Fence laws in Norman, Oklahoma
What the Norman municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Norman sets no rule of its own, the Oklahoma rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Norman, Oklahoma, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Norman states no distance between a fence and a lot line, and the interesting rule is about what lies underneath rather than alongside, and the answer turns on whether an easement runs under the line and whether the fence needs a foundation. The figure is 0 feet, for setback stated from a side or rear property line.
- How tall
- Norman writes its front yard rule as a rule about position rather than about height, and the answer turns on where the fence sits, how tall it is and whether the neighbor consents. The figure is 4 feet, for fencing allowed forward of a required front setback line.
- Permits
- Norman sets no permit for an ordinary fence in this section and builds an unusual body for the one case it does regulate, and the answer turns on the district, the height sought and whether the neighbor signs.
- Pool barriers
- An outdoor pool in Oklahoma that is open to the public gets a barrier equal to a 6 foot high woven wire fence. The figure is 6 feet, for barrier height around an outdoor public bathing place open to the general public.
- Spite fences
- Norman has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Oklahoma names the ground in its fence statute, and only for the bottom of the fence. The figure is 54 inches, for height of a lawful fence, with no datum stated. It reaches a lawful fence under the fence viewer article of the animals title only.
- Corner lots
- Norman leaves corner clearance to municipal governing bodies under Article 43 of Title 11.
- Retaining walls
- Norman leaves retaining walls to the International Residential Code, 2018 edition, as amended and modified by the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission in OAC 748:20-6.
- Materials
- Norman names three materials and bans them, and names none it permits, and the answer turns on whether the fence runs along a shared line or forms a required screen.
- Livestock
- Oklahoma writes out what a lawful fence for livestock is. The figure is 54 inches, for height of a lawful fence for restraining livestock.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Norman?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Norman answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether an easement runs under the line and whether the fence needs a foundation.
Norman states no distance between a fence and a lot line, and the interesting rule is about what lies underneath rather than alongside. Fencing along a side or rear property line may be erected within any utility easement, but is subject to removal by any franchised utility company whenever installation or repair of its facilities is required, so the owner gets to use the strip and carries the risk of losing the fence. A wall of brick or masonry requiring a permanent foundation is treated differently and may not be built in a designated utility easement at all without the written consent of every affected franchise holder, and the same consent requirement is repeated for any fence needing a permanent foundation. Where a commercial, industrial or multifamily use abuts a public alley shared with one or two family dwellings, opaque screening goes on the business side of the alley and has to be solid and continuous except at openings and access drives.
May be erected within any utility easement but is subject to removal by any franchised utility company whenever installation or repair of their facilities is required.
The answer turns on whether an easement runs under the line and whether the fence needs a foundation.
- a shared side or rear line
- No distance stated. 0 ft
- a utility easement
- Allowed, and removable at the owner cost.
- a wall on a foundation
- Every franchise holder has to consent.
- a shared alley
- Solid screening on the business side.
Also on fences on the property line in Norman
- set in state lawNeighbors in Oklahoma share the job of keeping up the fence and the boundary markers between them, in equal parts. One neighbor can step out of that by leaving the land open, with no fence around it, as a public common. If that neighbor later encloses the land, a fair share of what the other one's fence is worth at that time has to be paid back. 60 O.S. § 70Oklahoma · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Norman?
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Norman answers this, but the answer changes depending on where the fence sits, how tall it is and whether the neighbor consents.
Norman writes its front yard rule as a rule about position rather than about height. In a residentially zoned district, fencing or screening may not project forward of a required front setback line at all, unless it is less than four feet tall, so a low fence may come forward and anything taller simply may not. Along a side or rear property line the limit is eight feet, and the code offers two ways past it that most cities do not put side by side: the written consent of the abutting property owner, or a special exception from the Board of Adjustment approving the height, location and materials. Above ten feet the neighbor signature is no longer enough and the Board of Adjustment has to approve it. Screening required around parking or between a business and a house is at least six feet and may not exceed eight without the City Council or the Board.
In a residentially zoned district, fencing or screening may not project forward of a required front setback line, unless such fencing is less than four (4) feet in height.
The answer turns on where the fence sits, how tall it is and whether the neighbor consents.
- forward of the front setback
- Under four feet only. 4 ft
- a side or rear line
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- the neighbor consenting in writing
- Taller is allowed.
- above ten feet
- The Board of Adjustment. 10 ft
Also on fence height in Norman
- no rule, documents checkedOklahoma sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The property title on boundary fences deals with shared upkeep and not with size. The building code statute hands the choice of a code to a state commission and lets cities and counties go stricter, and it names no fence height. The one height in Oklahoma fence law is the 54 inch lawful fence, which describes a fence built to hold stock rather than a cap on a yard fence. Cities and counties set the limit at a house. 60 O.S. § 70Oklahoma · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Norman?
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Norman answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the height sought and whether the neighbor signs.
Norman sets no permit for an ordinary fence in this section and builds an unusual body for the one case it does regulate. In the two agricultural districts and the residential estate district, an owner may apply to an Administrative Review Committee for an alternative fence height, and the committee is the City Engineer, the Traffic Engineer, the Building Official and the Director of Planning and Community Development or their designees. All four have to approve, each against their own subject matter: the engineers on location and height against applicable codes, the Building Official against applicable codes and regulations, and the Director against the zoning and development codes, guidelines and policies. Anything above ten feet leaves that committee and goes to the Board of Adjustment. A side or rear fence above eight feet can also be resolved privately, by the written consent of the abutting owner, without any city body at all.
In any district zoned A-1, A-2, or RE, upon submittal of an application and necessary information, as required by the Planning and Community Development Department, an applicant may seek the approval of the Administrative Review Committee for alternative fence heights. The Administrative Review Committee shall be composed of the City Engineer, the Traffic Engineer, the Building Official and the Director of Planning and Community Development, or their designee.
The answer turns on the district, the height sought and whether the neighbor signs.
- an ordinary fence
- No permit named in this section.
- extra height on rural land
- Four officers, all four approving.
- over ten feet
- The Board of Adjustment.
- over eight on a shared line
- The neighbor may sign instead.
Also on permits in Norman
- set in state lawOne state body picks the building code for all of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission reviews and adopts the codes for homes and commercial buildings, and what it adopts is the least a build has to meet anywhere in the state. Cities, counties and state agencies work from those minimums and may write stricter rules of their own. The statute itself names no fence and no permit exemption. 59 O.S. § 1000.23Oklahoma · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Norman
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Oklahoma answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
An outdoor pool in Oklahoma that is open to the public gets a barrier equal to a 6 foot high woven wire fence. An outdoor pool that is not open to the general public gets a barrier at least 4 feet tall, entered only through gates that close and latch on their own, and it cannot block a clear view of the water. A decorative barrier can have no opening wider than 4 inches, and no barrier may be built in a way that turns it into a ladder. The rules come from the State Department of Health and cover public bathing places.
This one is Oklahoma law, not Norman law. All Oklahoma findings
Outdoor pools open to general public such as municipal pools and pools used by organizations (YWCA, YMCA, etc.), shall be enclosed by a suitable barrier equal to a six (6) foot high woven wire fence.
6 ftbarrier height around an outdoor public bathing place open to the general public
Spite fence laws in Norman
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Norman law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Oklahoma has no spite fence law. The property title that covers boundary fences says nothing about a fence built to annoy a neighbor and sets no height at all. The nuisance title has no fence rule either. A claim about a spite fence in Oklahoma runs on the general nuisance law and on court rulings.
This one is Oklahoma law, not Norman law. All Oklahoma findings
Documents read before writing that:
- 60 O.S. §§ 69 to 78Oklahoma Legislature
- 50 O.S. §§ 1 to 44Oklahoma Legislature
How fence height is measured in Norman
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Oklahoma answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Oklahoma names the ground in its fence statute, and only for the bottom of the fence. Section 154 puts the lowest rail, wire or board between sixteen and twenty inches from the ground, then sets the whole fence at fifty four inches in height without saying fifty four inches from what. That rule describes a lawful fence built to hold stock. For a fence at a house, the city ordinance written under title 11 sets both the height and the point it is counted from.
This one is Oklahoma law, not Norman law. All Oklahoma findings
Provided, that the lowest or bottom rail, wire or board shall not be more than twenty (20) or less than sixteen (16) inches from the ground, and that such fence shall be fifty-four (54) inches in height
54 inheight of a lawful fence, with no datum stated
Also on how height is measured in Norman
- no rule, documents checkedThe section states four feet, six feet, eight feet and ten feet and never says what any of them is measured from. No grade is named, a berm is not addressed, and a fence built on a retaining wall is not addressed. That gap matters more here than in a flat city because the alternative height route exists specifically for the agricultural and residential estate districts, where the ground is least likely to be level, and the committee reviewing those applications is given no measuring rule to apply. The one distinction the section does draw about the physical fence is structural rather than dimensional: a wall of brick or masonry requiring a permanent foundation is treated separately from an ordinary fence, and any fence requiring a permanent foundation needs written approval from every affected utility franchise holder before it goes in an easement. Section 36-552Norman · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Norman
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Norman does not set this. It leaves it to municipal governing bodies under Article 43 of Title 11.
Oklahoma has no state rule for the clear view at a corner. Title 11 lets a city government control the height and size of buildings and other structures and the size of yards and open spaces, so a corner triangle can only come from a city ordinance written under that power. Title 69, the roads and bridges title, uses the words sight distance only in the part describing how a turnpike is designed, which is about the road and not about what stands on a corner lot.
This one is Oklahoma law, not Norman law. All Oklahoma findings
a municipal governing body may regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures, the percentage of lot that may be occupied, the size of yards, courts and other open spaces, the density of population, and the location and use of buildings,
The code hands this to municipal governing bodies under Article 43 of Title 11, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Norman
- no rule, documents checkedThe fencing, walls and screening section says nothing about a corner. It does not use the words sight distance, vision clearance, visibility triangle or corner lot, and it names no distance from an intersection and no protected band of heights. The nearest the section comes is indirect and procedural: the Traffic Engineer sits on the committee that approves an alternative fence height in the agricultural and residential estate districts, and has to evaluate and approve the proposed location and height against applicable codes, which is where a sight line question would surface for those three districts and nowhere else. What the section does supply near a street is the rule that fencing may not project forward of a required front setback line unless it is under four feet, which limits what can stand at the front of a corner lot without being aimed at the corner itself. Section 36-552Norman · Zoning code
Retaining wall rules in Norman
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Norman does not set this. It leaves it to the International Residential Code, 2018 edition, as amended and modified by the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission in OAC 748:20-6.
Oklahoma writes no retaining wall rule of its own. The Uniform Building Code Commission adopted the 2018 International Residential Code as the statewide minimum for one and two family homes and townhouses, and took in chapter 1 of that book, which holds the list of work that needs no permit. So the test for a wall that holds back earth comes from the adopted book, and a city or county may set a stricter rule on top of it.
This one is Oklahoma law, not Norman law. All Oklahoma findings
the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission (the "OUBCC") hereby adopts the International Residential Code®, 2018 Edition (IRC® 2018) as amended and modified in this subchapter to be the statewide minimum code for residential construction within the State of Oklahoma for one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses
The code hands this to the International Residential Code, 2018 edition, as amended and modified by the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission in OAC 748:20-6, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Norman
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Norman answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence runs along a shared line or forms a required screen.
Norman names three materials and bans them, and names none it permits. A fence along a side or rear property line may not be constructed of corrugated fiberglass, corrugated metal or unpainted sheet metal, and may not contain any barbed wire. The same three products and the same wire ban are repeated for the screening fence a commercial, industrial or multifamily lot has to put up where it abuts a one or two family lot, where the code says the fence may be built of any material except those. Unpainted is the operative word in the third item: painted sheet metal is not on the list, so the objection is to the look of bare galvanized steel rather than to the material itself. Nothing in the section addresses electric fencing, razor wire, or the materials of a fence anywhere other than a shared line or a required screen.
May not be constructed of corrugated fiberglass, corrugated metal, or unpainted sheet metal, nor contain any barbed wire.
The answer turns on whether the fence runs along a shared line or forms a required screen.
- corrugated fiberglass or metal
- Prohibited on a shared line.
- unpainted sheet metal
- Prohibited; painted is not named.
- barbed wire
- Not on a side or rear line.
- a required screen
- Any material but those three.
Also on materials in Norman
- set in state lawBarb wire is a legal way to build a fence in Oklahoma, and the statute says how. A barb wire lawful fence takes three barb wires, or four wires with two of them barbed. Posts go no more than two rods apart when two stays are used between them, or one rod apart with no stays, and a rod is sixteen and a half feet. The top wire sits fifty four to fifty eight inches up and the bottom wire sixteen to twenty inches off the ground. The same section sets a separate standard for a rail or board fence. 4 O.S. 154Oklahoma · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Norman
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Oklahoma answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Oklahoma writes out what a lawful fence for livestock is. A rail or board fence stands 54 inches tall, with the bottom rail no more than 20 and no less than 16 inches off the ground. A barbed wire fence may run three barbed wires, or four wires with two of them barbed, and the top wire sits 54 to 58 inches up. Fence viewers may accept any other fence they judge equal to that. An owner who leaves land open as a common does not pay toward a fence on the line until the land is enclosed or put to some other use.
This one is Oklahoma law, not Norman law. All Oklahoma findings
Provided, that the lowest or bottom rail, wire or board shall not be more than twenty (20) or less than sixteen (16) inches from the ground, and that such fence shall be fifty-four (54) inches in height, except that a barb wire fence may consist of three barb wires, or four wires, two of which shall be barbed
54 inheight of a lawful fence for restraining livestock
Documents behind this page
8 documents, of which 1 was published by Norman itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Oklahoma LegislatureOklahoma Statutes, Title 60, Property, Section 70
- City of NormanCode of the City of Norman, Chapter 36, Zoning, Article 36-V, Division 36-V-3, Section 36-552, Fencing, Walls, and Screening
- Oklahoma LegislatureOklahoma Statutes, Title 59, Professions and Occupations, Sections 1000.20 to 1000.29, Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission Act
- Oklahoma State Department of HealthOklahoma Administrative Code Title 310, Chapter 315, Public Bathing Place Facility Standards, permanent final adoption
- Oklahoma LegislatureOklahoma Statutes, Title 50, Nuisances, Sections 1 to 44
- Oklahoma LegislatureOklahoma Statutes, Title 4, Animals
- Oklahoma LegislatureOklahoma Statutes, Title 11, Cities and Towns, Article 43, Municipal Planning and Zoning
- Oklahoma Uniform Building Code CommissionOklahoma Administrative Code, Title 748, Chapter 20, Subchapter 6, IRC 2018, Permanent Rule effective September 14, 2022
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 Norman publishes, plus the Oklahoma rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Oklahoma 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