Fence laws in Reading, Pennsylvania
What the Reading municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Reading sets no rule of its own, the Pennsylvania rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Reading, Pennsylvania, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Reading has no statute splitting the cost of a fence on the boundary. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- How tall
- A fence, wall or similar structure in the minimum front yard of a residential or R-PO district may not exceed four feet, and the answer turns on the yard, the district, and what the fence is protecting. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in the minimum front yard of a residential or R-PO district.
- Permits
- No fence, wall or similar structure taller than three feet may be put up in Reading without first getting a permit from the Zoning Administrator, which is a lower threshold than most cities use and catches an ordinary garden fence. The figure is 3 feet, for height above which a fence or wall needs a permit.
- Pool barriers
- Pennsylvania prints no pool barrier height of its own.
- Spite fences
- Reading has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Reading writes its measuring rule as a sentence and then shows the arithmetic.
- Corner lots
- Every lot with a driveway, or at an alley or street intersection, keeps its sight triangle clear of anything over thirty inches above the elevation of the intersecting streets, and the answer turns on how see-through the fence is and how high it clears. The figure is 30 inches, for height above the elevation of the intersecting streets allowed in the sight triangle.
- 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
- Reading writes a prohibited list and gives barbed wire a paragraph of its own with four separate triggers, and the answer turns on the material, the zone and how the fence is built. The figure is 6 feet, for height below which barbed wire is prohibited.
- 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 Reading?
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Reading law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
No 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.
This one is Pennsylvania law, not Reading 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
Also on fences on the property line in Reading
- no rule, documents checkedPart 13 runs six sections and none of them puts a distance between a fence and a property line. Section 600-1302 fixes heights by yard and district, 600-1301 sets the permit threshold, 600-1303 handles corners, 600-1304 lists banned materials, 600-1305 covers construction fences and 600-1306 lists the public uses the part does not reach. Nothing says how close a fence may come to a neighbor, so it may stand on the line. The lot line rules that do exist belong to buffer strips rather than fences: where a new or expanded principal non-residential use abuts an existing principal residential use on another lot in a residential district, a buffer strip is established and maintained along the side and rear lot lines that do not abut a street. A junkyard takes a fifty foot buffer strip and no junk or accessory structure may sit in it. Sections 600-1301 through 600-1306Reading · Zoning code
How tall can a fence be in Reading?
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Reading answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the district, and what the fence is protecting.
A fence, wall or similar structure in the minimum front yard of a residential or R-PO district may not exceed four feet. Everywhere else in every district the limit is six, stated as exclusive of ornamentation, and the ordinance then defines how much ornament it means: decorative posts and similar features may rise one foot above the maximum, provided they are not continuous in a way that effectively raises the whole fence. That proviso is the useful part, since a row of finials every six inches would otherwise turn six feet into seven. Two routes go higher. In the Manufacturing and C-H districts a fence may exceed six feet outright, but is capped at eight where it stands within twenty feet of a residential zone or a residential use. And anywhere, a taller fence is allowed where the applicant proves it is needed to secure an electric substation or a similar safety or health hazard.
Fences, walls and similar structures in the minimum front yard of a residential or R-PO District shall not exceed four feet in height.
The answer turns on the yard, the district, and what the fence is protecting.
- a residential front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- anywhere else
- Six feet. 6 ft
- decorative posts
- One foot more, if they are not continuous. 1 ft
- Manufacturing or C-H near houses
- Eight feet within twenty of a home. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Reading
- 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 Reading?
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Reading answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
No fence, wall or similar structure taller than three feet may be put up in Reading without first getting a permit from the Zoning Administrator, which is a lower threshold than most cities use and catches an ordinary garden fence. The same short section then settles the measuring question and works an example into the text, saying that height is the total height above the ground and that a two foot fence built on top of a two foot wall is a four foot structure. That example does more work than it looks like, because it means a permit is needed for a two foot fence sitting on a two foot wall even though neither piece would need one alone. Retaining walls are sent to Chapter 180, the construction codes, for their own requirements. Part 13 as a whole does not reach a fence around a City-owned use, a public park, a public playground, public school property or a water or sewage facility.
No fence, wall or similar structure greater than three feet in height shall be erected without first obtaining a permit from the Zoning Administrator.
3 ftheight above which a fence or wall needs a permit
Also on permits in Reading
- 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 Reading
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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 Reading law. All Pennsylvania findings
International Swimming Pool and Spa Code of 2021
Spite fence laws in Reading
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Reading 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 Reading 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 Reading
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Reading answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Reading writes its measuring rule as a sentence and then shows the arithmetic. The height of a fence or wall is measured on the total height above the ground, and the code gives its own example: a two foot fence built on a two foot wall is a four foot structure. Very few codes in this project answer the stacking question at all and fewer still do it with a worked case, which removes the argument that the wall is retaining rather than fencing. Ornamentation is handled in the height section rather than here, allowing a decorative post one foot above the maximum as long as the ornament is not continuous enough to raise the fence in effect. What the ordinance does not say is which side of a slope the ground is read from, so a fence along a bank between two yards at different levels has no stated answer. Retaining walls are sent to the construction codes.
The height of fences and walls shall be measured based upon the total height above the ground, such as if a two-foot tall fence is constructed on top of a two-foot tall wall, the structure shall be considered four feet high.
Also on how height is measured in Reading
- 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 Reading
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Reading answers this, but the answer changes depending on how see-through the fence is and how high it clears.
Every lot with a driveway, or at an alley or street intersection, keeps its sight triangle clear of anything over thirty inches above the elevation of the intersecting streets. Then the section carves out more exceptions than most codes have rules. Anything with more than ten feet of clearance is unregulated, such as the trimmed canopy of a shade tree or the face of a pole sign. A fence that allows more than seventy five percent visibility through it is not regulated by the section at all, and the code names a typical open chain link fence as the example, so the openness of the fence rather than its height decides whether the rule applies. A utility or sign pole up to twenty inches across is allowed, as is the trunk of an existing tree where the neighbor trims the branches, and so are traffic control signs, street lights and standard mailboxes. The triangle dimensions live in the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.
No building, fence, wall, structure, object and/or site improvement shall be erected or permitted which exceeds a height of 30 inches above the elevation of the intersecting streets and is located within the designated sight triangle.
The answer turns on how see-through the fence is and how high it clears.
- a solid fence in the triangle
- Thirty inches. 30 in
- a fence over seventy five percent open
- Not regulated at all. 75%
- anything clearing ten feet
- Unregulated.
- the size of the triangle
- The subdivision ordinance sets it.
Also on corner visibility in Reading
- 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 Reading
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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 Reading 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 Reading
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Reading answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, the zone and how the fence is built.
Reading writes a prohibited list and gives barbed wire a paragraph of its own with four separate triggers. It is prohibited where the fence sits in a residential district with a residential use, or abuts residential property, or is in the C-N or R-PO zones, or is in a front yard or abuts a street in the C-C and C-R zones. It is prohibited where the wire would sit less than six feet above grade. It is prohibited where the wire would stick out past the outside face of the fence. And it is prohibited where the fence is not properly buffered under the buffer strip rules. The rest of the list is short and blunt: fabric, electrically charged fences other than invisible pet fences, broken glass affixed to a wall or fence, junk including discarded vehicles and appliances, and razor wire except around a prison or correctional institution.
Razor wire, except around a prison or correctional institution.
The answer turns on the material, the zone and how the fence is built.
- barbed wire near homes
- Prohibited.
- barbed wire under six feet up
- Prohibited wherever it is. 6 ft
- fabric, glass or junk
- Prohibited.
- an invisible pet fence
- Allowed, unlike other electric fences.
Also on materials in Reading
- set in state lawA 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. 1899 Act 111, Section 1Pennsylvania · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Reading
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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 Reading 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 Reading
- 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
8 documents, of which 1 was published by Reading 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 ReadingReading Code of Ordinances, Chapter 600, Zoning, Part 13, Fences and Walls
- 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 Reading 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