Fence laws in Oregon
What Oregon 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 Oregon, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Oregon splits the cost of a fence on the line between neighbors. The figure is 50 percent, for share of the partition fence value owed by the adjoining owner who encloses the other side.
- How tall
- Oregon sets no maximum fence height. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Permits
- Oregon leaves a wood, wire mesh or chain link fence off the statewide building permit list. The figure is 7 feet, for height at or below which a local ordinance may not require a building permit for a wood, wire mesh or chain link fence.
- Pool barriers
- A public pool in Oregon sits inside an enclosure at least 6 feet tall, meant to keep out people who should not get in. The figure is 6 feet, for minimum height of an enclosure around a public aquatic venue.
- Spite fences
- Oregon has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Oregon leaves the measuring rule to a municipal ordinance adopted under the Oregon Residential Specialty Code. The figure is 7 feet, for lowest permit threshold a city may set for a wood, wire mesh or chain link fence. It reaches fences of wood, wire mesh or chain link that are not swimming pool barriers only.
- Corner lots
- Oregon leaves corner clearance to cities under ORS chapter 227 and counties under ORS chapter 215.
- Retaining walls
- Oregon sets the retaining wall rule in two halves. The figure is 4 feet, for height at or below which a local ordinance may not require a building permit for a retaining wall, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall. It reaches one and two family dwellings only.
- Materials
- Oregon restricts no fence material. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Livestock
- Oregon calls the farm standard an adequate fence and says what it has to do rather than how it is built.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Oregon?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Oregon answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Oregon splits the cost of a fence on the line between neighbors. When one person already keeps a good fence there and the neighbor then encloses the other side, that neighbor pays half of what the fence is worth as a fence on the line. The two of them set that value between them. If they cannot agree, the one owed the money may sue for half the cost of building or repairing it, and the winning side also gets attorney fees.
the latter shall pay the owner of such fence already erected, one-half of the value of so much thereof as serves as a partition fence, such value to be determined by the parties.
50%share of the partition fence value owed by the adjoining owner who encloses the other side
How tall can a fence be in Oregon?
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Oregon law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Oregon sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The fence chapter deals with cost sharing, repair and removal, not size. The residential code names 7 feet, and that figure is a floor on how low a city may set its permit trigger rather than a cap on how tall a fence may be. Cities and counties set the height limit.
Documents read before writing that:
- ORS Chapter 96Oregon Legislative Assembly
- ORSC R101.2.2 and R105.2Oregon Building Codes Division, Department of Consumer and Business Services
Do I need a permit for a fence in Oregon?
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Oregon answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Oregon leaves a wood, wire mesh or chain link fence off the statewide building permit list. A city may pass its own ordinance requiring a permit for one, and the state code puts a floor under that: the city trigger cannot reach a fence 7 feet tall or less. A city may set the trigger higher than 7 feet, and it may regulate a fence made of some other material at any height. One rule holds everywhere in Oregon, that a fence acting as a swimming pool barrier needs a building permit.
A municipality may adopt an ordinance to regulate the construction of other fences constructed of wood, wire mesh or chain link, provided that the threshold established for requiring a building permit does not include fences that are 7 feet (2134 mm) or less in height.
7 ftheight at or below which a local ordinance may not require a building permit for a wood, wire mesh or chain link fence
Also on permits in Oregon
- set in state lawOregon runs one building code for the whole state. The statute makes that code the same in every city and county, and it stops a local government enforcing its own rule on a matter the state code already covers when the local rule asks for something different. The director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services can allow an exception. ORS 455.040Oregon · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Oregon
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Oregon answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A public pool in Oregon sits inside an enclosure at least 6 feet tall, meant to keep out people who should not get in. The gap under the fence is held to 2 inches over grass or gravel and 4 inches over a solid surface, and openings between bars go no wider than 4 inches. A gate onto a public way closes and latches on its own. A pool open only part of the year may use a 4 foot enclosure. The rules come from the Oregon Health Authority and cover public aquatic facilities.
ENCLOSURES shall be no less than 6 feet (1.83 m) in height.
OAR 333-060-1000, Section 4.8.6.2.4A
6 ftminimum height of an enclosure around a public aquatic venue
Spite fence laws in Oregon
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Oregon law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Oregon has no spite fence law. The fence chapter covers cost sharing, repair, removal and gates, and never mentions a fence built to annoy a neighbor. The property rights chapter has no fence height and no rule about ill will either. A claim of that kind rests on a nuisance case in court or on a local ordinance.
Documents read before writing that:
- ORS Chapter 96Oregon Legislative Assembly
- ORS Chapter 105Oregon Legislative Assembly
How fence height is measured in Oregon
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Oregon does not set this. It leaves it to a municipal ordinance adopted under the Oregon Residential Specialty Code.
Oregon names 7 feet for a fence and never says 7 feet from what. The residential code lists work a city may choose to require a permit for, puts wood, wire mesh and chain link fences on that list, and blocks a city from setting the permit trigger at 7 feet or less. A city may go higher than 7 feet and may regulate fences of other materials at any height. So the measuring point comes from the city ordinance.
A municipality may adopt an ordinance to regulate the construction of other fences constructed of wood, wire mesh or chain link, provided that the threshold established for requiring a building permit does not include fences that are 7 feet (2134 mm) or less in height.
7 ftlowest permit threshold a city may set for a wood, wire mesh or chain link fence
The code hands this to a municipal ordinance adopted under the Oregon Residential Specialty Code, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence rules for corner lots in Oregon
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Oregon does not set this. It leaves it to cities under ORS chapter 227 and counties under ORS chapter 215.
Oregon has no state rule for the clear view at a corner. ORS 227.215 lets a city regulate land development and require a development permit, so a corner triangle comes from the city ordinance. The highway chapter, ORS 374, does use the words sight distance, but only as a test the Department of Transportation applies when it decides whether to allow a new driveway onto a state highway.
A city may plan and otherwise encourage and regulate the development of land. A city may adopt an ordinance requiring that whatever land development is undertaken in the city comply with the requirements of the ordinance and be undertaken only in compliance with the terms of a development permit.
The code hands this to cities under ORS chapter 227 and counties under ORS chapter 215, which is not published in the code itself.
Retaining wall rules in Oregon
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Oregon answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Oregon sets the retaining wall rule in two halves. Statewide, a wall needs a building permit at any height when it keeps people using a building safe, holds up a regulated building, or holds back dirt that could hit a regulated building if the wall let go. For any other retaining wall a city may pass its own ordinance, and the state code puts a floor under it: the city permit trigger cannot reach a wall 4 feet tall or less, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall. A city may set that trigger higher than 4 feet. The 4 foot floor falls away where the wall holds up a slope steeper than 3 to 1 or carries a load that is not soil.
A municipality may adopt an ordinance to regulate other retaining walls, provided that the threshold established for requiring a permit does not include retaining walls 4 feet (1219 mm) or less in height, when measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall
4 ftheight at or below which a local ordinance may not require a building permit for a retaining wall, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall
Fence materials allowed in Oregon
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Oregon law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Oregon never says what a fence may be built from. The line and partition fence chapter runs six sections and names no material at all. Its only test is whether the fence is the sort a careful farmer would keep on the line. The estray chapter in the animal title calls an adequate fence a continuous barrier of natural barriers, structures, masonry, rails, poles, planks, wire or a mix of them, and then tests it by whether it holds cattle and horses in or out. Neither chapter says a word about barbed wire, razor wire or an electric fence.
Documents read before writing that:
- ORS 96.010 to 96.060Oregon Legislative Assembly
- ORS 607.007Oregon Legislative Assembly
Livestock and boundary fence law in Oregon
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Oregon answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Oregon calls the farm standard an adequate fence and says what it has to do rather than how it is built. It is a continuous barrier made of natural barriers, structures, masonry, rails, poles, planks, wire, or a mix of them, kept up so it stands as a continuous guard against cattle or horses getting in or out. A hedge, ditch, river, stream, pond or lake can serve as the natural barrier. The definition gives no height, no wire count and no post spacing.
means a continuous barrier consisting of natural barriers, structures, masonry, rails, poles, planks, wire or the combination thereof, installed and maintained in a condition so as to form a continuous guard and defense against the ingress or egress of cattle or equines into or from the lands enclosed by the barrier.
Also on agricultural fencing in Oregon
- left to the townBecause the statute gives no numbers, whether a fence was good enough gets decided case by case. When cattle or horses break through a fence on open range and the answer matters, the State Department of Agriculture makes that call, and it weighs how good farmers in that particular area build and keep their fences. The department may charge a fee for making the call. ORS 607.300Oregon · Statute
- depends, see the pageOregon runs both systems at once and a map decides which one applies. A livestock district is an area where a class of livestock may not run loose. Open range is an area where livestock may lawfully run loose. Every incorporated city is a livestock district. The county governing body forms a district, adds land to it, takes land out and dissolves it, and it publishes notice when it does. ORS 607.045(1)Oregon · Statute
Documents behind this page
7 documents, each read on the date shown. Nothing on this page rests on a summary of one.
- Oregon Legislative AssemblyOregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 96, Line and Partition Fences, 2025 Edition, Section 96.010
- Oregon Building Codes Division, Department of Consumer and Business Services2023 Oregon Residential Specialty Code, Chapter 1, Scope and Administration
- Oregon Legislative AssemblyOregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 455, Building Codes, 2025 Edition, Section 455.040
- Oregon Health Authority, Public Pool ProgramOregon Public Aquatic Facility Rules, OAR 333-060-1000, Aquatic Facility Design Standards and Construction, effective April 1, 2025
- Oregon Legislative AssemblyOregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 105, Property Rights, 2025 Edition
- Oregon Legislative AssemblyOregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 227, City Planning and Zoning
- Oregon Legislative AssemblyOregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 607, Livestock Districts; Estrays; Animals at Large
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