Fence laws in Chattanooga, Tennessee
What the Chattanooga municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Chattanooga sets no rule of its own, the Tennessee rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Chattanooga, Tennessee, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Chattanooga writes the boundary rule as a permission rather than as the absence of a setback: fences and walls are permitted to be constructed on a lot line, and the answer turns on whether the structure is a fence or something else. The figure is 0 feet, for setback for a fence or wall.
- How tall
- Chattanooga leaves fence height to the Building Code adopted by the city, which carries the height limits.
- Permits
- Tennessee has no fence permit rule of its own.
- Pool barriers
- Chattanooga sets no statewide pool barrier rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Spite fences
- Chattanooga has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Chattanooga never says what a fence height is measured from. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Corner lots
- It is unlawful for the owner or occupant of a lot at a street intersection in Chattanooga to maintain any hedge, fence, shrubbery or other obstruction more than three feet high for twenty-five feet back from the curb line, or from the edge of the pavement where there is no curb, or for whatever greater distance the Transportation Department requires under the adopted street design standards, and the answer turns on what the Transportation Department requires at that intersection. The figure is 3 feet, for height limit near an intersection.
- Retaining walls
- Chattanooga leaves retaining walls to the 2018 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, and its Sections R105.2 and R404. It reaches one and two family homes only.
- Materials
- Chattanooga names no permitted or prohibited material for an ordinary fence, and the answer turns on what the fence is required to screen. The figure is 6 feet, for minimum height of a refuse enclosure.
- Livestock
- Tennessee counts more than wood and wire as a farm fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Chattanooga?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Chattanooga answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the structure is a fence or something else.
Chattanooga writes the boundary rule as a permission rather than as the absence of a setback: fences and walls are permitted to be constructed on a lot line. Saying it that way removes the argument that a fence is a structure and therefore subject to the district setbacks, and it is the only sentence in the accessory structure section that allows anything to touch the boundary. Every other accessory structure in the list is held back. A detached garage stands five feet from any lot line, and twenty feet from the line it takes access across. A personal recreation game court stands ten feet from any lot line. Ground-mounted mechanical equipment is confined to the interior side or rear yard and may encroach only five feet into a required interior side setback. Nothing in the section says which side the finished face points toward, asks for the consent of the adjoining owner, or divides the cost of a shared fence.
Fences and walls are permitted to be constructed on a lot line.
The answer turns on whether the structure is a fence or something else.
- a fence or wall
- On the lot line. 0 ft
- a detached garage
- Five feet off the line. 5 ft
- a game court
- Ten feet off the line.
- orientation and cost
- Neither is addressed.
Also on fences on the property line in Chattanooga
- set in state lawIn Tennessee a neighbor can get out of paying for a shared fence when one side is a farm and the other is not. The owner of the side that is not farmland can say in writing that the fence is not theirs to build or keep up. The notice goes by registered mail with a return receipt, or any other way that gives written proof it arrived, and it counts from the day the farm owner gets it. Once it is delivered, the farm owner cannot be sued over the fence being missing or in bad shape. Public Chapter 266 of 1999, Section 2, adding a section to T.C.A. Title 44, Chapter 8, Part 2Tennessee · Statute
- set in state lawThat way out lasts only while the land stays out of farming. The law counts land as non-farm when it is not farmland, has a house on it, and keeps no livestock. The day the land stops fitting that description, the notice stops working. If the farm owner built a fence while it was working, the other owner then pays a fair share of what the fence cost. A fight over the amount goes to the process in section 44-8-204. Public Chapter 266 of 1999, Section 2, subsection (d)Tennessee · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Chattanooga?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Chattanooga does not set this. It leaves it to the Building Code adopted by the city, which carries the height limits.
Chattanooga states its fence rule in three lines and gives away the only number. Fences and walls are permitted to be built on a lot line, fence and wall height are regulated by the Building Code, and retaining walls are regulated by the Building Code. So the zoning chapter keeps the placement question and hands the height question to a different body of law administered by a different department, and a reader working from the zoning code alone will not find a figure. The contrast with the accessory structures around it is stark: the same section caps a carport at twenty-four feet wide, twenty-two long and fifteen high, and fixes detached garage setbacks at five feet, twenty feet and one foot depending on how the garage is reached. The fence gets none of that. What limits a fence in the zoning code is the corner rule in the streets chapter and the screening standards for particular uses.
Fence and wall height are regulated by the Building Code.
The code hands this to the Building Code adopted by the city, which carries the height limits, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on fence height in Chattanooga
- no rule, documents checkedTennessee sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The state residential code has no fence rule in it, and the state fence law in Title 44 is about livestock and fences on a property line rather than height. Cities and counties set the limit, and some places have opted out of the state code entirely. Code Adoption HistoryTennessee · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Chattanooga?
Compare permits across all 50 states
Tennessee answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Tennessee has no fence permit rule of its own. It uses the 2018 International Residential Code, with state changes, as the code for one and two family homes across the state, and the Fire Marshal lists that code as taking effect on July 16, 2020. The state changes leave alone the list of work that needs no permit, so that list is model code text and not Tennessee text. Counties and cities can opt out of the state code altogether.
This one is Tennessee law, not Chattanooga law. All Tennessee findings
International Residential Code (IRC), 2018 edition, published by the ICC, with amendments;
Code Adoption History, residential codes
Also on permits in Chattanooga
- no rule, documents checkedNothing in the Chattanooga zoning chapter requires a permit for a fence. The accessory structure section gives a fence two permissions and one delegation and stops, with no application, fee, review, inspection or variance route attached. Because the height question is handed to the Building Code, whatever permit a fence needs comes from there rather than from zoning, and a reader working from Chapter 38 cannot tell whether one is required at all. The obligations that do exist are enforced after the fact and by other departments: the streets chapter makes an obstruction at an intersection unlawful and requires the owner to cut it back, the fire chapter forbids placing a fence near a hydrant where it would stop the hydrant being immediately discernible or reached, and the screening standards are checked when a site plan or a building is reviewed rather than when a fence goes up. 38-51(d)Chattanooga · Zoning code
Pool fence requirements in Chattanooga
Compare pool barriers across all 50 states
Chattanooga law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Tennessee sets no statewide fence rule for a pool at a house. The state took up the 2018 International Residential Code along with Appendix Q and nothing else. In that edition the pool fence rules sit in Appendix G, which Tennessee left out, so no state height reaches a pool at a home. Cities and counties can still set one.
This one is Tennessee law, not Chattanooga law. All Tennessee findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Code Adoption HistoryTennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, State Fire Marshal's Office
- Codes EnforcementTennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, State Fire Marshal's Office
Spite fence laws in Chattanooga
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Chattanooga law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Tennessee has no spite fence law. The state fence law in Title 44, Chapter 8 covers fencing that holds livestock and fences on a property line. It names no height and says nothing about a fence built to bother a neighbor. A fence like that is a nuisance case in court, not a matter of state law.
This one is Tennessee law, not Chattanooga law. All Tennessee findings
Documents read before writing that:
- T.C.A. Title 44, Chapter 8Tennessee General Assembly
- Code Adoption HistoryTennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, State Fire Marshal's Office
How fence height is measured in Chattanooga
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Chattanooga law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Tennessee never says where a fence height is measured from. The state adopts its building and fire codes in one rule of the Division of Fire Prevention, and that rule does name starting points, for buildings. It takes the height of a roof from the lowest fire truck road surface next to the building up to the eave or parapet, and it counts stories from the grade plane, which is the average ground level around the building. Both rules are about buildings. The word fence is nowhere in the chapter, so the state names no starting point for a fence. The city or county ordinance decides.
This one is Tennessee law, not Chattanooga law. All Tennessee findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Rule 0780-02-02-.01Tennessee Secretary of State
Also on how height is measured in Chattanooga
- no rule, documents checkedThe zoning chapter states no fence height, so it also states no way of measuring one. Sloping ground is not addressed, a berm is not addressed, a fence on a retaining wall is not addressed even though retaining walls are named in the same three lines, and no allowance is given for a post cap. That is a real gap in a city built on ridges and river bluffs, where the difference between reading a fence from the high side and the low side can be several feet. The one measurement the code does fix for something fence-like is the corner rule, which runs twenty-five feet back from the curb line or the edge of the pavement, and the screening standards, which set an enclosure at a minimum of six feet and a maximum of eight. Anything else has to come from the Building Code the zoning chapter points at. 38-51(d)Chattanooga · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Chattanooga
Compare corner visibility across all 50 states
Chattanooga answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the Transportation Department requires at that intersection.
It is unlawful for the owner or occupant of a lot at a street intersection in Chattanooga to maintain any hedge, fence, shrubbery or other obstruction more than three feet high for twenty-five feet back from the curb line, or from the edge of the pavement where there is no curb, or for whatever greater distance the Transportation Department requires under the adopted street design standards. The section then states the remedy in the same sentence, requiring an owner with a taller obstruction to remove it or cut it down to three feet, so the duty is continuing rather than triggered by a permit application. Two details matter. The distance is measured from the curb rather than the property line, which pushes the zone further onto the lot where there is a wide verge. And buildings constructed on lots at street intersections are expressly outside the rule, so it reaches only what is planted or built around them.
It shall be unlawful for the owner or occupant of any lot at any street intersection in the city to maintain any hedge, fence, shrubbery or other obstruction more than three (3) feet in height for a distance of twenty-five (25) feet back from the curb line or edge of pavement if there is no curb at such street intersection or at such distance required by the Transportation Department using adopted street design standards
The answer turns on what the Transportation Department requires at that intersection.
- a fence at a corner
- Three feet. 3 ft
- how far back
- Twenty-five feet from the curb. 25 ft
- a busier intersection
- The Transportation Department may require more.
- a building
- Outside the rule.
Also on corner visibility in Chattanooga
- set in state lawTennessee has one rule about seeing down the road, and it covers a new driveway onto a state highway. The Department of Transportation rule at 1680-10-01 takes up the driveway manual, and section 5.2 of that manual says a driveway goes where a driver can see far enough in both directions. Where the view is short, the turns the driveway allows get cut back. The manual prints a triangle showing it. The same rule says plainly that it sits on top of county and city land rules, and that is where a corner triangle for a fence comes from. Tenn. Comp. R. and Regs. 1680-10-01-.03, Manual section 5.2Tennessee · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Chattanooga
Compare retaining walls across all 50 states
Chattanooga does not set this. It leaves it to the 2018 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, and its Sections R105.2 and R404.
Tennessee has no rule of its own for a wall that holds back earth. It uses the 2018 International Residential Code, with state changes, as the code for one and two family homes, and it names no height at which such a wall needs a permit. So the rule that applies is the model code text, which the International Code Council sells and which no Tennessee state site prints. Counties and cities can opt out of the state code, which is what makes the answer local in some places.
This one is Tennessee law, not Chattanooga law. All Tennessee findings
International Residential Code (IRC), 2018 edition, published by the ICC, with amendments;
Currently Adopted Codes, residential code
The code hands this to the 2018 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, and its Sections R105.2 and R404, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Chattanooga
Compare materials across all 50 states
Chattanooga answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence is required to screen.
Chattanooga names no permitted or prohibited material for an ordinary fence. Where it does describe a fence it is because one is being required for screening, and then it is specific. Refuse and recycling containers have to be fully enclosed on three sides by a solid fence, wall or wall extension of the principal building, a minimum of six feet and a maximum of eight feet high, with a solid gate in the same range, and a wall extension has to be an integral part of the building design. Ground-mounted mechanical equipment visible from a public street has to be fully screened by landscape or an opaque wall or fence compatible with the principal building in texture, quality, material and color. An apiary in a yard that is not already bounded by a solid wall or fence needs a flyway at least six feet high made of lattice fence or dense hedge. A junk or secondhand dealer has to be enclosed by a substantial board fence of at least eight feet, kept well painted.
All refuse and recycling containers must be fully enclosed on three sides by a solid fence, wall, or wall extension of the principal building a minimum of six feet and a maximum of eight feet in height.
The answer turns on what the fence is required to screen.
- an ordinary fence
- No material named.
- a refuse enclosure
- Solid, six to eight feet, with a gate. 6 ft
- mechanical equipment
- Opaque and matching the building.
- a junk dealer
- Eight feet of board fence, well painted. 8 ft
Also on materials in Chattanooga
- set in state lawTennessee keeps a list of fences that count as good enough to hold farm animals, and the legislature has only made that list longer. An act of 1999 added two things to it. One is a fence made of man made materials sold for fencing, put up the usual way. The other is any system or device built on technology that is accepted for holding farm animals, which is where an electric fence fits. The same act lets the commissioner of agriculture add detail by rule, and says the law still works where no such rule exists. Tenn. Code Ann. 44-8-102(b)Tennessee · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Chattanooga
Compare agricultural fencing across all 50 states
Tennessee answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Tennessee counts more than wood and wire as a farm fence. A fence made of man made materials sold for fencing counts, as long as it is put up the usual way and holds farm animals. So does any system or device built on technology that is accepted for holding farm animals, which is where an electric or wireless fence fits. An act of 1999 added both. The commissioner of agriculture can write rules adding detail, and the law still works where no such rule exists.
This one is Tennessee law, not Chattanooga law. All Tennessee findings
In addition to subsection (a), sufficient fencing shall include: (1) fence constructed from synthetic materials commonly sold for fencing, if such materials are installed pursuant to generally acceptable standards, to confine or restrict the movement of farm animals
T.C.A. § 44-8-102(b), as added by Public Chapter 266 of 1999
Documents behind this page
7 documents, of which 2 were published by Chattanooga itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Tennessee General AssemblyPublic Chapter No. 266, Senate Bill No. 658 (1999), an act to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 44, Chapter 8, relative to fencing and grazing
- City of ChattanoogaChattanooga City Code, Chapter 38, Zoning, Article XI, Section 38-51, Specific Accessory Structure Standards
- Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, State Fire Marshal's OfficeCodes Enforcement, Code Adoption History
- Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, State Fire Marshal's OfficeCodes Enforcement
- City of ChattanoogaChattanooga City Code, Chapter 32, Streets and Sidewalks, Section 32-34, Obstructions to visibility at intersections
- Tennessee Secretary of StateRules of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Division of Fire Prevention, Chapter 0780-02-02, Codes and Standards
- Tennessee Department of TransportationManual for Constructing Driveway Entrances on State Highways, 2015 Edition, adopted by Rule 1680-10-01-.03
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 Chattanooga publishes, plus the Tennessee rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Tennessee 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