential uses, except in the Rural Tier, and prohibited again in the SRP-C district, all Design districts and the CI district, and the answer turns on the district and whether the thing is a fence or a wall.
- Livestock
- North Carolina puts the duty on the livestock owner everywhere in the state.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Durham?
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Durham answers this, but the answer changes depending on which side the posts show on, and what the fence backs onto.
Durham states the good side rule and then removes the argument about which side is which. A finished side of all fences has to face off site, and if support posts are located or visible on one side only, that side is deemed the unfinished side. So the test is a fact anyone can check rather than a judgment about appearance. The ordinance says nothing about consent from the adjoining owner, nothing about a setback from the boundary, and nothing about cost. Walls get a separate location rule, barred from any required drainage, utility or similar easement, and pedestrian connections through a wall that link to adjacent neighborhoods or other uses are expressly allowed. Where an electric fence backs onto a residential district or use, the perimeter fence visible from that property has to be at least eighty percent opaque, or stand behind an evergreen hedge reaching six feet and the same opacity within three years, or behind a project boundary buffer.
A finished side of all fences shall face off site. If support posts are located or visible on one side only, that side shall be deemed the unfinished side.
9.9.2.A, with 9.9.3.B and 9.9.2.D.4.a
The answer turns on which side the posts show on, and what the fence backs onto.
- any fence
- The finished side faces off site.
- a fence with posts showing on one side
- That side is the unfinished one by definition.
- a perimeter fence facing housing
- Eighty percent opaque, or screened to match. 80%
Also on fences on the property line in Durham
- 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 Durham?
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Durham answers this, but the answer changes depending on the tier, whether the fence faces a street, and whether it is electric.
Durham sets its heights in a table with two columns, one for the Rural Tier and one for everywhere else, and the rows turn on whether the fence has street frontage. Outside the Rural Tier a non-electric fence on a street frontage is four feet by right, a fence along the side street of a corner lot is six feet by right where it starts at the front building line, and a fence with no street frontage is eight feet. The Rural Tier gets eight feet in all three of those cases. An electric fence is ten feet in either tier, by right where there is no street frontage and with a minor special use permit where there is. Anything within fifty feet of the street between the structure and the road is judged on the street frontage row, except a fence behind the rear building line, and a non-electric fence along a side yard beyond the street yard.
The maximum height of a fence or wall shall be as shown in the table below, unless:
The answer turns on the tier, whether the fence faces a street, and whether it is electric.
- a street frontage outside the Rural Tier
- Four feet by right. 4 ft
- no street frontage
- Eight feet by right. 8 ft
- an electric fence
- Ten feet, with a minor special use permit where it faces a street. 10 ft
- a recreational facility or electrical substation
- Outside the table.
Also on fence height in Durham
- 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 Durham?
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Durham answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the property needs a certificate of appropriateness.
The approval Durham names in the fence section is a minor special use permit, required for an electric fence located within a street frontage and for the taller electric heights in the table. One exception collapses the two tracks: where a certificate of appropriateness is required for a fence or wall, meaning the property sits in a historic district, a minor special use permit is not required. So the historic review takes the place of the zoning one rather than stacking on top of it. Underground electric fencing is exempt from the whole of the electric fence section, which leaves a buried pet containment system outside every one of these requirements. An electric fence is also allowed in a use or location the section does not otherwise authorize where the state or federal government requires it.
When a certificate of appropriateness (COA) is required for a fence or wall, a minor special use permit is not required.
9.9.1.D, with 9.9.2.D.1 and D.2
The answer turns on whether the property needs a certificate of appropriateness.
- an electric fence facing a street
- A minor special use permit.
- a property in a historic district
- The certificate of appropriateness replaces it.
- an underground electric fence
- Exempt from the section.
Also on permits in Durham
- 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 Durham
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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.
This one is North Carolina law, not Durham 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 Durham
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Durham 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 Durham 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 Durham
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Durham answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether anything spans between the supports above the limit.
Durham exempts posts, columns and other vertical supports from the height limits entirely, and that exemption reaches the lighting and ornamentation sitting on top of them, so a lamp on a gate pier is not measured. The exemption comes with the condition that makes it workable: material may not span from one support to another above the maximum height allowed. The moment a panel, a rail or a lattice bridges two posts above the limit, the whole thing is measured again. At the other end of the fence the ordinance is equally specific for an electric installation, requiring the lowest portion of the perimeter fence or wall to be built so that no space exists between the ground and the fence, which closes the gap an animal or a person could pass under.
Posts, columns, or other similar vertical fence or wall supports, including lighting and ornamentation on top of supports, shall be exempt from height requirements. To maintain the exemption, material shall not span from one support to another above the maximum height allowed.
The answer turns on whether anything spans between the supports above the limit.
- a post, column, lamp or finial
- Exempt from the height limits.
- material spanning between two supports above the limit
- The exemption is lost.
- a perimeter fence around an electric fence
- No gap at all between the ground and the fence.
Also on how height is measured in Durham
- left to the townNorth 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. G.S. 160D-702(a)North Carolina · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Durham
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Durham answers this, but the answer changes depending on the triangle dimensions set in paragraph 12.3.1D.
Durham keeps the corner rule out of the fence section and imports it in one line: sight distance triangles are maintained pursuant to paragraph 12.3.1D of the ordinance. That means the dimensions and the height band live in the sight triangles paragraph rather than here, and a fence that satisfies every figure in Section 9.9 still has to clear them. The structure matters at a corner lot, where the fence section itself already gives a separate six foot allowance along the side street starting at the front building line. That allowance is about position on the lot, not about visibility, so the two rules operate on the same fence for different reasons.
Sight distance triangles shall be maintained pursuant to paragraph 12.3.1D, Sight Triangles.
The answer turns on the triangle dimensions set in paragraph 12.3.1D.
- any fence or wall
- The sight triangles in paragraph 12.3.1D still apply.
- a corner lot side street
- Six feet from the front building line back, outside the Rural Tier. 6 ft
Also on corner visibility in Durham
- 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 Durham
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Durham 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 Durham 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 Durham
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Durham answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and whether the thing is a fence or a wall.
Razor wire, concertina wire, barbed wire and similar materials are prohibited in all residential districts and on sites adjacent to residential uses, except in the Rural Tier, and prohibited again in the SRP-C district, all Design districts and the CI district. The one exception is a major or minor utility, where barbed wire is allowed. Uncoated chain link is prohibited within the CI district specifically, which leaves coated chain link available there and bare chain link available elsewhere. Walls are handled separately and by a list: stucco over concrete block, exposed aggregate concrete, brick, stone or architectural block, kept structurally safe and attractive, with alternatives available where the Planning Director finds they give a similar level of opacity and suit the architecture. Exposed, plain or painted-only concrete cinder block is never permitted for a wall.
Uncoated chain link fencing shall not be permitted within the CI District.
The answer turns on the district and whether the thing is a fence or a wall.
- barbed or razor wire in a residential district
- Prohibited, outside the Rural Tier.
- a major or minor utility
- Barbed wire allowed.
- a wall
- Masonry from the list, and never plain cinder block.
Also on materials in Durham
- 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 Durham
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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.
This one is North Carolina law, not Durham 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 Durham
- 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
8 documents, of which 1 was published by Durham 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 DurhamDurham Unified Development Ordinance, Section 9.9, Fences and Walls
- 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 Durham 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