Fence laws in North Charleston, South Carolina
What the North Charleston municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where North Charleston sets no rule of its own, the South Carolina rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in North Charleston, South Carolina, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- The fence rules sit inside the section on structures and projections into required yards, which is the ordinance saying that a fence is one of the things allowed in the space a setback would otherwise keep clear, and the answer turns on what the adjoining parcel is zoned or used for. The figure is 0 feet, for setback stated from a property line for a fence.
- How tall
- In the R-1, R-1A, R-2 and R-3 districts a fence or wall in a front yard is held to four vertical feet, and the ordinance then writes three ways out of it, and the answer turns on the district, the yard and what the lot next door is used for. The figure is 4 feet, for fence or wall in a front yard in an R-1, R-1A, R-2 or R-3 district.
- Permits
- The zoning article names no fence permit of its own, and the one discretionary step it does create is about material rather than about height, and the answer turns on what the fence is made of and what it serves.
- Pool barriers
- South Carolina fences every outdoor public swimming pool. The figure is 4 feet, for minimum fence height around an outdoor Type B, C, D or F public swimming pool.
- Spite fences
- North Charleston has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- The corner rule names its datum with unusual care, protecting the band above the upper face of the nearest curb, and switching to the street centerline where no curb exists, and the answer turns on whether the height is a corner figure or a fence figure.
- Corner lots
- Visibility at railroad and street intersections has to be unobstructed, and no planting may be placed or maintained and no fence, building, wall or other structure built so as to obstruct it. The figure is 10 feet, for top of the band kept clear above the upper face of the nearest curb.
- Retaining walls
- North Charleston leaves retaining walls to the 2021 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, whose Sections R105.2 and R404 South Carolina leaves unchanged. It reaches one and two family dwellings only.
- Materials
- North Charleston writes both lists and writes them long, and the answer turns on the material and the zoning of the area it encloses. The figure is 2 feet, for extra height barbed or razor wire may add above the allowed fence height.
- Livestock
- South Carolina puts the duty on the animal owner.
Who owns the fence between two properties in North Charleston?
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North Charleston answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the adjoining parcel is zoned or used for.
The fence rules sit inside the section on structures and projections into required yards, which is the ordinance saying that a fence is one of the things allowed in the space a setback would otherwise keep clear. No distance from a property line is stated for a fence anywhere in the section, so it may stand on the boundary at whatever height applies. The distances that do appear belong to other things: an ornament, eave, chimney, cornice, window sill, awning or canopy may project into a required yard up to three feet. The common property line does real work in the height rule instead, since a residential parcel next to a commercially or industrially zoned parcel may take that neighbor’s fence height along the line they share, and a flag lot and its neighbors are exempt from the front yard limit along their common boundaries.
Fences or walls proposed on residentially zoned parcels located adjacent to dissimilarly residentially zoned or used parcels, commercially zoned parcels, or industrially zoned parcels may utilize a fence height consistent with the fence height permitted on the adjacent parcel along the common property line.
The answer turns on what the adjoining parcel is zoned or used for.
- any property line
- No distance stated. 0 ft
- a line shared with commercial land
- The neighbor’s height applies.
- a flag lot boundary
- Exempt from the four foot front limit.
- an eave or awning
- Three feet into a required yard. 3 ft
Also on fences on the property line in North Charleston
- no rule, documents checkedSouth Carolina has no statewide law about a fence on the line. The Code of Laws never says how two neighbors split the cost of a fence on a shared line, and it sets no notice steps before one goes up. A phrase search of the whole Code of Laws returns nothing for partition fence, division fence, boundary fence, lawful fence, joint expense or fence viewers. Splitting that cost is left to a private agreement between the neighbors and to local rules. S.C. Code Title 47, Chapter 7South Carolina · Statute
How tall can a fence be in North Charleston?
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North Charleston answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the yard and what the lot next door is used for.
In the R-1, R-1A, R-2 and R-3 districts a fence or wall in a front yard is held to four vertical feet, and the ordinance then writes three ways out of it. A residentially zoned parcel next to a dissimilarly zoned or used residential parcel, or next to a commercial or industrial parcel, may use the fence height permitted on that adjacent parcel along the common property line, so the boundary rather than the district decides. A place of worship, school or other non-residential use in a residential district may have six feet in a front yard provided the fence is chain link or wrought iron. And a flag lot, together with any lot sharing a common boundary with one, is exempt from the four foot limit along those lines. In a side or rear yard, or in a commercial district, the limit is eight feet, and in an industrial district ten. A fence at an athletic facility is exempt from the maximums altogether.
No such structure when located in an R-1, R-1A, R-2, or R-3 zoning district shall measure more than four (4) vertical feet in height when located in a front yard
The answer turns on the district, the yard and what the lot next door is used for.
- a residential front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a side or rear yard, or a commercial district
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- an industrial district
- Ten feet. 10 ft
- next to a commercial or industrial parcel
- Match that neighbor along the shared line.
Also on fence height in North Charleston
- no rule, documents checkedSouth Carolina sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. Title 6, Chapter 9 hands the choice of a building code to the Building Codes Council and says nothing about the height of a yard fence, and Title 27 has no fence chapter at all. Cities and counties set the height. S.C. Code Title 6, Chapter 9South Carolina · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in North Charleston?
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North Charleston answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence is made of and what it serves.
The zoning article names no fence permit of its own, and the one discretionary step it does create is about material rather than about height. The building official of the building department, or a designee, may require an applicant to provide the manufacturer’s standards in order to establish the intended use of a proposed fencing material, which is how the city enforces the rule against fences made of products designed for something else. The word applicant confirms that a fence goes through an application. Two other approvals touch a fence indirectly: a telecommunications facility provides fencing under Article IX rather than under this section, and the zoning administrator may issue an administrative variance for structures in commercial and industrial districts next to railroads.
The building official of the building department or his designee may require the applicant to provide the manufacturer’s standards to establish intended use of a proposed fencing material.
The answer turns on what the fence is made of and what it serves.
- an unusual material
- The manufacturer standards, on request.
- a telecommunications facility
- Article IX governs its fencing.
- an athletic facility
- Exempt from the height maximums.
- a damaged or unsafe material
- No fence may be built of it.
Also on permits in North Charleston
- set in state lawSouth Carolina writes no building code of its own. Section 6-9-50 directs the South Carolina Building Codes Council to adopt the latest International Code Council codes by reference, the residential code among them, and section 6-9-10 makes every city and county in the state enforce them. So the fence permit exemption sits inside that adopted residential code. The code is sold by the International Code Council and is not posted on a South Carolina state site, so the exemption wording is not quoted here. S.C. Code 6-9-50(A)South Carolina · Statute
Pool fence requirements in North Charleston
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South Carolina answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
South Carolina fences every outdoor public swimming pool. A Type A or Type E pool takes a chain link fence or equal barrier at least six feet tall. A Type B, C, D or F pool takes a fence at least four feet tall, measured from the outside of the pool area. Gates latch on their own and can be locked, and no gap in the fence may let a four inch ball through. The rule is health regulation R.61-51 and it covers public pools.
This one is South Carolina law, not North Charleston law. All South Carolina findings
All outdoor Type "B", "C", "D" and "F" public swimming pools (including the deck area) shall be enclosed by a minimum four foot fence as measured from the exterior of the pool area.
4 ftminimum fence height around an outdoor Type B, C, D or F public swimming pool
Spite fence laws in North Charleston
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North Charleston law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
South Carolina has no spite fence law. The word spite does not appear anywhere in the Code of Laws, and no section limits a fence built to annoy a neighbor or sets a height that triggers one. A claim of that kind would rest on court rulings or a city ordinance.
This one is South Carolina law, not North Charleston law. All South Carolina findings
Documents read before writing that:
- S.C. Code Title 27South Carolina General Assembly
- S.C. Code Title 46, Chapter 1South Carolina General Assembly
How fence height is measured in North Charleston
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North Charleston answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the height is a corner figure or a fence figure.
The corner rule names its datum with unusual care, protecting the band above the upper face of the nearest curb, and switching to the street centerline where no curb exists. The fence rules do not. They say four vertical feet, eight feet and ten feet, and the word vertical in the first of them is about direction rather than about a starting point, so nothing states what the heights are read from. A berm is not addressed. A fence standing on a retaining wall is not addressed. A fence running down a slope is not addressed, and nothing says whose side of a boundary the height is read from, which matters more here than in most cities because the ordinance lets a fence take its neighbor’s permitted height along a shared line. The barbed wire rule is the one fence measurement stated relative to something else: the allowed height plus two feet.
above the upper face of the nearest curb (or street centerline if no curb exists)
The answer turns on whether the height is a corner figure or a fence figure.
- a corner
- The upper face of the nearest curb.
- a street with no curb
- The street centerline.
- a fence height
- No datum named.
- barbed wire on top
- The allowed height plus two feet.
Also on how height is measured in North Charleston
- left to the townSouth Carolina sets one fence height in state law and never says six feet from what. The solar energy facility standards in the planning chapter require a perimeter fence of at least six feet, with no measuring point attached to it. For every other kind of property the answer is local. Section 6-29-720 lets a city or county zoning ordinance control the size, location, height, bulk and orientation of buildings and other structures, and that ordinance is where the measuring point is written. S.C. Code 6-29-720(A)(2)South Carolina · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in North Charleston
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North Charleston answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Visibility at railroad and street intersections has to be unobstructed, and no planting may be placed or maintained and no fence, building, wall or other structure built so as to obstruct it. The protected space runs between two and a half feet and ten feet above the upper face of the nearest curb, or the street centerline where there is no curb, inside the triangular area bounded on two sides by the street or railway right-of-way lines. Two things are worth noting. The datum shifts with the presence of a curb, which is a sensible drafting choice on streets that are improved in stages. And the section never gives the length of the triangle’s legs, defining the area only by the two right-of-way lines that bound it, so how far back it reaches is not stated. Poles and support structures less than twelve inches in diameter may stand in the area anyway.
No structure or planting shall be permitted at any point between a height of two and one-half (2½) feet and ten (10) feet above the upper face of the nearest curb (or street centerline if no curb exists) and within the triangular area bounded on two (2) sides by the street or railway right-of-way lines.
10 fttop of the band kept clear above the upper face of the nearest curb
Also on corner visibility in North Charleston
- left to the townSouth Carolina draws no corner triangle of its own. Chapter 6-29 writes the zoning grant broadly and lets each city and county fill it in. The grant covers the size, location and height of structures and signs, the size of yards and open spaces, and site plan items such as landscaping and curb cuts. A corner triangle fits inside that list. S.C. Code 6-29-720South Carolina · Zoning code
Retaining wall rules in North Charleston
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North Charleston does not set this. It leaves it to the 2021 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, whose Sections R105.2 and R404 South Carolina leaves unchanged.
South Carolina writes no retaining wall rule of its own. The Building Codes Council adopts the 2021 International Residential Code and lists every change it made to that code, section by section, in Regulation Chapter 8. That list of changes was read end to end. It covers wind design, seismic design, fire separation, definitions and other items, and it never touches Section R105.2, the list of work that needs no permit, or Section R404, which covers foundation and retaining walls. So the rule that applies here is the model code text, which is sold by the International Code Council and is not printed on a South Carolina state site.
This one is South Carolina law, not North Charleston law. All South Carolina findings
This code is identical to the 2021 Edition of the International Residential Code except for the following modifications:
The code hands this to the 2021 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, whose Sections R105.2 and R404 South Carolina leaves unchanged, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in North Charleston
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North Charleston answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material and the zoning of the area it encloses.
North Charleston writes both lists and writes them long. Permitted: brick, stone, decorative block, wood, chain link, metal tubing and wrought iron, with vinyl or fiberglass composite allowed where the material is approved by the manufacturer or by general building standards for fencing, and metal posts allowed on wood fences. Prohibited: rope, string, hog wire, wire fabric, cut or broken glass, paper, metal panels, corrugated metal panels, galvanized sheet metal, plywood, fiberglass panels and plastic panels, with chain link expressly excepted from that last group. Two catch-alls follow, barring any fence made of wood, metal or plastic products designed specifically for a use other than fence construction, and any fence of damaged or unsafe materials. Barbed and razor wire may be used only where the area is commercially or industrially zoned, only on top of a fence of permitted material, only up to the allowed height plus two feet, and never along the right-of-way.
Materials permitted for a fence or wall are brick, stone, decorative block, wood, chain link, metal tubing or wrought iron. Vinyl or fiberglass composite materials may be utilized if the material is approved for use by manufacturer or general building standards for fencing materials. Metal posts will be allowed on wood fences.
The answer turns on the material and the zoning of the area it encloses.
- the permitted list
- Masonry, wood, chain link, metal, composite.
- rope, glass, sheet metal or plywood
- Prohibited.
- barbed or razor wire
- Commercial or industrial, plus two feet. 2 ft
- the finished side
- It faces outward.
Also on materials in North Charleston
- no rule, documents checkedSouth Carolina never says what a fence may be built from. There is no fence chapter and no definition of a lawful fence. The two chapters closest to the question were read end to end. The stray and trespassing livestock chapter deals with catching, holding and selling loose animals and with who pays for the damage they do, and it never says what a fence is made of. The general agriculture chapter is a list of offenses and has nothing on fences. Neither one mentions barbed wire, razor wire or an electric fence. S.C. Code 47-7-10 to 47-7-170South Carolina · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in North Charleston
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South Carolina answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
South Carolina puts the duty on the animal owner. An owner or manager may not let a domestic animal of any kind get past the edge of the land they own, lease, occupy or control, whether on purpose or through carelessness. Each offense carries a fine of up to twenty five dollars or up to twenty five days in jail.
This one is South Carolina law, not North Charleston law. All South Carolina findings
It shall be unlawful for the owner or manager of any domestic animal of any description wilfully or negligently to permit any such animal to run at large beyond the limits of his own land or the lands leased, occupied or controlled by him.
Also on agricultural fencing in North Charleston
- set in state lawA damages claim in South Carolina does not depend on a fence. When a domestic animal is found on land belonging to somebody else, the owner of that animal owes all the damage plus the cost of catching and keeping it, and the animal itself stands as security for that debt ahead of other claims. The landowner or tenant may seize a trespassing animal and hold it. S.C. Code 47-7-130South Carolina · Statute
- no rule, documents checkedSouth Carolina never describes a lawful fence. Title 47 has no fence chapter, and its livestock chapter runs from stray animals through trespassing stock to impounding without setting a height, a wire count, a board count or a post spacing. Title 46, the agriculture title, has no fence chapter either. The gap leaves no hole, because damages for a trespassing animal in South Carolina never turned on an enclosure, so there was nothing for a fence standard to measure. S.C. Code Title 47, Chapter 7South Carolina · Statute
Documents behind this page
10 documents, of which 1 was published by North Charleston itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- South Carolina General AssemblySouth Carolina Code of Laws, Title 47, Chapter 7, Estrays; Livestock Trespassing or Running at Large
- South Carolina General AssemblySouth Carolina Code of Laws, Title 46, Chapter 1, General Provisions; Offenses
- South Carolina General AssemblySouth Carolina Code of Laws, Title 27, Property and Conveyances, chapter list
- City of North CharlestonNorth Charleston Code of Ordinances, Appendix A, Zoning Regulations, Article IV, General Provisions
- South Carolina General AssemblySouth Carolina Code of Laws, Title 6, Chapter 9, Building Codes
- South Carolina Department of Environmental ServicesSouth Carolina Code of Regulations, R.61-51, Public Swimming Pools
- South Carolina LegislatureSouth Carolina Code of Laws, Title 6, Chapter 29, South Carolina Local Government Comprehensive Planning Enabling Act of 1994
- South Carolina Building Codes CouncilSouth Carolina Code of Regulations, Chapter 8, International Residential Code
- South Carolina General AssemblySouth Carolina Code of Laws, Title 47, Animals, Livestock and Poultry, chapter list
- South Carolina General AssemblySouth Carolina Code of Laws, Title 46, Agriculture, chapter list
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 North Charleston publishes, plus the South Carolina rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in South 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