Fence laws in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
What the Philadelphia municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Philadelphia sets no rule of its own, the Pennsylvania rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Philadelphia states no distance between a fence and a property line, and the answer turns on where the house sits relative to the required setback. The figure is 0 feet, for setback stated from a property line.
- How tall
- Philadelphia draws the line at the building rather than at the lot line, and it uses whichever is further out: the required building setback, or the actual distance the house stands from the lot line, and the answer turns on whether the fence stands in front of the building line and which way it faces. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in front of the required or actual building setback.
- Permits
- Philadelphia splits the permit question by what the fence is built from, and the two thresholds are three feet apart, and the answer turns on the material and the height. The figure is 2 feet, for masonry fence height above which a building permit is required.
- Pool barriers
- Pennsylvania prints no pool barrier height of its own.
- Spite fences
- Philadelphia has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- This is the clearest answer in this project to the question that causes the most arguments.
- Corner lots
- The zoning code writes the rule in one sentence and puts the shape in a definition: a fence or wall over four feet and more than fifty percent opaque may not be built inside any sight triangle, and the answer turns on how tall the fence is and how solid it is. The figure is 30 feet, for reach of the sight triangle from a street intersection.
- Retaining walls
- A retaining wall four feet tall or less needs no permit in Pennsylvania, so long as it carries no surcharge, which means no extra load pressing on the dirt behind it. The figure is 4 feet, for height at or below which a retaining wall needs no permit, measured from the lowest level of grade to the top of the wall. It reaches residential buildings only.
- Materials
- A wire fence is lawful in Pennsylvania, with or without barbs, and an act of 1899 says so in two short sections.
- Livestock
- A fence made in whole or in part of wire, with or without barbs, counts as a legal fence under every Pennsylvania act about building and keeping up a fence on the line.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Philadelphia?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Philadelphia answers this, but the answer changes depending on where the house sits relative to the required setback.
Philadelphia states no distance between a fence and a property line. Its whole scheme runs off the building instead: a fence is a front fence or a side and rear fence depending on whether it stands nearer the lot line than the required building setback or the actual position of the house, whichever of those two is further from the street. That is unusual and it suits a city of rowhouses, where the required setback is often zero and the actual face of the building is the only line that means anything. The consequence for a boundary fence is that it may sit on the line at six feet behind the house and at four feet and half open in front of it, without any setback of its own. The fence rules apply in every zoning district and to every land use, unless another provision of the zoning code exempts them or a more specific requirement displaces them.
Fences in the rear or at the side that are located at a distance equal to or further from the front lot line than the required building setback or the actual distance to the building from the front lot line (whichever is greater) may be no more than six ft. in height.
The answer turns on where the house sits relative to the required setback.
- a shared lot line
- No distance stated. 0 ft
- the dividing line
- The building, not the lot line.
- an overlay district
- Its own fence rules apply on top.
- a fence around a deck
- The deck rules govern instead.
Also on fences on the property line in Philadelphia
- no rule, documents checkedNo rule about a fence on the line appears in the published Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code. The two chapters that were read set permit rules and adopt model codes, and neither one says who pays for a fence on a boundary. The Pennsylvania line fence rule is not part of the consolidated statutes. It sits in an act of 1905, which makes the owners of improved and occupied land each build and keep up an equal part of the fence on the line between them. 34 Pa. Code 403.62Pennsylvania · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Philadelphia?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Philadelphia answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence stands in front of the building line and which way it faces.
Philadelphia draws the line at the building rather than at the lot line, and it uses whichever is further out: the required building setback, or the actual distance the house stands from the lot line. Anything closer to the street than that line is a front fence, held to four feet and no more than fifty percent opaque, so the limit is a height and a see-through requirement together. Anything at or behind that line may be six feet with no opacity rule at all. A corner lot is handled by facing rather than by geometry: every side of the building facing a street follows the front rule, and every side not facing a street follows the side and rear rule. Posts are given a small allowance of their own, up to six and a half feet on a side or rear fence and four and a half in front, but only where they are integrated as architectural features and only for the posts themselves.
Any fence located nearer to the lot line than the required building setback or the actual distance of the building from the lot line (whichever is greater), shall be no more than four ft. in height and no more than fifty percent (50%) opaque.
The answer turns on whether the fence stands in front of the building line and which way it faces.
- in front of the building line
- Four feet and half open. 4 ft
- at or behind that line
- Six feet, any opacity. 6 ft
- an architectural post
- Six and a half at the side, four and a half in front. 6.5 ft
- a corner lot
- Each side follows what it faces.
Also on fence height in Philadelphia
- no rule, documents checkedPennsylvania sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The six foot figure in the Uniform Construction Code is the point where a permit starts being needed, not a ceiling, so a taller fence is allowed with a permit unless local zoning says otherwise. The code adoption section names no height at all. Municipal zoning sets the limit. 34 Pa. Code 403.62Pennsylvania · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Philadelphia?
Compare permits across all 50 states
Philadelphia answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material and the height.
Philadelphia splits the permit question by what the fence is built from, and the two thresholds are three feet apart. A building permit is required for a non-masonry fence over six feet and for a masonry fence over two, which is the lowest masonry threshold in this project and reflects that a low garden wall is still a structure that can fall on somebody. The zoning permit works the other way around: none is required where the fence is at or below the limits of the zoning code, and where the proposal exceeds those limits the applicant applies anyway, receives a refusal, and appeals it to the Zoning Board of Adjustment. So the refusal is a step in the process rather than the end of it. The Department is explicit that its interpretation is guidance, may change without notice, and is not the only way to comply with the code.
A building permit is required for non-masonry fences that exceed six ft. in height. A building permit is required for masonry fences that exceed two ft. in height.
The answer turns on the material and the height.
- a masonry fence over two feet
- A building permit. 2 ft
- any other fence over six feet
- A building permit.
- a fence inside the zoning limits
- No zoning permit.
- a fence over those limits
- A refusal, then an appeal to the Board.
Also on permits in Philadelphia
- set in state lawA fence six feet tall or less needs no building permit anywhere in Pennsylvania. The state writes that exemption into its own regulation instead of leaving it inside the model code, and it holds as long as the work breaks no other law or ordinance. The same list exempts a retaining wall under four feet with no extra load pressing on the dirt behind it, and a factory built pool less than 24 inches deep. 34 Pa. Code 403.62(c)(1)Pennsylvania · Building code
Pool fence requirements in Philadelphia
Compare pool barriers across all 50 states
Pennsylvania answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Pennsylvania prints no pool barrier height of its own. The Uniform Construction Code takes in a list of model codes by reference, and one of them is the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code of 2021, which holds the barrier height and the gate rules for a pool at a house. The same section takes in the International Residential Code of 2021. So the number sits in that model code rather than in the Pennsylvania regulation.
This one is Pennsylvania law, not Philadelphia law. All Pennsylvania findings
International Swimming Pool and Spa Code of 2021
Spite fence laws in Philadelphia
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Philadelphia law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Pennsylvania has no spite fence law. The Uniform Construction Code chapters that reach a fence treat it as construction work and draw a permit line by height, with nothing about why the fence was built. A Pennsylvania claim over a fence put up to annoy a neighbor runs on a nuisance case in court and on local zoning.
This one is Pennsylvania law, not Philadelphia law. All Pennsylvania findings
Documents read before writing that:
- 34 Pa. Code 403.62Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin
- 34 Pa. Code 403.21Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin
How fence height is measured in Philadelphia
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Philadelphia answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
This is the clearest answer in this project to the question that causes the most arguments. Any part of a retaining wall standing above the higher level grade has to meet the fence rules by itself, so a three foot wall holding back a raised front yard is treated as a three foot fence and is caught by the four foot limit and the opacity rule. Where a fence sits on top of such a wall, the combined height of the exposed wall and the fence may not exceed the maximum permitted for a fence, so six feet of fence on two feet of wall is eight feet and is not allowed. The phrase higher level grade settles whose side is measured: it is the upper yard, not the lower street, so the owner who benefits from the fill does not also get a taller fence out of it. Walls required to meet other standards under the Philadelphia Code, state law or federal law are excepted.
Where a fence is located on top of a retaining wall, the combined height of the retaining wall that exists above the higher level grade and fence shall not exceed the maximum height permitted for a fence.
Also on how height is measured in Philadelphia
- left to the townPennsylvania has no state fence height and no state rule for how one is measured. Every local zoning power in the state comes from the Municipalities Planning Code, and section 603 lets a local ordinance control the size, height, bulk and location of structures. A fence is a structure rather than a building, so that clause reaches it. The borough, township or city ordinance is the only document that says what six feet is counted from. MPC Section 603(b)(2), 53 P.S. 10603(b)(2)Pennsylvania · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Philadelphia
Compare corner visibility across all 50 states
Philadelphia answers this, but the answer changes depending on how tall the fence is and how solid it is.
The zoning code writes the rule in one sentence and puts the shape in a definition: a fence or wall over four feet and more than fifty percent opaque may not be built inside any sight triangle. Because both conditions have to be met, a tall open fence and a low solid one are each left alone, and only the tall solid fence is caught. The Department of Licenses and Inspections sets out the dimensions in its fence FAQ, and they cover more than the street corner. The triangle reaches thirty feet from an intersection, and twelve feet from a shared driveway or alley where that alley is at least twelve feet wide, which matters in a city built on rear alleys. Inside either one the fence is held to four feet and to half opacity, the same standard the code applies to a front yard fence.
Fences and walls over four ft. in height and more than fifty percent (50%) opaque may not be constructed or installed within any sight triangle.
The answer turns on how tall the fence is and how solid it is.
- a tall solid fence
- Not in a sight triangle.
- a street intersection
- Thirty feet. 30 ft
- a shared driveway or alley
- Twelve feet, where the alley is twelve wide. 12 ft
- an open fence
- The rule does not reach it.
Also on corner visibility in Philadelphia
- set in state lawPennsylvania uses the words corner sight distance, and they sit in the traffic rules rather than in a zoning ordinance. Section 212.6 lets the Department order a property owner to cut back or take out a tree, plant, shrub or other thing that is a traffic hazard on a state highway, and lets a local authority do the same on any highway inside its own lines. The section gives one example of a hazard, something that drops the corner sight distance below the minimum for a driver pulling out of a side road or a driveway. It draws no triangle and leaves the minimum to the standards. 67 Pa. Code 212.6Pennsylvania · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Philadelphia
Compare retaining walls across all 50 states
Pennsylvania answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A retaining wall four feet tall or less needs no permit in Pennsylvania, so long as it carries no surcharge, which means no extra load pressing on the dirt behind it. Pennsylvania prints that exemption in its own regulation rather than leaving it inside the model code, and it counts the four feet from the lowest level of grade to the top of the wall. The model code counts from the bottom of the footing instead, so a wall with a deep footing gets more room here. The exemption only holds if the work breaks no other law or ordinance.
This one is Pennsylvania law, not Philadelphia law. All Pennsylvania findings
Retaining walls that are not over 4 feet in height measured from the lowest level of grade to the top of the wall unless the wall supports a surcharge.
4 ftheight at or below which a retaining wall needs no permit, measured from the lowest level of grade to the top of the wall
Fence materials allowed in Philadelphia
Compare materials across all 50 states
Pennsylvania answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A wire fence is lawful in Pennsylvania, with or without barbs, and an act of 1899 says so in two short sections. The first makes it lawful for any land owner in the state to build and keep a wire fence along any highway, then hands the limits to each town by making that right subject to whatever the local authorities restrict or ban. The second makes a wire fence a lawful fence on the line under every other fence act in the state, so long as it reaches the height those acts call for.
This one is Pennsylvania law, not Philadelphia law. All Pennsylvania findings
That it shall and is hereby declared to be lawful for any land owner within this Commonwealth to construct, build and maintain, along any of the highways of this Commonwealth, fences made in whole or in part of wire, with or without barbs, subject at all times to such restrictions and prohibitions as may be imposed by the municipal authorities relative thereto.
Also on materials in Philadelphia
- no rule, documents checkedSection 14-706 names no permitted material and prohibits none. Barbed wire does not appear. Razor wire does not appear. An electric fence does not appear. Chain link does not appear. What the code regulates instead is opacity, capping a front fence at fifty percent and leaving a side or rear fence with no opacity rule at all, which reaches the same question from the other direction: what matters is how much of the fence a person can see through, not what the solid part is made of. Material enters the picture only at the permit counter, where masonry and non-masonry fences get different thresholds, and in the retaining wall rule, which treats the exposed face of a wall as a fence. Use-specific standards and overlay districts may add their own fencing rules on particular sites, and those are the place a material limit would sit. Section 14-706Philadelphia · Zoning code
Livestock and boundary fence law in Philadelphia
Compare agricultural fencing across all 50 states
Pennsylvania answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A fence made in whole or in part of wire, with or without barbs, counts as a legal fence under every Pennsylvania act about building and keeping up a fence on the line. The act sets no wire count, no post spacing and no height of its own. It sends the height back to whatever the line fence act calls for.
This one is Pennsylvania law, not Philadelphia law. All Pennsylvania findings
A fence, in whole or in part of wire, with or without barbs, is hereby declared to be a legal and lawful fence, within the meaning and provisions of any act of the Legislature of this State relative to the building, constructing and maintaining of line fences, provided that such wire fence shall be of the height required by such act or acts.
1899 Act 111, Section 2 (29 P.S. 32)
Also on agricultural fencing in Philadelphia
- left to the townPennsylvania never prints a fence specification. The line fence act makes the owners of improved and occupied land each build and keep up an equal part of the fence on the line between them. When one of them says the other's half is not good enough, a person decides it rather than a table of numbers. The county surveyor acts as fence viewer, looks at the fence, and reports whether it is good enough. If it is, the one who complained pays the surveyor. If it is not, the matter goes to a justice of the peace, who gives the other owner forty days to build or repair. 1905 Act 118, Section 1 (29 P.S. 41)Pennsylvania · Statute
Documents behind this page
9 documents, of which 2 were published by Philadelphia itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin34 Pa. Code Chapter 403, Administration, Permit requirements and exemptions
- Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin34 Pa. Code Chapter 403, Administration, Uniform Construction Code
- City of PhiladelphiaThe Philadelphia Code, Title 14, Zoning and Planning, Section 14-706, Fencing and Walls
- Philadelphia Department of Licenses and InspectionsFAQ PG_004, I want to build a fence. How high can the fence be? What permits do I need? Residentially Zoned Property, revised September 2021
- Pennsylvania General AssemblyPennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act of July 31, 1968, P.L.805, No.247
- Commonwealth of PennsylvaniaPennsylvania Code, Title 67, Transportation, Chapter 212, Official Traffic Control Devices
- Pennsylvania General AssemblyMaking Wire Fences Legal, Act of May 2, 1899, P.L. 163, No. 111
- Pennsylvania General AssemblyAct No. 111 of 1899, Making Wire Fences Legal, enacted May 2, 1899, Section 2 as amended April 7, 1976, P.L.807, No.31
- Pennsylvania General AssemblyAct No. 118 of 1905, Regulating Line Fences, enacted April 14, 1905
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 Philadelphia publishes, plus the Pennsylvania rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Pennsylvania 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