Fence laws in Mansfield, Texas
What the Mansfield municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Mansfield sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Mansfield, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- The posts and the stringers of a Mansfield fence go on the inside, facing neither the street nor the neighbors.
- How tall
- Eight feet is the maximum for a residential privacy fence in Mansfield, and the permit starts a long way below it, and the answer turns on the height of the fence. The figure is 8 feet, for maximum height of a residential privacy fence.
- Permits
- Repairing or replacing less than half the total linear footage of fencing on a Mansfield property is exempt from the construction standards, so an old fence can be patched to its original design. The figure is 50 percent, for share of the fencing on a property that can be replaced outside the construction standards.
- 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
- Mansfield has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- A Mansfield wood fence has to leave at least an inch between the bottom of the planks and the ground, to keep the timber out of the wet. The figure is 1 inch, for minimum gap between the ground and the bottom of the planks.
- Corner lots
- Mansfield leaves corner clearance to the commissioners court of each county, for intersections on county roads outside city limits.
- Retaining walls
- Mansfield 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
- Mansfield specifies the fence rather than the material list.
- 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 Mansfield?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Mansfield answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The posts and the stringers of a Mansfield fence go on the inside, facing neither the street nor the neighbors. Most cities turn the frame away from the street and leave the side boundary to the two owners; Mansfield names adjacent properties as well, so the finished face shows on every side.
Vertical posts and the stringers should be installed on the inside of the fence, not facing the street or adjacent properties.
Also on fences on the property line in Mansfield
- 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 Mansfield?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Mansfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on the height of the fence.
Eight feet is the maximum for a residential privacy fence in Mansfield, and the permit starts a long way below it. A new or replacement wood privacy fence of five feet or more needs a fence permit before it goes up. So the three feet between the permit line and the ceiling is the band where a fence is legal but paperwork is not optional.
A Fence Permit must be obtained prior to the construction of a new or replacement wood privacy fence of five (5) feet in height or greater. The maximum height for a residential privacy fence is eight (8) feet.
The answer turns on the height of the fence.
- a residential privacy fence
- Eight feet is the maximum. 8 ft
- a new or replacement wood privacy fence
- A permit at five feet and above. 5 ft
Also on fence height in Mansfield
- 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 Mansfield?
Compare permits across all 50 states
Mansfield answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Repairing or replacing less than half the total linear footage of fencing on a Mansfield property is exempt from the construction standards, so an old fence can be patched to its original design. The exemption has a hard floor under it: a permit is always required for any fence over six feet, however little of it is being touched.
The replacement or repair of an existing wood privacy fence that is less than fifty (50) percent of the total linear footage of fencing on the property is exempt from the above requirements; however, a permit is always required for any fence construction greater than six (6) feet in height.
50%share of the fencing on a property that can be replaced outside the construction standards
Also on permits in Mansfield
- 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 Mansfield
Compare pool barriers across all 50 states
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 Mansfield 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 Mansfield
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Mansfield 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 Mansfield 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 Mansfield
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Mansfield answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Mansfield wood fence has to leave at least an inch between the bottom of the planks and the ground, to keep the timber out of the wet. Several Texas cities require a rot board at the base instead; Mansfield takes the other approach and requires air. The fence also has to be designed so it does not create a drainage problem, which that gap helps with.
Fence planks or panels must have at least a one inch (1”) gap between the ground and the wood to prevent rotting and decay.
1 inminimum gap between the ground and the bottom of the planks
Also on how height is measured in Mansfield
- 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 Mansfield
Compare corner visibility across all 50 states
Mansfield does not set this. It leaves it to the commissioners court of each county, for intersections on county roads outside city limits.
Texas 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.
This one is Texas law, not Mansfield law. All Texas findings
The commissioners court may: (1) define the appropriate sight distance; (2) prohibit an obstruction of the sight distance by any vegetation, loose earth, or other item except a building or other structure affixed to the ground, if the obstruction is a traffic hazard; and (3) provide for the removal and disposition of an obstruction maintained in violation of an order adopted under this section.
The code hands this to the commissioners court of each county, for intersections on county roads outside city limits, which is not published in the code itself.
Retaining wall rules in Mansfield
Compare retaining walls across all 50 states
Mansfield 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 Mansfield 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 Mansfield
Compare materials across all 50 states
Mansfield answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Mansfield specifies the fence rather than the material list. Planks at least five eighths of an inch thick. Vertical posts of galvanised steel pipe at least two and three eighths inches outside diameter, spaced no more than eight feet apart and set in concrete footings twenty four inches deep for a six foot fence and thirty six for an eight foot one. Stringers no smaller than one and a half by three and a half inches, one for every two feet of height, so three on a six foot fence and four on an eight foot one.
All vertical posts must be two and three- eights inch (2 3/8”) minimum outside diameter standard pipe gauge galvanized steel.
Also on materials in Mansfield
- 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 Mansfield
Compare agricultural fencing across all 50 states
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 Mansfield 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 Mansfield
- 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 Mansfield itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of Mansfield, Planning DepartmentNew or Replacement Wood Privacy Fence Construction Standards, 11 February 2020
- 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 Mansfield 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