Fence laws in Norfolk, Virginia
What the Norfolk municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Norfolk sets no rule of its own, the Virginia rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Norfolk, Virginia, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Norfolk grants the boundary outright, and the answer turns on what the fence sits on top of and what it blocks. The figure is 0 feet, for setback from a private property line.
- How tall
- Norfolk prices height in transparency, and the answer turns on the yard, the district and how see-through the fence is. The figure is 2.5 feet, for solid fence or wall in a front yard.
- Permits
- Norfolk writes its permit rule backwards, as an exemption with a list of places the exemption does not reach, and the answer turns on the shape of the lot and which overlay it sits in.
- Pool barriers
- Virginia handles pool fences through its statewide building code.
- Spite fences
- Norfolk has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Norfolk answers the sloping ground question with one sentence, and it answers it from the neighbor position rather than the owner position.
- Corner lots
- The fence section states the duty in one line and sends the geometry to the definitions, where the triangle changes size three ways, and the answer turns on whether it is a street intersection or a driveway, and how fast the street is. The figure is 25 feet, for leg of the sight distance triangle at a street intersection.
- Retaining walls
- Virginia writes its own statewide code and sets the bar lower than the model code does. The figure is 3 feet, for depth of unbalanced fill at or above which a retaining wall needs a building permit.
- Materials
- Norfolk writes both lists, and the answer turns on the material, the district and whether a security plan is approved.
- Livestock
- Virginia describes a lawful fence several ways and any one of them counts, as long as the livestock cannot get through. The figure is 42 inches, for minimum height of a barbed wire or board lawful fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Norfolk?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Norfolk answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence sits on top of and what it blocks.
Norfolk grants the boundary outright. A fence or wall may be located anywhere on private land including the property line between two or more parcels held in private ownership, and may sit within any required yard. What limits it afterwards is not distance but function. A fence inside a utility easement needs written authorization from the easement holder or the city, and the city takes no responsibility for repairing or replacing a fence it has to remove to reach a utility. A fence may not be installed so that it blocks or diverts natural drainage onto or off any land, which puts a drainage question in front of a boundary fence that most codes leave to a court. It may not sit where it prevents immediate view of or access to a fire hydrant, and it may not block access from a window or door either on its own lot or on a neighboring one. The only stated setback is the corner side yard alternative of three feet.
Fences and walls may be located anywhere on private land including the property line between two or more parcels of land held in private ownership.
The answer turns on what the fence sits on top of and what it blocks.
- an ordinary boundary
- On the line. 0 ft
- a utility easement
- Written authorization first.
- natural drainage
- It may not be blocked or diverted.
- a solid six foot corner fence
- Three feet back. 3 ft
Also on fences on the property line in Norfolk
- set in state lawIn Virginia neighbors split a fence on the property line down the middle. Both build it, both keep it up, and both pay the same share. Two things end that duty: one neighbor choosing to leave their land open, or the two of them agreeing to something else. Va. Code § 55.1-2821Virginia · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Norfolk?
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Norfolk answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the district and how see-through the fence is.
Norfolk prices height in transparency. A solid fence in a front yard stops at two and a half feet in every district in the table, and the only way past that is to make the fence at least fifty percent transparent, which buys four feet in residential, commercial, historic and cultural conservation districts and six downtown. The same trade runs along a street side yard, where a half open fence reaches six feet. Behind the house the trade disappears and the figures go plain: six feet in an interior side or rear yard, rising to eight where the lot abuts a multi-family use in a multi-family district or any non-residential use, and eight outright in commercial, industrial and downtown districts. The corner side yard carries a third route that swaps transparency for distance, allowing a solid six foot fence set three feet off the property line, provided it never comes closer to the front of the lot than the rearmost part of the house. Corner and through lots are capped at six feet whatever the table says.
Side yard (corner) 2.5, 6 if fence or wall at least 50 percent transparent, or 6 ft. fence or wall 3 ft. from property line not to extend any closer toward the front of the lot than the rearmost portion of the residence.
Section 5.11.6.A(10), Table 5.11.6
The answer turns on the yard, the district and how see-through the fence is.
- a solid fence in a front yard
- Two and a half feet. 2.5 ft
- half transparent in a front yard
- Four feet, six downtown. 50%
- an interior side or rear yard
- Six feet, eight next to apartments or business. 8 ft
- a corner or through lot
- Six feet whatever the table allows. 6 ft
Also on fence height in Norfolk
- no rule, documents checkedVirginia sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The state fence chapter says nothing about height, and the statewide building code lets a fence of any height go up with no building permit. Counties and cities set the limit in their zoning rules. Va. Code §§ 55.1-2800 through 55.1-2841Virginia · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Norfolk?
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Norfolk answers this, but the answer changes depending on the shape of the lot and which overlay it sits in.
Norfolk writes its permit rule backwards, as an exemption with a list of places the exemption does not reach. A fence is exempt from the Administrative Review Procedure everywhere except in a historic district, the flood plain and coastal hazard overlay, the Chesapeake Bay preservation overlay, on any corner lot, or on any through lot. Putting corner and through lots in that list is the unusual part, because it means lot shape alone decides whether the same fence goes up without an application or goes through review, and a corner lot in an ordinary neighborhood is treated like a lot in a historic district. Two other approvals sit beside it. A landowner or tenant needing heightened security may apply to the Zoning Administrator for a security exemption plan allowing a taller fence, barbed or razor wire, or electric wire, and the administrator has to find both that the property is in significantly greater danger than its surroundings and that the fence will not significantly harm adjacent land. The zoning ordinance also states that fences comply with the Building Code, which was not read here.
Except in any historic ( HC or HO ), FPCH-O , or CBPA-O district, on any corner lot , or on any through lot , the construction of a fence or wall shall be exempt from the requirements of Section 2.3.6, Administrative Review Procedure
The answer turns on the shape of the lot and which overlay it sits in.
- an ordinary interior lot
- No review.
- a corner lot or a through lot
- Administrative review.
- a historic, flood or bay overlay
- Administrative review.
- a taller fence or wire on top
- A security exemption plan.
Also on permits in Norfolk
- set in state lawA fence of any height needs no building permit in Virginia. The Uniform Statewide Building Code puts no number on it at all, where most states stop the pass at six or seven feet. Two fences are left out: one needed to keep people on foot safe under Section 3306, and one used as the barrier for a swimming pool. A zoning permit from the county or city is a separate question from the building permit this section covers. 13VAC5-63-80Virginia · Building code
Pool fence requirements in Norfolk
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Virginia answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Virginia handles pool fences through its statewide building code. That code sends swimming pools and pool enclosures to the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, 2021 edition. Virginia states no height of its own, so the numbers come from that private code and not from Virginia text.
This one is Virginia law, not Norfolk law. All Virginia findings
Swimming pools, swimming pool enclosures, and aquatic recreational facilities, as that term is defined in the ISPSC, shall comply with applicable provisions of the ISPSC.
Spite fence laws in Norfolk
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Norfolk law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Virginia has no spite fence law. Chapter 28 of Title 55.1 is the state fence chapter, and its eight parts cover electric fences, lawful fences, cattle guards, animals that get onto other land, no fence areas, fences on a property line, unincorporated communities and cutting trees. None of them mentions a fence built to bother a neighbor, and none sets a height that starts a claim.
This one is Virginia law, not Norfolk law. All Virginia findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Va. Code §§ 55.1-2800 through 55.1-2841Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code § 55.1-2821Virginia General Assembly
How fence height is measured in Norfolk
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Norfolk answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Norfolk answers the sloping ground question with one sentence, and it answers it from the neighbor position rather than the owner position. Where a fence sits on the property line, its height is measured from the side of the fence facing the exterior of the lot, so the ground the owner does not control is the ground that governs, and raising the yard behind the fence buys nothing. That settles the argument Richmond leaves open, because Richmond measures from the ground at the base of the fence and never says which base. Beyond that one rule Norfolk states no general datum for a fence away from the line, and the rules of measurement section covers setbacks and front facades rather than height. A berm is not addressed and a fence on top of a retaining wall is not addressed. A separate rule covers the look rather than the number: the more finished side of a fence faces the outside of the lot.
If a fence is located on a property line, its height shall be measured from the side of the fence facing the exterior of the lot.
Also on how height is measured in Norfolk
- left to the townVirginia does not set this. The county or city does. Section 15.2-2280 lets a locality split its land into districts and, in each one, set rules for the size, height, area, bulk, place, building, changing, repair and removal of structures. That word structures covers a fence, so a fence falls inside it. The section never says how a height is taken, so the local ordinance gives both the limit and the point the measuring starts from. Va. Code 15.2-2280(2)Virginia · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Norfolk
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Norfolk answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether it is a street intersection or a driveway, and how fast the street is.
The fence section states the duty in one line and sends the geometry to the definitions, where the triangle changes size three ways. At a street intersection, and at a driveway serving commercial, industrial or institutional property, the legs are twenty five feet measured from the edge of the pavement. A house driveway on a street with more than two travel lanes or a posted limit of thirty miles an hour or more gets ten feet, measured from where the edge of the driveway meets the property line at the right-of-way. A house driveway on a quieter street gets ten feet too, but measured from the sidewalk where one exists and from the edge of the pavement where none does. Norfolk states no protected band of heights inside any of them. The definition says vision obstructions are prohibited and stops, so nothing sets the two and a half to eight foot window that most codes use, and the only height backstop is the two and a half foot solid fence limit in the front yard.
For intersecting streets and for driveways accessing commercial, industrial, or institutional property, the site distance triangle shall be a diagonal line connecting two points located 25 feet from the intersection of the edge of the driveway and the edge of the pavement of the abutting right-of-way.
Section 8.3.2, Sight Distance Triangle
The answer turns on whether it is a street intersection or a driveway, and how fast the street is.
- a street intersection
- Twenty five feet from the pavement edge. 25 ft
- a busy house driveway
- Ten feet from the property line. 10 ft
- a quiet house driveway
- Ten feet from the sidewalk.
- the protected band of heights
- Not stated.
Also on corner visibility in Norfolk
- set in state lawVirginia prints a real triangle in its code, and it is about signs rather than fences. Section 33.2-1216 bans an advertisement at a public road crossing where it would block the clear view between a point 20 feet back on the side road and points 400 feet away along the main road. The next clause draws a second triangle at a railroad crossing, 400 feet along the road and 500 feet along the track. Every one of these rules covers advertising, so none of them reaches a fence on a house lot. Va. Code 33.2-1216Virginia · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Norfolk
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Virginia answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Virginia writes its own statewide code and sets the bar lower than the model code does. A wall that holds back earth gets a pass from the permit only while it holds back less than three feet of unbalanced fill, which is the dirt piled on the high side with nothing on the low side to push back. Virginia measures the dirt and not the wall, the same way Utah does, and it stops a foot sooner. No other state read here sets it lower. Two things end the pass: a wall built to hold Class I, II or III-A liquids, and a wall carrying a surcharge, which means a load pressing on the dirt behind it on top of the ordinary fill. Skipping the permit does not excuse work that breaks another part of the code, and a zoning permit from the county or city is a separate question.
This one is Virginia law, not Norfolk law. All Virginia findings
Retaining walls supporting less than three feet of unbalanced fill that are not constructed for the purpose of impounding Class I, II, or III-A liquids or supporting a surcharge other than ordinary unbalanced fill.
13VAC5-63-80 B, Section 108.2, item 7
3 ftdepth of unbalanced fill at or above which a retaining wall needs a building permit
Fence materials allowed in Norfolk
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Norfolk answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, the district and whether a security plan is approved.
Norfolk writes both lists. A fence has to be built of masonry or stone, ornamental iron or aluminum made to look like iron, painted or pressure treated or rot-resistant wood such as cedar, cypress or teak, composite made to look like wood, metal or masonry, chain link, or a wall clad to carry living plants. Spiked tops on the ornamental metal are out in a residential district without an approved security plan. The prohibited list is longer and more specific than most: chicken wire, corrugated metal, fabric, fiberboard, garage door panels, plywood, rolled plastic, sheet metal, debris, junk and waste materials. Then it carves out the one case where junk stops being junk, allowing the material where it has been recycled and reprocessed for sale to the public as a building material made to resemble a new one, with picket fencing made from recycled plastic and fiber given as the example. Barbed and razor wire need a security plan, and an above-ground electric fence is out in residential and downtown districts.
Fences constructed of chicken wire, corrugated metal, fabric materials, fiberboard, garage door panels, plywood, rolled plastic, sheet metal, debris, junk, or waste materials
The answer turns on the material, the district and whether a security plan is approved.
- the permitted list
- Masonry, iron, wood, composite, chain link.
- scrap and sheet goods
- Prohibited.
- recycled and reprocessed scrap
- Allowed once it is sold as a building material.
- barbed, razor or electric wire
- A security plan, and never in a house district.
Also on materials in Norfolk
- set in state lawVirginia puts the electric fence first in its fence chapter, and the rule is about the box rather than the wire. On land used for farming, an electric fence cannot be sold, handed out, built, put in, kept or used unless a controlling device holds down the charge running through it. That device has to carry the Underwriters Laboratories label under UL 69, or meet the matching standard from the International Electrotechnical Commission. One device can feed only one connected run of fence, and it has to be grounded when it goes into service. A device that meets neither standard can be used only while it stays inside the current limits the next section prints. Breaking any of this is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Va. Code 55.1-2801Virginia · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Norfolk
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Virginia answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Virginia describes a lawful fence several ways and any one of them counts, as long as the livestock cannot get through. One is a fence at least five feet high. One is barbed wire at least 42 inches high with at least four strands, fixed to posts set no more than 12 feet apart, unless a stay or brace sits halfway between them. One is boards, planks or rails at least 42 inches high with at least three boards. A cattle guard strong enough to turn livestock counts too.
This one is Virginia law, not Norfolk law. All Virginia findings
2. Made of barbed wire, at least 42 inches high, consisting of at least four strands of barbed wire, firmly fixed to posts, trees, or other supports substantially set in the ground, spaced no farther than 12 feet apart unless a substantial stay or brace is installed halfway between such posts, trees, or other supports to which such wires are also fixed;
42 inminimum height of a barbed wire or board lawful fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Norfolk
- set in state lawIn Virginia the damages follow the fence. When livestock get into land that is already fenced in by a lawful fence, the owner of the animal pays the real damage. The fence has to be there first, which makes the landowner the one who builds, unless the county has changed the rule. Va. Code 55.1-2810Virginia · Statute
- set in state lawA county board can flip that rule for all or part of the county. By ordinance it can declare the line of every lot or tract, or a stream, to be a lawful fence, which means no fence has to be built at all for the damages rule to work. It can also name a different kind of fence than the one the state describes. Where that ordinance is in place, the owner of livestock may not let them off their own land. Va. Code 55.1-2814Virginia · Statute
Documents behind this page
8 documents, of which 2 were published by Norfolk itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Virginia General AssemblyCode of Virginia, Title 55.1, Chapter 28, Article 6, Section 55.1-2821, Obligation to provide division fences
- City of NorfolkNorfolk Zoning Ordinance, Article 5, Development Standards, Section 5.11, Accessory Structures, Section 5.11.6, Fences and Walls
- Virginia General AssemblyCode of Virginia, Title 55.1, Chapter 28, Trespasses; Fences, full chapter listing
- Virginia Department of Housing and Community DevelopmentVirginia Administrative Code, 13VAC5-63-80, Section 108 Application for permit
- Virginia Department of Housing and Community DevelopmentVirginia Administrative Code, 13VAC5-63-336, Chapter 31 Special construction, Section 3109.1
- Virginia General AssemblyCode of Virginia, Title 15.2, Chapter 22, Planning, Subdivision of Land and Zoning
- Virginia General AssemblyCode of Virginia, Title 33.2, Chapter 12, Outdoor Advertising in Sight of Public Highways
- City of NorfolkNorfolk Zoning Ordinance, Article 8, Definitions and Rules of Measurement, Section 8.3
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 Norfolk publishes, plus the Virginia rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Virginia 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