Fence laws in Irving, Texas
What the Irving municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Irving sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Irving, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A fence may stand anywhere on an Irving lot except where the chapter says otherwise, and the easement is the place it says otherwise.
- How tall
- A front yard fence in Irving is capped twice over: forty eight inches tall and at least fifty percent see through, so a solid four foot fence fails even though it is under the height, and the answer turns on which yard the fence is in, and whether the zoning district is residential. The figure is 48 inches, for fence in a front yard.
- Permits
- A masonry fence over four feet in Irving has to be built to a design submitted by a registered engineer or a registered architect. The figure is 4 feet, for masonry fence height above which an engineer or architect has to design it.
- 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
- Irving has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Irving defines fence height in the code rather than leaving it to the inspector. The figure is 18 inches, for distance from either face of the fence within which grade is read.
- Corner lots
- Inside the vision triangle of an Irving corner lot a fence has to do two things at once: stay under thirty inches and let at least half the light through. The figure is 30 inches, for fence inside the vision triangle of a corner lot.
- Retaining walls
- The tallest wall Irving allows is a mechanical equipment screen, at sixteen feet, and it is tied to what it hides: no more than two feet taller than the equipment behind it. The figure is 20 feet, for setback from the nearest property line for a screening wall over ten feet. It reaches nonresidential zoning only.
- Materials
- Irving bans two things almost nobody else does.
- 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 Irving?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Irving answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A fence may stand anywhere on an Irving lot except where the chapter says otherwise, and the easement is the place it says otherwise. No part of a fence may sit on or hang over public property, a masonry fence or one on piers needs the city engineer’s permission inside a utility easement, and permission does not buy permanence. The owner still has to take the fence out at their own cost whenever the utility company asks.
Permission to build a fence upon a utility easement does not remove the obligation of the owner to remove the fence at the owner’s expense upon demand of the utility company.
Also on fences on the property line in Irving
- 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 Irving?
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Irving answers this, but the answer changes depending on which yard the fence is in, and whether the zoning district is residential.
A front yard fence in Irving is capped twice over: forty eight inches tall and at least fifty percent see through, so a solid four foot fence fails even though it is under the height. Rear and side yards run to eight feet in a residential district and ten in a non-residential one. Support posts and gates may stand six inches proud of the fence and no more. A district that allows outside storage can go to ten feet in the front yard, as long as the fence stays ten feet off the street right of way.
It is unlawful for any person to construct, erect, maintain, suffer or permit a fence in any front yard which:(1) Exceeds a height of forty-eight (48) inches, or(2) Allows less than fifty (50) percent through-visibility.
The answer turns on which yard the fence is in, and whether the zoning district is residential.
- a front yard
- Forty eight inches, and at least fifty percent through visibility. 48 in
- a front yard, on how much of it has to be see through
- At least fifty percent. 50%
- a rear or side yard in a residential zoning district
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a rear or side yard in a non-residential zoning district
- Ten feet. 10 ft
Also on fence height in Irving
- 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 Irving?
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Irving answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A masonry fence over four feet in Irving has to be built to a design submitted by a registered engineer or a registered architect. The chapter puts several other construction limits alongside it: a fence may be no more than twenty four inches thick, a column or post no more than twenty four inches wide, the cavity inside a wall may not be used to shelter animals or store anything, and a gate or other opening at least three feet wide is required. New or replacement wood fences need metal posts, and a wood post is allowed on a replacement only when reinforced with intermediate metal posts.
Any masonry fence exceeding four (4) feet in height shall be installed in compliance with a design submitted by a registered engineer or registered architect.
4 ftmasonry fence height above which an engineer or architect has to design it
Also on permits in Irving
- 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 Irving
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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 Irving 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 Irving
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Irving 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 Irving 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 Irving
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Irving answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Irving defines fence height in the code rather than leaving it to the inspector. It is the greatest distance from finished grade at any point within eighteen inches of either side of the fence, which means the ground is read on both faces and the highest reading wins. A raised bed or a berm built against one side of a fence therefore counts against the fence, and a yard that falls away from the line is measured on the low side.
Fence heightmeans the maximum distance measured from the finished grade at any point eighteen (18) inches or less from either side of the fence.
18 indistance from either face of the fence within which grade is read
Also on how height is measured in Irving
- 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 Irving
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Irving answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Inside the vision triangle of an Irving corner lot a fence has to do two things at once: stay under thirty inches and let at least half the light through. Height alone is not enough, which rules out a solid thirty inch wall on a corner. The triangle itself is formed by the two street right of way lines and legs measured along them, and the city traffic director can approve a fence inside a platted sight easement where it creates no hazard.
When the fence is located in a vision triangle of a corner lot, the fence:(1) Shall have a maximum height of thirty (30) inches and(2) Shall allow at least fifty (50) percent through visibility.
30 infence inside the vision triangle of a corner lot
Also on corner visibility in Irving
- 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 Irving
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Irving answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The tallest wall Irving allows is a mechanical equipment screen, at sixteen feet, and it is tied to what it hides: no more than two feet taller than the equipment behind it. Past ten feet the wall has to move, with a minimum setback of twenty feet from the nearest property line. A building wing wall escapes those limits if it joins the building, sits inside the district setbacks for the main structure, stays under the district height limit and is built of the same materials.
A screening wall or fence exceeding ten (10) feet in height shall have a minimum setback of twenty (20) feet from the nearest property line.
20 ftsetback from the nearest property line for a screening wall over ten feet
Also on retaining walls in Irving
- left to the townTexas 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. Tex. Loc. Gov't Code 214.212(a)Texas · Statute
Fence materials allowed in Irving
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Irving answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Irving bans two things almost nobody else does. Slats woven through a chain link fence are prohibited in any material, metal, fiberglass or bamboo, and mesh screening attached to a fence is prohibited on residential property. Both are the cheap way to turn an open fence into a solid one, and Irving treats that as building a different fence. The rest of the list is the usual: rope, string, wire fabrics, barbs, broken glass, chain, netting, unapproved corrugated metal, galvanized sheet metal, plywood and fiberglass panels.
Slats of any material woven through a chain link fence, including but not limited to metal, fiberglass, or bamboo.
Also on materials in Irving
- 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
Livestock and boundary fence law in Irving
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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 Irving 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 Irving
- 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 Irving itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of IrvingLand Development Code, Part I Development Standards and Building Codes, Chapter 15 Fences
- 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 Irving 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