Fence laws in Round Rock, Texas
What the Round Rock municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Round Rock sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Round Rock, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Every Round Rock fence turns its finished face to an abutting public right of way, and a fence on a nonresidential lot also turns its finished face toward any abutting single family, two family or townhouse use.
- How tall
- A fence facing the street in Round Rock is three feet if it blocks the view and six if it does not, and the same doubling applies to residential and nonresidential frontage alike, and the answer turns on whether the fence faces a street, whether it is a view fence, and whether the use is industrial. The figure is 3 feet, for non-view fence in a residential front street yard.
- Permits
- Texas has no fence permit rule of its own.
- 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
- Round Rock has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Round Rock leaves the measuring rule to the governing body of a municipality.
- Corner lots
- Round Rock leaves corner clearance to the sight visibility triangle standards elsewhere in the Round Rock code.
- Retaining walls
- Round Rock 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
- Round Rock regulates the parts of a fence that fail first rather than the panels a reader notices.
- 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 Round Rock?
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Round Rock answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Every Round Rock fence turns its finished face to an abutting public right of way, and a fence on a nonresidential lot also turns its finished face toward any abutting single family, two family or townhouse use. So the rails and posts always end up on the side of whoever built the fence, and a business fencing against houses does not get to point the frame at the neighbors.
All fences shall provide a finished face to abutting public rights-of-way.
Also on fences on the property line in Round Rock
- 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 Round Rock?
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Round Rock answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence faces a street, whether it is a view fence, and whether the use is industrial.
A fence facing the street in Round Rock is three feet if it blocks the view and six if it does not, and the same doubling applies to residential and nonresidential frontage alike. Away from the street the answer is eight feet for everything except light industrial and industrial, which go to ten. Several districts do not get to choose: SF-3, TH, MF-1, MF-2, MF-3, MU-R and MU-G all have to use a view fence where the property backs onto a public park or a trail on the city trail master plan.
Front street yard, non-view fence (residential uses): three (3) feet. b. Front street yard, view fence (residential uses): six (6) feet.
The answer turns on whether the fence faces a street, whether it is a view fence, and whether the use is industrial.
- a front street yard, residential, fence that blocks the view
- Three feet. 3 ft
- a front street yard, residential, view fence
- Six feet. 6 ft
- any other yard, any non-industrial use
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- any other yard, light industrial or industrial use
- Ten feet. 10 ft
Also on fence height in Round Rock
- 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 Round Rock?
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Texas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Texas 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.
This one is Texas law, not Round Rock 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.
Pool fence requirements in Round Rock
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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 Round Rock 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 Round Rock
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Round Rock 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 Round Rock 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 Round Rock
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Round Rock does not set this. It leaves it to the governing body of a municipality.
Texas 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.
This one is Texas law, not Round Rock law. All Texas findings
The governing body of a municipality may regulate: (1) the height, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures;
Tex. Loc. Gov't Code 211.003(a)(1)
The code hands this to the governing body of a municipality, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence rules for corner lots in Round Rock
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Round Rock does not set this. It leaves it to the sight visibility triangle standards elsewhere in the Round Rock code.
The fence section tells a Round Rock fence to stay out of the sight visibility triangles and out of the view from neighboring driveways, and it prints no distance for either one. The triangle is defined somewhere other than the fence rules, so the figure that decides how close a corner fence may come to the intersection is not published with the heights.
Fences shall not conflict with sight visibility triangles at street intersections or obstruct views from adjacent driveways.
The code hands this to the sight visibility triangle standards elsewhere in the Round Rock code, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Round Rock
- 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 Round Rock
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Round Rock 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 Round Rock 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 Round Rock
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Round Rock answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Round Rock regulates the parts of a fence that fail first rather than the panels a reader notices. Every post on a new fence has to be rust resistant metal, concrete based masonry or a concrete pillar of sound structural integrity, which rules out the wooden post set straight into the ground. Posts and panels on a non-wood fence also have to be capped, so water cannot sit inside a hollow section.
Fence posts for all new fences shall be constructed of rust-resistant metal parts, concrete based masonry, or concrete pillars of sound structural integrity.
Also on materials in Round Rock
- 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 Round Rock
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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 Round Rock 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 Round Rock
- 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 Round Rock itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of Round RockZoning and Development Code, Chapter 8, Article IV Fences, Section 8-35 Lot 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 Round Rock 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