Fence laws in Waco, Texas
What the Waco municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Waco sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Waco, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- No part of a Waco fence, including a brace or a post, may sit on or hang over the property line, and the ordinance puts the job of finding that line on the owner rather than on the city.
- How tall
- Four feet in a Waco front yard, or six if the fence is built in two parts: no more than four feet of solid fence with everything above it at least half open, and the answer turns on which yard the fence is in, how solid it is, and whether it is next to an alley or commercial land. The figure is 4 feet, for solid fence in a residential front 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
- Waco has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Waco measures from the adjacent grade to the highest point of the fence, and it hands back the one thing a builder would otherwise lose: a concrete curb under the fence for structural support does not count toward the height, as long as the curb is no more than six inches. The figure is 6 inches, for structural curb under a fence that is not counted in its height.
- Corner lots
- Waco leaves corner clearance to the sight obstruction requirements of the City of Waco Traffic Code.
- Retaining walls
- Waco 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
- Texas only says what a fence has to be made of inside a county or area that has voted to stop animals roaming loose. The figure is 3 strands, for a sufficient barbed wire fence. It reaches counties or areas that have voted to stop animals running at large only.
- 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 Waco?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Waco answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
No part of a Waco fence, including a brace or a post, may sit on or hang over the property line, and the ordinance puts the job of finding that line on the owner rather than on the city. The easement rules that follow split three ways: a drainage easement needs written authorization from Public Works first, a public utility easement is open but entirely at the owner’s risk with no obligation on the city to put anything back, and a private utility easement is a matter to settle with that utility.
No fence, brace, or any post of such fence shall be constructed upon or caused to protrude over the property line of the property. It shall be the responsibility of the property owner to determine the boundaries of the property.
Also on fences on the property line in Waco
- 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 Waco?
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Waco answers this, but the answer changes depending on which yard the fence is in, how solid it is, and whether it is next to an alley or commercial land.
Four feet in a Waco front yard, or six if the fence is built in two parts: no more than four feet of solid fence with everything above it at least half open. Rear and side yards run to six feet, and to eight where the fence is next to an alley or the lot is next to commercial property. A commercial or industrial lot gets eight feet anywhere on it. Anything that does not fit has to go to the zoning board of adjustment for a variance.
Front yard. Fences shall not exceed four feet in height in any front yard of a lot zoned or developed for residential use, except as follows:
The answer turns on which yard the fence is in, how solid it is, and whether it is next to an alley or commercial land.
- a solid fence in the front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a front yard fence with no more than four feet solid and the rest at least half open
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a rear or side yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a rear or side yard next to an alley, or on a lot next to commercial property
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a lot zoned commercial or industrial
- Eight feet. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Waco
- 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 Waco?
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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 Waco 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 Waco
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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 Waco 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 Waco
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Waco 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 Waco 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 Waco
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Waco answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Waco measures from the adjacent grade to the highest point of the fence, and it hands back the one thing a builder would otherwise lose: a concrete curb under the fence for structural support does not count toward the height, as long as the curb is no more than six inches. On sloping ground the rule changes datum. Where the grade beside the fence is above the foundation of the house the fence is measured at that grade, and where the grade is below it the fence is measured from the finished floor of the house instead.
Fence height shall be measured from the adjacent grade to the highest point of the fence. If the fence is placed on a concrete curb, not exceeding six inches in height, for structural support, the supporting curb shall not be calculated into the fence height.
6 instructural curb under a fence that is not counted in its height
Also on how height is measured in Waco
- 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 Waco
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Waco does not set this. It leaves it to the sight obstruction requirements of the City of Waco Traffic Code.
The Waco fence section publishes no sight triangle of its own. It sends every fence to the sight obstruction requirements of the city Traffic Code, so the distance that decides how tall a corner fence may stand sits in a different chapter from the heights.
All fences shall meet the sight obstruction requirements of the City of Waco Traffic Code.
The code hands this to the sight obstruction requirements of the City of Waco Traffic Code, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Waco
- 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 Waco
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Waco 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 Waco 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 Waco
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Texas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Texas 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.
This one is Texas law, not Waco law. All Texas findings
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
3 strandsa sufficient barbed wire fence
Livestock and boundary fence law in Waco
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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 Waco 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 Waco
- 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 Waco itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of WacoCode of Ordinances, Chapter 28 Zoning, Section 28-929 Fences, as amended January 2025
- 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 Waco 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