Fence laws in Orem, Utah
What the Orem municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Orem sets no rule of its own, the Utah rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Orem, Utah, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A masonry fence seven feet high has to be built and maintained along any property line between a commercial, manufacturing or professional office development and a residential zone, with a steel reinforced polyethylene panel fence that looks like precast concrete allowed as a substitute, and the answer turns on whether the residential neighbor wants the fence. The figure is 7 feet, for required fence between business and housing.
- How tall
- In a residential zone in Orem the maximum height of a sight obscuring fence inside the required front yard setback, outside the clear vision area, is three feet, and a fence that is not sight obscuring gets four, and the answer turns on the zone, the yard and whether the fence is sight obscuring. The figure is 3 feet, for solid fence in a front setback.
- Permits
- No fence, wall or hedge may be built in Orem without first obtaining a permit from the Department of Development Services, and hedges are swept into the word fence by the section itself, so a planted screen needs a permit too, and the answer turns on whether the lot is residential. The figure is 180 feet, for length of street the sketch has to show.
- Pool barriers
- Utah requires a fence around the whole edge of a public pool, the pool deck and any extra deck. The figure is 6 feet, for minimum height of the barrier around a public pool, measured from the outside.
- Spite fences
- Orem has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Orem measures a residential fence from the sidewalk side, or from the outside of the fence as seen by the adjacent property, and the answer turns on which side of the fence the reading is taken from.
- Corner lots
- Orem draws its clear vision area from named points, and the answer turns on the class of street and whether the corner is a driveway. The figure is 45 feet, for clear vision leg on a main street.
- Retaining walls
- Utah writes its own permit rule for a wall that holds back earth and puts it in the statute in place of the model code line. The figure is 4 feet, for depth of unbalanced fill at or above which a retaining wall needs a building permit. It reaches one and two family homes only.
- Materials
- No residential fence in Orem may be built of anything other than masonry, precast concrete, chain link, vinyl plastic, wrought iron, stone, redwood, cedar, or wood treated to resist rot and decay, and the answer turns on the zone and the kind of fence. The figure is 7 feet, for height wire has to clear on a utility site.
- Livestock
- In Utah the owner of the animal pays for damage it does on someone else's land.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Orem?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Orem answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the residential neighbor wants the fence.
A masonry fence seven feet high has to be built and maintained along any property line between a commercial, manufacturing or professional office development and a residential zone, with a steel reinforced polyethylene panel fence that looks like precast concrete allowed as a substitute. The duty sits with the owner of the business development, the fence has to be consistent in material, height and design, and no building on the parcel may be occupied until every required fence is complete and the city issues a certificate of occupancy. The City Council may modify the height or the materials on three findings about buffering, appearance and shielding, or waive the fence entirely on any of three grounds. The third is the interesting one: the fence may be waived where the owner of the adjoining residential property declares in writing that they do not want one. So the neighbor the rule protects can decline its protection.
A masonry fence seven (7) feet high shall be constructed and maintained along any property line between a commercial, manufacturing, or professional office development and a residential zone.
22-14-19, Commercial / Manufacturing Fence Adjoining Residential Use
The answer turns on whether the residential neighbor wants the fence.
- a business lot touching housing
- A seven foot masonry fence. 7 ft
- occupancy of the building
- Not until the fence is finished.
- a neighbor who declines it in writing
- The Council may waive it.
Also on fences on the property line in Orem
- set in state lawUtah splits the cost of a fence on the line between two owners. Each side pays in step with how much land it fences in. If one owner built the fence first and a neighbor later fences land against it, that neighbor pays half the value of the shared part before doing it. An owner who stops farming the land gives notice and waits 30 days before pulling any of the fence out. Utah Code 4-26-102Utah · Statute
- set in state lawUtah has a second cost rule for grazing land and big game country. One owner can make the neighbor pay half the cost of the fence. The cost has to be reasonable, the kind of fence has to be one that is common in that area, and the bill cannot run past the price of posts, wire and connectors. A neighbor who refuses can be sued for the half. Utah Code 4-26-103Utah · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Orem?
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Orem answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone, the yard and whether the fence is sight obscuring.
In a residential zone in Orem the maximum height of a sight obscuring fence inside the required front yard setback, outside the clear vision area, is three feet, and a fence that is not sight obscuring gets four. Everywhere else on the lot the limit is seven feet, which is a foot more than the usual allowance, and the whole area between a fence and a street has to be kept in landscaping. Non-residential zones get eight feet, but nothing higher than three feet may sit in a required landscaped area in a front yard or a side yard next to a street, and no fence at all may come closer than ten feet to a public right-of-way. A non-sight obscuring ranch or farm fence may reach eight feet and is exempt from the setbacks, though a permit for one may be refused where the Director of Development Services finds it would cause a public safety problem. Along Carterville Road a fence may sit in the front setback at up to six feet, four feet back from the edge of asphalt.
The maximum height of a sight-obscuring fence located within the required front yard setback outside of the Clear Vision Area shall be three feet (3'). The maximum height of a nonsight obscuring fence located within the required front yard setback shall be four feet (4').
22-14-19, Residential Zones and Nonresidential Zones
The answer turns on the zone, the yard and whether the fence is sight obscuring.
- a solid front yard fence
- Three feet. 3 ft
- a see through front yard fence
- Four feet. 4 ft
- everywhere else on a house lot
- Seven feet. 7 ft
- a non-residential zone
- Eight feet, and ten feet off the right-of-way. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Orem
- no rule, documents checkedUtah sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The construction code statute names which code editions apply and gives no fence height. The fence chapter of the farming code covers splitting cost and fencing bison, not yard fences. Cities and counties set the height. Utah Code 15A-2-103Utah · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Orem?
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Orem answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the lot is residential.
No fence, wall or hedge may be built in Orem without first obtaining a permit from the Department of Development Services, and hedges are swept into the word fence by the section itself, so a planted screen needs a permit too. In a residential zone the application is a site sketch, and the list of what it has to show is unusually long: the lot, where the fence goes, its proposed heights, the elevation of the lot and of the surrounding properties, the driveways on the lot and on the adjacent properties, and the street alignment for a hundred and eighty feet to either side. That last item is a sight distance requirement dressed as a drawing requirement, because it is what lets the city check the clear vision area against the real street. In a non-residential zone a full site plan under Section 22-14-20 is required instead.
Permit Required. No fence, wall or hedge (hereinafter collectively referred to as "fence") shall be constructed without first obtaining a permit therefore from the Department of Development Services.
22-14-19, Permit Required and Application
The answer turns on whether the lot is residential.
- any fence, wall or hedge
- A permit first.
- a residential application
- A sketch showing the street for a hundred and eighty feet each way. 180 ft
- a non-residential application
- A full site plan.
Also on permits in Orem
- set in state lawUtah uses one construction code across the whole state and names the exact editions in the statute, including the 2024 International Building Code and the 2021 International Residential Code. State changes to those codes sit in a separate chapter of the same title. Utah changes only three items on the list of home work that needs no permit, covering walls that hold back earth, low decks and small storage containers. The fence item on that list is model code text that Utah leaves alone, so it is printed on no Utah state site. Utah Code 15A-2-103Utah · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Orem
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Utah answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Utah requires a fence around the whole edge of a public pool, the pool deck and any extra deck. It stands at least six feet tall, measured on the outside face. No opening can pass a four inch ball, and horizontal rails sit at least 45 inches apart. Gates close and latch on their own, and at least one gate swings outward so people can get out.
This one is Utah law, not Orem law. All Utah findings
is at least six feet in height measured from the exterior side of the barrier
6 ftminimum height of the barrier around a public pool, measured from the outside
Spite fence laws in Orem
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Orem law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Utah has no spite fence law. The fence chapter of the farming code covers splitting cost and fencing bison, and nothing else. The stray animal chapter covers animals that wander onto other land. Neither one gives a neighbor a claim over a fence put up out of spite, and neither sets a height that starts one.
This one is Utah law, not Orem law. All Utah findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Utah Code 4-26-101 through 4-26-104Utah State Legislature
- Utah Code 4-25-101 through 4-25-406Utah State Legislature
How fence height is measured in Orem
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Orem answers this, but the answer changes depending on which side of the fence the reading is taken from.
Orem measures a residential fence from the sidewalk side, or from the outside of the fence as seen by the adjacent property. That single sentence settles the argument a sloping boundary usually produces, and it settles it against the owner: where the ground falls away, the number is read from the lower side, so the fence has to be shorter than it would be if measured on the owner ground. The same idea runs through the rest of the section. A masonry fence between a commercial development and a residential zone is measured from the commercial side, again from the outside. A retaining wall in the clear vision area is expressly treated as a fence, so it cannot be used to raise ground and then carry a full height fence on top. Concertina wire, barbed wire and outriggers, where they are allowed at all, do not count toward the maximum height of the fence.
Measurement of height. Except as otherwise provided, residential fence heights shall be measured from the sidewalk side or adjacent property outside side of the fence.
22-14-19, Measurement of height
The answer turns on which side of the fence the reading is taken from.
- a residential fence
- Measured from the neighbor side.
- a commercial screening fence
- Measured from the commercial side.
- a retaining wall at a corner
- Counted as a fence.
- wire on top where allowed
- It does not count toward the height.
Also on how height is measured in Orem
- no rule, documents checkedUtah never says what a fence height is measured from, at any level of its code. The fence sections in title 4 are about deals between neighbors and how the cost of a shared fence is split, and they carry no dimension at all. The land use act was renumbered in 2025 into title 10, chapter 20, and the zoning power it hands a city covers putting up, building, rebuilding, changing, repairing and using buildings and structures, with no mention of height. Height turns up in that chapter only in what makes a structure one that no longer fits the rules, and in the standards a city may put on a charter school. Neither place says what a height starts from, so the city ordinance decides. Utah Code 10-20-505Utah · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Orem
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Orem answers this, but the answer changes depending on the class of street and whether the corner is a driveway.
Orem draws its clear vision area from named points. At the intersection of two streets, point A is where the curb face lines meet, extended in a straight line where the corner is rounded, and points B and C sit on each curb face forty-five feet from A where the lot line is on an arterial or collector, or thirty-five feet where it is on a local, sub-local or nonstandard street. At a driveway there is a separate triangle on each side, twenty-five feet out from the point where the driveway edge meets the street pavement. Nothing over three feet may stand in either area, measured above the grade of the nearest public right-of-way line, and that reaches vegetation, structures, earth berms and embankments as well as fences. A tree may exceed it if all branches and foliage are removed to eight feet. The City Engineer may enlarge, shrink or remove the area in writing, on findings drawn from the AASHTO geometric design policy and the ITE traffic engineering handbook.
A point on the curb face adjacent to one of the intersecting streets and either forty-five feet (45') from Point A (if the lot line is adjacent to an arterial or collector street) or thirty-five feet (35') from Point A (if the lot line is adjacent to a local, sub-local or nonstandard street).
The answer turns on the class of street and whether the corner is a driveway.
- an arterial or collector
- Forty-five feet from the corner. 45 ft
- a local street
- Thirty-five feet. 35 ft
- a driveway
- Twenty-five feet, on each side. 25 ft
- anything inside it
- Three feet above the right-of-way grade. 3 ft
Also on corner visibility in Orem
- no rule, documents checkedUtah sets no corner triangle in state law. The two sections of the highway protection act that come closest were read in full. One bans putting a structure or object inside the right of way of a state highway, county road or city street without a permit, which turns on the right of way line and not on what a driver can see. The other bans blocking traffic on a sidewalk or a highway. The fence chapter of the farming code covers fences on a property line and livestock and never mentions a corner. Cities and counties set the triangle. Utah Code 72-7-102Utah · Statute
Retaining wall rules in Orem
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Utah answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Utah writes its own permit rule for a wall that holds back earth and puts it in the statute in place of the model code line. It measures the dirt rather than the wall. A wall holding back less than four feet of unbalanced fill needs no permit. Unbalanced fill is the dirt piled on the high side with nothing on the low side to push back. The pass is gone in two cases: where the wall carries a surcharge, meaning an extra load pressing on the dirt behind it, and where the wall is big enough that Section R404.4 of the residential code calls for a design. Utah changes only three items on that no permit list, and this is the first of them.
This one is Utah law, not Orem law. All Utah findings
Retaining walls retaining less than four feet (1219mm) of unbalanced fill, unless supporting a surcharge or requiring design per Section R404.4.
4 ftdepth of unbalanced fill at or above which a retaining wall needs a building permit
Fence materials allowed in Orem
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Orem answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone and the kind of fence.
No residential fence in Orem may be built of anything other than masonry, precast concrete, chain link, vinyl plastic, wrought iron, stone, redwood, cedar, or wood treated to resist rot and decay. The list is closed and there is no route to add to it. Non-residential zones other than the two manufacturing ones get a different closed list, running stone, brick, block, stucco, cedar, vinyl, wrought iron or a steel reinforced polyethylene panel made to look like stone, with chain link and chain link with factory installed slats added in M1 and M2. Concertina wire, barbed wire and outriggers are prohibited everywhere except M1 and M2, with an exception for power substations, water treatment and reclamation plants, police firearms ranges, utility facilities and public water wells in any zone, in each case only at least seven feet above ground. An electric fence is allowed in any zone on six conditions, including one pulsed wire, forty inches off the ground and a warning sign every fifty feet.
Construction materials. No residential fence shall be constructed of any material other than masonry, precast concrete, chain link, vinyl plastic, wrought iron, stone, redwood, cedar wood or wood that has been treated to resist rot and decay.
22-14-19, Construction materials and Electric Fences
The answer turns on the zone and the kind of fence.
- a residential fence
- Nine materials and nothing else.
- wire and outriggers
- Manufacturing zones, or utility sites above seven feet. 7 ft
- an electric fence
- One pulsed wire, forty inches up, signed every fifty feet. 40 in
Also on materials in Orem
- set in state lawUtah sets no material rule for an ordinary fence. Its one material rule is about bison. An outside fence meant to hold bison has to reach at least eight feet, and the fence sections and gates have to be a mesh of high tensile steel wire of at least fourteen and one half gauge, with squares no bigger than six inches by six inches, or a material just as strong. The posts get their own rule: treated wood at least four inches across, or something as strong, standing at least six feet two inches above the ground. Utah Code 4-26-104Utah · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Orem
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Utah answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
In Utah the owner of the animal pays for damage it does on someone else's land. That covers cattle, a horse, a donkey, a mule, a sheep, a goat or a pig. The owner is off the hook when the land was not fenced in by a lawful fence, in a county or city that has passed a fence ordinance. A second exception covers animals that come in off an old livestock trail onto land without a good enough fence.
This one is Utah law, not Orem law. All Utah findings
The owner of any cattle, horse, ass, mule, sheep, goat, or swine that trespasses upon the premises of another person, except in cases where the premises are not enclosed by a lawful fence in a county or municipality that has adopted a fence ordinance, is liable in a civil action to the owner or occupant of the premises for any damage inflicted by the trespass.
Also on agricultural fencing in Orem
- set in state lawUtah never says in state law what a lawful fence is, so there is no statewide wire count and no statewide height. Each county decides. A county can pass an ordinance on fencing farms, subdivisions and other private land so grazing animals stay off it, and a county that passes one has to spell out in it what counts as a lawful fence. A county can also split itself into parts with a different fence rule in each. Utah Code 4-25-204Utah · Statute
- set in state lawUtah does set hard numbers for one kind of livestock fence, and it is the bison fence. An outside fence meant to hold bison reaches at least eight feet above the ground, in both the fence sections and the gates. The mesh runs no wider than six inches by six inches, in high tensile steel wire of at least 14 and one half gauge, which is wire made to take more pull before it gives. Posts go no more than 20 feet apart and sit at least two feet in the ground. Utah Code 4-26-104Utah · Statute
Documents behind this page
14 documents, of which 1 was published by Orem itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Utah State LegislatureUtah Code, Title 4, Chapter 26, Enclosures and Fences, Section 102
- Utah State LegislatureUtah Code, Title 4, Chapter 26, Enclosures and Fences, Section 103
- Orem CityOrem City Code, Chapter 22, Zoning, Section 22-14-19, Fences, Walls and Hedges
- Utah State LegislatureUtah Code, Title 15A, State Construction and Fire Codes Act, Chapter 2, Section 103
- Utah State LegislatureUtah Code, Title 4, Chapter 26, Enclosures and Fences
- Utah Department of Health and Human Services, Population Health, Environmental HealthUtah Administrative Code, Rule R392-302, Public Pool Design, Construction, and Operation, Section 17, Fencing and Barriers
- Utah State LegislatureUtah Code, Title 4, Chapter 25, Estrays
- Utah LegislatureUtah Code, Title 10, Chapter 20, Municipal Land Use, Development, and Management Act
- Utah LegislatureUtah Code, Title 72, Chapter 7, Protection of Highways Act, Part 1, Protection of Rights-Of-Way
- Utah LegislatureUtah Code, Title 72, Chapter 7, Protection of Highways Act, Part 1, Protection of Rights-Of-Way
- Utah State LegislatureUtah Code, Title 15A, Chapter 3, Part 2, Statewide Amendments to International Residential Code, Section 202
- Utah LegislatureUtah Code, Title 4, Chapter 26, Enclosures and Fences
- Utah State LegislatureUtah Code, Title 4, Chapter 25, Estrays, Section 205
- Utah State LegislatureUtah Code, Title 4, Chapter 25, Estrays, Section 204
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 Orem publishes, plus the Utah rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Utah 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