Fence laws in Arlington, Texas
What the Arlington municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Arlington sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Arlington, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A corner lot fence in Arlington can be taller than two feet, at the cost of moving off the line, and the answer turns on whether the lot is a corner lot or a reverse corner lot. The figure is 5 feet, for setback from the side property line for a fence over two feet on a corner lot.
- How tall
- Arlington answers the height question twice and the two answers are far apart, and the answer turns on whether the fence stands in the front yard or elsewhere on the lot. The figure is 4 feet, for front yard fence on a single family lot. It reaches single family residentially zoned lots only.
- Permits
- Arlington sets the permit line for repair work at half the run. The figure is 50 percent, for share of a fence along one property line that can be replaced without a permit.
- Pool barriers
- Texas requires a 48 inch fence around some pools, measured from the ground on the outside of the fence. The figure is 48 inches, for pool yard enclosure at a multiunit rental complex or property owners association pool.
- Spite fences
- Arlington has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Arlington names the datum, which is the thing most city codes leave out. The figure is 10 feet, for distance within which the highest adjacent grade is taken as the datum.
- Corner lots
- On the side property line of a corner lot or a reverse corner lot an Arlington fence drops to two feet, which is six feet below what the same fence may be at the back of the same lot. The figure is 2 feet, for fence on the side property line of a corner or reverse corner lot.
- Retaining walls
- Arlington leaves retaining walls to the International Residential Code as it existed on May 1, 2012, published by the International Code Council, plus any local amendment a city adopts by ordinance.
- Materials
- New chain link is not allowed on a single family privacy fence in Arlington, and a chain link fence already standing may be replaced with chain link or with an approved material.
- Livestock
- Texas says what a farm fence has to look like. The figure is 4 feet, for minimum height of a sufficient fence under the stock law. It reaches counties and areas that have adopted the local option stock law under Subchapter B only.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Arlington?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Arlington answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the lot is a corner lot or a reverse corner lot.
A corner lot fence in Arlington can be taller than two feet, at the cost of moving off the line. Anything over two feet is set back five feet from the side property line on a corner lot and seven and a half feet on a reverse corner lot. So the choice on a corner is a low fence on the boundary or a full height fence further in, and the reverse corner pays half a yard more than the ordinary corner.
Any fence that is more than two feet high shall be set back at least five feet from the side property line of a corner lot. In the case of a reverse corner lot, any fence that is more than two feet high shall be set back at least 7.5 feet from the side property line.
The answer turns on whether the lot is a corner lot or a reverse corner lot.
- a corner lot
- Five feet back from the side property line. 5 ft
- a reverse corner lot
- Seven and a half feet back from the side property line. 7.5 ft
Also on fences on the property line in Arlington
- set in state lawTexas sets no statewide rule for splitting the cost of a fence on a boundary. What the Agriculture Code does say is that a joint owner of a dividing fence cannot pull it out without the other owner agreeing, and that a person who wants to detach a fence from a neighbor fence has to give six months of written notice first. The notice goes to the owner of the attached fence or to that person's agent, attorney, or lessee. Agric. Code 143.122Texas · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Arlington?
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Arlington answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence stands in the front yard or elsewhere on the lot.
Arlington answers the height question twice and the two answers are far apart. A privacy fence on a single family lot runs to eight feet, which is a foot or two above what most cities allow. A front yard fence stops at four feet and has to be ornamental metal railing at least 75 percent transparent, with masonry columns allowed. Wood pickets and solid fences are not permitted in a front yard at any height.
Fences are allowed in the front yard of single-family residences. The fence must not be taller than 4 feet. The fence must be constructed of ornamental metal railing and be at least 75-percent transparent.
The answer turns on whether the fence stands in the front yard or elsewhere on the lot.
- a front yard fence
- Four feet, ornamental metal railing, at least 75 percent transparent. 4 ft
- a front yard fence, on how much of it has to be see through
- At least 75 percent transparent. 75%
- a privacy fence anywhere else on the lot
- Eight feet. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Arlington
- no rule, documents checkedTexas does not limit how tall a fence at a house can be. The only heights in state law are for farm fences, such as the five foot fence required around cropland. For a fence at a house, the city sets the limit. Agric. Code ch. 143Texas · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Arlington?
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Arlington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Arlington sets the permit line for repair work at half the run. Replacing more than 50 percent of the length of a fence along one property line needs a permit and replacing less does not, so the trigger is how much of the fence comes down rather than what it cost or how old it was.
A fence permit is required when more than 50 percent of the length of the fence along a property line is being replaced.
50%share of a fence along one property line that can be replaced without a permit
Also on permits in Arlington
- set in state lawTexas has no fence permit rule of its own. Instead it made one national code, the International Residential Code as it stood on May 1, 2012, the building code for every city in the state. So the permit rule for a fence comes from that code and not from a Texas statute. Cities can then change it, which is why the answer differs from one city to the next. Local Gov't Code 214.212(a)Texas · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Arlington
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Texas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Texas requires a 48 inch fence around some pools, measured from the ground on the outside of the fence. It does not cover most homes. Section 757.002 applies the law only to a pool run by the owner of an apartment complex or by a property owners association. A pool at a single family home is not covered, and the city rule applies there instead.
This one is Texas law, not Arlington law. All Texas findings
The height of the pool yard enclosure must be at least 48 inches as measured from the ground on the side away from the pool.
Health & Safety Code 757.003(b)
48 inpool yard enclosure at a multiunit rental complex or property owners association pool
Spite fence laws in Arlington
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Arlington law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Texas has no law about spite fences. Both chapters that could hold one were read start to finish. The fence chapter of the Agriculture Code covers livestock and farm land. The building chapter of the Local Government Code covers permits. Neither one mentions a fence built to bother a neighbor. That leaves a nuisance lawsuit or a city ordinance.
This one is Texas law, not Arlington law. All Texas findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Agric. Code ch. 143Texas Legislature
- Local Gov't Code ch. 214Texas Legislature
How fence height is measured in Arlington
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Arlington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Arlington names the datum, which is the thing most city codes leave out. The eight feet is measured from the highest adjacent grade within ten feet of the fence, so on sloping ground the tallest nearby point sets the ceiling rather than the ground directly under the posts. A fence at the bottom of a slope is measured against the top of it.
Height shall not exceed eight feet as measured from the highest adjacent grade within ten feet of the fence.
10 ftdistance within which the highest adjacent grade is taken as the datum
Also on how height is measured in Arlington
- left to the townTexas gives two fence heights and never says where to measure from. A farm fence around cropland has to be five feet tall. A farm fence under the stock law has to be four feet. The word ground does not appear anywhere in that chapter. For a fence at a house, Chapter 211 of the Local Government Code lets the city set the height rule, so the city decides how it is measured too. Tex. Loc. Gov't Code 211.003(a)(1)Texas · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Arlington
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Arlington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
On the side property line of a corner lot or a reverse corner lot an Arlington fence drops to two feet, which is six feet below what the same fence may be at the back of the same lot. The bulletin ties the figure to the visibility triangles, so the reason is sight lines for drivers rather than appearance.
In the interest of public safety and considering the visibility triangles, no fence may be taller than two feet when located on the side property lines of a corner lot or a reverse corner lot.
2 ftfence on the side property line of a corner or reverse corner lot
Also on corner visibility in Arlington
- left to the townTexas has a whole chapter about seeing around corners, and it does not reach fences. Chapter 255 lets a county set the sight distance at an intersection on a county road outside city limits, and ban anything that blocks the view. But that ban covers plants, loose dirt and other items, not a building or structure fixed to the ground. A fence is fixed to the ground, so a county order under this chapter does not apply to it. Inside a city, the city decides. Tex. Transp. Code 255.002Texas · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Arlington
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Arlington does not set this. It leaves it to the International Residential Code as it existed on May 1, 2012, published by the International Code Council, plus any local amendment a city adopts by ordinance.
Texas has no rule of its own for a wall that holds back earth. It made the International Residential Code, as that code stood on May 1, 2012, the building code for every city in the state, and it does not print any of that code's text. So whatever that edition says about a retaining wall is what applies in Texas. Cities can change it after a public hearing, which is why the rule differs from one city to the next.
This one is Texas law, not Arlington law. All Texas findings
To protect the public health, safety, and welfare, the International Residential Code, as it existed on May 1, 2012, is adopted as a municipal residential building code in this state.
Tex. Loc. Gov't Code 214.212(a)
The code hands this to the International Residential Code as it existed on May 1, 2012, published by the International Code Council, plus any local amendment a city adopts by ordinance, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Arlington
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Arlington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
New chain link is not allowed on a single family privacy fence in Arlington, and a chain link fence already standing may be replaced with chain link or with an approved material. The effect is that the city is phasing the material out one fence at a time rather than banning it outright. Approved materials are masonry or anything else with more than a thirty year life, ornamental metal rail, cedar, redwood, composite, vinyl in flat white or flat natural tones, and wooden pickets built with metal posts, brackets and caps. Sheet, roll and corrugated metal are out, and so is cast off or secondhand material.
An existing chain link fence may be replaced with a new chain link fence or be replaced with an approved material. New chain link fences are not permitted.
Chain Link Reconstruction Materials
Also on materials in Arlington
- set in state lawTexas only says what a fence has to be made of inside a county or area that has voted to stop animals roaming loose. There a fence works if it keeps out the animals that are still allowed to roam, and the law gives four ways to build one. Barbed wire takes three wires on posts no more than thirty feet apart, with a stay between each pair. Pickets go no more than six inches apart. Boards take three boards. Rails take four. All four have to stand at least four feet tall. Barbed wire is allowed outright, and voters in an area can decide that three barbed wires on their own are enough. Tex. Agric. Code 143.028Texas · Statute
- set in state lawArlington writes the good side out rule into the code rather than leaving it to custom. A fence on a lot next to a public street has to turn its posts and rails away from the street, so the finished face is what the street sees. On interior lot lines between two private yards the posts may face either way, which leaves that side to the two owners. Orientation of FenceArlington · Zoning code
Livestock and boundary fence law in Arlington
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Texas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Texas says what a farm fence has to look like. It has to be at least four feet tall, and there are four ways to build one. Barbed wire takes three wires on posts no more than thirty feet apart, with at least one stay between each pair of posts. Pickets have to be no more than six inches apart. Boards take three boards, each at least five inches wide and one inch thick. Rails take four rails.
This one is Texas law, not Arlington law. All Texas findings
In order to be sufficient, a fence must be at least four feet high and comply with the following requirements: (1) a barbed wire fence must consist of three wires on posts no more than 30 feet apart, with one or more stays between every two posts; (2) a picket fence must consist of pickets that are not more than six inches apart;
4 ftminimum height of a sufficient fence under the stock law
Also on agricultural fencing in Arlington
- depends, see the pageTexas has no single answer for who has to build the fence. Each county votes on it, and an area inside a county can vote on its own. The vote decides whether the animals it names are allowed to roam loose, and it only applies where the vote was held. Agric. Code 143.024(a)Texas · Statute
- set in state lawIn a county that has not voted, the farmer builds the fence, not the animal owner. Anyone farming or gardening cleared land has to put up a fence at least five feet tall that hogs cannot get through. Agric. Code 143.001Texas · Statute
Documents behind this page
6 documents, of which 1 was published by Arlington itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of ArlingtonUnified Development Code Information Bulletin, Wood Fence General Construction Standards and Inspection Requirements, June 2018
- Texas LegislatureTexas Local Government Code, Chapter 214, Municipal Regulation of Housing and Other Structures
- Texas LegislatureTexas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 757, Pool Yard Enclosures
- Texas LegislatureTexas Local Government Code, Title 7, Chapter 211, Municipal Zoning Authority
- Texas LegislatureTexas Transportation Code, Title 6, Subtitle C, Chapter 255, County Regulation of Sight Distances
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 Arlington publishes, plus the Texas rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Texas 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