Fence laws in Auburn, Washington
What the Auburn municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Auburn sets no rule of its own, the Washington rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Auburn, Washington, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Where Auburn has required landscaping along a property line that abuts the right of way, the fence goes interior to that landscaping and may not obscure it, unless the land use or architectural and site design review process says otherwise, and the answer turns on whether the line carries required landscaping or a city easement.
- How tall
- Auburn runs one set of numbers across eleven zones at once, from R-1 through the commercial and downtown urban center districts, and the answer turns on the setback, and whether the fence provides visibility. The figure is 42 inches, for solid fence in a front setback.
- Permits
- The Auburn building permit line is eighty four inches, which is seven feet and higher than the six most cities use, and the answer turns on the height and whether the fence stands on a retaining wall. The figure is 84 inches, for height that triggers a building permit.
- Pool barriers
- Washington sends pools at homes to the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, 2021 edition, through its residential building code.
- Spite fences
- A Washington court can stop a structure built out of spite.
- Measured from what
- Auburn is the only city on this site that writes a building tolerance into its fence heights. The figure is 6 percent, for tolerance allowed on any stated fence height.
- Corner lots
- Auburn protects three different sight lines and only one of them is about traffic at a corner, and the answer turns on the angle the fence is viewed from and what is being kept visible. The figure is 150 feet, for distance a hydrant has to stay visible from.
- Retaining walls
- Auburn leaves retaining walls to the 2021 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, whose Sections R105.2 and R404 Washington leaves unamended. It reaches one and two family homes only.
- Materials
- Barbed wire, including concertina and razor wire, is barred from every Auburn zone except P-1, M-1 and M-2, with one carve out anywhere in the city for a pasture of at least an acre, and the answer turns on the zone and how the fence is powered. The figure is 12 inches, for barbed wire allowed above the fence.
- Livestock
- Washington prints the fence in the statute. The figure is 48 inches, for height above the ground of the top wire of a lawful fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Auburn?
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Auburn answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the line carries required landscaping or a city easement.
Where Auburn has required landscaping along a property line that abuts the right of way, the fence goes interior to that landscaping and may not obscure it, unless the land use or architectural and site design review process says otherwise. So the street sees the planting and the fence stands behind it, which is the reverse of what an owner would naturally do. At other property lines the landscaping is placed wherever it serves the greatest public benefit, and fencing has to be placed so it does not damage existing landscaping. The firmest rule in the section concerns easements: unless the easement language explicitly permits it, fences are prohibited within city utility easements, and only the city engineer can authorize one. The section also protects access to water, storm and sanitary sewer manholes, utility meters and other city appurtenances that need maintenance.
When landscaping is required along the property line and the property line abuts the right-of-way, the fence shall be placed interior to the required landscaping.
The answer turns on whether the line carries required landscaping or a city easement.
- a line with required landscaping along a street
- The fence sits behind the planting.
- a city utility easement
- No fence unless the easement says so or the city engineer allows it.
- any other property line
- Landscaping placed for the greatest public benefit.
Also on fences on the property line in Auburn
- set in state lawWashington splits a fence on the property line in half. Where neighbors share one fence around their land and one of them needs a dividing fence, the other builds half of it once notice is given. The fence goes on the property line, or as close to it as can be managed. RCW 16.60.030Washington · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Auburn?
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Auburn answers this, but the answer changes depending on the setback, and whether the fence provides visibility.
Auburn runs one set of numbers across eleven zones at once, from R-1 through the commercial and downtown urban center districts. A front setback takes forty two inches, and that rises to seventy two for a fence built of chain link, wrought iron or similar materials that provide visibility as the code defines it. Side, rear and street side setbacks all take seventy two. The sentence that matters most sits above the table: these are setback numbers, and a fence built interior of the required setback areas may be as high as the maximum building height allowed in the zone. So an Auburn owner who pulls the fence in off the boundary is no longer governed by a fence rule at all. Lattice, trellis and similar features count towards both the height and the opaqueness, which closes the usual way of adding a foot after inspection.
Front setback1: 42 inches; provided, that fences constructed of chain link, wrought iron or similar materials that provide visibility, as defined herein, may be 72 inches in height;
The answer turns on the setback, and whether the fence provides visibility.
- a solid fence in a front setback
- Forty two inches. 42 in
- a see through fence in a front setback
- Seventy two inches. 72 in
- a side, rear or street side setback
- Seventy two inches.
- interior of the required setbacks
- The maximum building height of the zone.
Also on fence height in Auburn
- no rule, documents checkedWashington sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The state fence chapter says what counts as a lawful fence for livestock and how the cost of a shared fence is split, and it caps nothing at a house. The state residential code takes up the model code and adds no fence height. Cities and counties set it. RCW 16.60Washington · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Auburn?
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Auburn answers this, but the answer changes depending on the height and whether the fence stands on a retaining wall.
The Auburn building permit line is eighty four inches, which is seven feet and higher than the six most cities use. Because the six percent tolerance applies to every number in the chapter, a fence a couple of inches over seven feet is still treated as meeting a seven foot requirement. A fence on a retaining wall is handled separately and less definitely, with the code saying a building permit may be required, and since the height of such a fence is read from the base of the wall the eighty four inches is reached far sooner on a terraced lot. An electric fence carries a second permit of a different kind, being governed and regulated in accordance with the alarm permit rules in Chapter 9.30, and has to meet the International Fire Code as well.
Building permits are required for fences exceeding 84 inches in height.
The answer turns on the height and whether the fence stands on a retaining wall.
- a fence over eighty four inches
- A building permit. 84 in
- a fence on a retaining wall
- A permit may be required, and the wall counts toward the height.
- an electric fence
- The alarm permit rules and the fire code apply too.
Also on permits in Auburn
- set in state lawWashington has no fence permit rule of its own. It uses the 2021 International Residential Code as the code for one and two family homes across the state, and it did not change that code's list of work that needs no permit, so the model list applies as written. That list is model code text and is printed on no Washington state site, so no fence height is quoted here. WAC 51-51-003Washington · Building code
Pool fence requirements in Auburn
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Washington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Washington sends pools at homes to the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, 2021 edition, through its residential building code. The rule reaches a pool used only by the people who live at a single family house and their invited guests. Washington states no fence height of its own, so the numbers sit in that private code.
This one is Washington law, not Auburn law. All Washington findings
The design and construction of swimming pools, spas, and other aquatic recreation facilities shall comply with the 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, if the facility is one of the following:
Spite fence laws in Auburn
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Washington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Washington court can stop a structure built out of spite. A judge may order the owner or renter of land not to put up a structure meant to spite, injure or annoy a neighbor, and where one already stands, the court may order it taken down. The law turns on why it went up and not on how tall it is.
This one is Washington law, not Auburn law. All Washington findings
An injunction may be granted to restrain the malicious erection, by any owner or lessee of land, of any structure intended to spite, injure or annoy an adjoining proprietor.
How fence height is measured in Auburn
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Auburn answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Auburn is the only city on this site that writes a building tolerance into its fence heights. Every minimum or maximum in the chapter is considered met if the fence comes within six percent of it, which turns a seventy two inch limit into seventy six and a half and a forty two inch limit into just under forty five. That is an allowance for the way fences are actually built, on ground that is not flat and with posts that settle, rather than a loophole, because six percent of a short fence is only a couple of inches. The datum is the existing, established grade on the property up to the highest point of the fence, so it is the ground as it already is rather than a finished grade. Where a fence sits on or is raised by a retaining wall the measurement starts at the base of the wall instead, and the wall is counted against the fence.
The minimum or maximum height requirements as stipulated throughout this chapter shall be considered to be met if the height of the fence is within six percent of the height required.
6%tolerance allowed on any stated fence height
Also on how height is measured in Auburn
- set in state lawWashington gives one plain starting point, in its livestock fence law, and nowhere else. RCW 16.60.010 says a lawful fence has at least four barbed wires with the top wire 48 inches above the ground, give or take four inches, and the rest spaced 12, 22 and 32 inches below it. Above the ground is the answer, and it is the only answer the state gives. For a fence on a city lot, RCW 35.63.080 lets a council set rules for the height, number of stories, size, building and design of buildings and other structures, so the city ordinance gives both the limit and the point it starts from. RCW 16.60.010Washington · Statute
Fence rules for corner lots in Auburn
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Auburn answers this, but the answer changes depending on the angle the fence is viewed from and what is being kept visible.
Auburn protects three different sight lines and only one of them is about traffic at a corner. No part of a fence may reduce the sight distances set by the engineering design standards for vehicular and nonmotorized transportation facilities, which puts the triangle in an engineering document rather than in the zoning code. Then comes an unusual piece of judgement about see through fences. The city engineer may decide that a fence fifty percent or less opaque does not actually provide visibility where the angle it is viewed from in a sight distance analysis raises its perceived opacity to fifty percent or more, which is the geometry of looking along a run of pickets rather than straight at it. The third line is for the fire service: no fence, hedge or other obstruction may block the view of a fire hydrant from a hundred and fifty feet in any direction of vehicular approach, or hinder access to a fire connection, control valve, hydrant or appliance.
In no case shall any fence, hedge, or other obstruction be constructed, grown, or located, such that it obstructs the visibility of any fire hydrant from a distance of 150 feet, in any direction, of vehicular approach to the hydrant.
The answer turns on the angle the fence is viewed from and what is being kept visible.
- a fire hydrant
- Visible from a hundred and fifty feet on the approach. 150 ft
- traffic sight distance
- Set by the engineering design standards.
- a half open fence seen at a sharp angle
- The city engineer may treat it as solid. 50%
Also on corner visibility in Auburn
- set in state lawWashington puts its clear view duty at the railroad tracks. RCW 36.86.100 tells the county to clear brush and trees out of the county road right of way for 100 feet on each side of a railroad crossing, so a driver can see a train coming, and puts the same duty on the railroad for its own land. It also bans a sign within 100 feet of that crossing outside city limits, unless the county finds the sign does not cut the view. Nothing in it draws a triangle at an ordinary street corner. RCW 36.86.100Washington · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Auburn
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Auburn does not set this. It leaves it to the 2021 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, whose Sections R105.2 and R404 Washington leaves unamended.
Washington has no rule of its own for a wall that holds back earth. It uses the 2021 International Residential Code for one and two family homes, and lists every section it changed as its own numbered rule. That list was read in full. Nothing changes Section R105, the list of work that needs no permit, so the model code pass for such a wall stands as written. The slot for Section R404, which covers foundations and walls that hold back earth, is marked reserved, so Washington added nothing there either. The number that answers the question is model code text, which the International Code Council sells and which no Washington state site prints.
This one is Washington law, not Auburn law. All Washington findings
The 2021 edition of the International Residential Code as published by the International Code Council is hereby adopted by reference
The code hands this to the 2021 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, whose Sections R105.2 and R404 Washington leaves unamended, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Auburn
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Auburn answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone and how the fence is powered.
Barbed wire, including concertina and razor wire, is barred from every Auburn zone except P-1, M-1 and M-2, with one carve out anywhere in the city for a pasture of at least an acre. Where it is allowed it goes on top of an eighty four inch fence and may add no more than twelve inches. Electric fences are allowed in seven named zones and the rules split by zone. In the RC and R-1 residential zones the charge has to be noncontinuous, the controller has to be approved by Underwriters Laboratories or meet its testing standards, and a fence abutting a street needs warning signs. In the commercial and industrial zones the energizer has to be a storage battery of no more than twelve volts direct current charged primarily by a solar panel, which may be topped up by a trickle charger, and the fence has to be completely surrounded by a nonelectrical fence or wall of at least seventy two inches, kept to ten feet, used only around outdoor storage, and signed every fifty feet with the words Warning Electric Fence and an ISO style electric hazard symbol. Underground pet fences are exempt from all of it.
The energy source (energizer) for electric fences must be provided by a storage battery not to exceed 12 volts DC. The storage battery is charged primarily by a solar panel.
The answer turns on the zone and how the fence is powered.
- barbed wire outside the industrial zones
- Only around a pasture of at least an acre.
- barbed wire where it is allowed
- Twelve inches on top of an eighty four inch fence. 12 in
- an electric fence on commercial or industrial land
- Inside a seventy two inch solid fence, ten feet tall, signed every fifty feet. 50 ft
- an underground pet fence
- None of these standards apply.
Also on materials in Auburn
- set in state lawWashington writes a lawful fence as a barbed wire fence and prints the build. It takes at least four barbed, level, well stretched wires, with the top one about 48 inches off the ground and the others 12, 22 and 32 inches below it, tied to solid posts set no more than 24 feet apart. Posts more than 16 feet apart need stays every eight feet. The very next section says any other fence as strong and as well made counts too, so barbed wire is the standard to match and not the only material allowed. RCW 16.60.010Washington · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Auburn
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Washington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Washington prints the fence in the statute. A lawful fence carries at least four barbed wires, level and pulled tight. The top wire sits 48 inches off the ground, give or take four inches, and the others hang 12, 22 and 32 inches below it. Posts go in firmly and evenly, no more than 24 feet apart. Posts more than 16 feet apart need stays no more than eight feet from each other or from a post. Any other fence built just as strong counts too.
This one is Washington law, not Auburn law. All Washington findings
A lawful fence shall be of at least four barbed, horizontal, well-stretched wires, spaced so that the top wire is forty-eight inches, plus or minus four inches, above the ground and the other wires at intervals below the top wire of twelve, twenty-two, and thirty-two inches.
48 inheight above the ground of the top wire of a lawful fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Auburn
- set in state lawIn Washington the damages claim hangs on the fence. A person who built a lawful fence around their land and kept it in repair can sue the owner of an animal that broke through it, collect the full damage and the costs of the suit, and hold the animal until it is paid. Proving the fence was lawful when the animal broke through is enough. The fence has to be there first, so the landowner who wants the animals out is the one who builds. RCW 16.60.015Washington · Statute
Documents behind this page
7 documents, of which 1 was published by Auburn itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Washington State LegislatureRevised Code of Washington, Chapter 16.60, Section 16.60.030, Partition fence, Erection, Notice
- City of AuburnAuburn City Code, Title 18, Section 18.31.020, Fences
- Washington State LegislatureRevised Code of Washington, Chapter 16.60, Fences, full chapter
- Washington State Building Code CouncilWashington Administrative Code, WAC 51-51-003, International Residential Code
- Washington State Building Code CouncilWashington Administrative Code, WAC 51-51-0327, Section R327, Swimming pools, spas and hot tubs
- Washington State LegislatureRevised Code of Washington, Chapter 7.40, Section 7.40.030, Malicious erection of structure may be enjoined
- Washington State LegislatureRevised Code of Washington, Title 36, Chapter 36.86, County Roads and Bridges
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 Auburn publishes, plus the Washington rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Washington 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