Fence laws in Bothell, Washington
What the Bothell municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Bothell sets no rule of its own, the Washington rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Bothell, Washington, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- The only distances Bothell measures for an ordinary fence are to a fire hydrant, not to a boundary, and the answer turns on what the fence stands near. The figure is 3 feet, for clearance from a fire hydrant.
- How tall
- Bothell allows a fence in any zone district and splits everything at six feet of nominal height, which is the trade size of the material rather than a strict measurement, so a standard panel is not caught out by a fraction, and the answer turns on whether the fence passes six feet nominal, and whether a landscape buffer is required. The figure is 6 feet, for nominal height below which no setback applies.
- Permits
- Washington has no fence permit rule of its own.
- 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
- Bothell writes the measuring rule to survive an uneven yard, and the answer turns on whether a city approved finish grade has been established.
- Corner lots
- Bothell leaves corner clearance to the Bothell Standards, the city engineering design document that sets the sight distance requirements.
- Retaining walls
- Bothell handles the fence on a retaining wall as a building code question rather than a zoning one, and it does so in the direction most codes do not.
- Materials
- Bothell puts two of its three material decisions with the police rather than with the planners, and the answer turns on the material, the purpose, and whether the chief of police has identified the site. The figure is 50 feet, for spacing of the warning signs.
- 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 Bothell?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Bothell answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence stands near.
The only distances Bothell measures for an ordinary fence are to a fire hydrant, not to a boundary. No fence or freestanding wall may be placed closer than three feet to a hydrant, and separately none may obscure the vision of one, so a fence that keeps its three feet can still fail if it hides the hydrant from the street. An electric fence doubles that distance and has to stay six feet away. Toward the property line itself the code is permissive, allowing a fence of six feet nominal or less with no setback in any yard, which puts it on the line if the owner wants. The one thing that pushes it back is planting: where Chapter 12.18 requires a landscape buffer the fence goes behind it, so the buffer and not the boundary decides where the fence starts.
No fence or freestanding wall shall be placed closer than three feet to or may obscure the vision of any fire hydrant.
The answer turns on what the fence stands near.
- an ordinary fence near a hydrant
- Three feet clear, and it may not hide it. 3 ft
- an electric fence near a hydrant
- Six feet clear. 6 ft
- a lot with a required landscape buffer
- The fence sits behind the planting.
Also on fences on the property line in Bothell
- 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 Bothell?
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Bothell answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence passes six feet nominal, and whether a landscape buffer is required.
Bothell allows a fence in any zone district and splits everything at six feet of nominal height, which is the trade size of the material rather than a strict measurement, so a standard panel is not caught out by a fraction. Under that figure and where no landscape buffer is required, a fence or freestanding wall may be built with no setback at all in a front, rear or side yard, which means right on the boundary. Over that figure it has to comply with whatever front, side and rear yard setbacks the zone requires, so the same rule that governs a building governs the tall fence. There is no lower front yard number, no corner lot number and no separate figure for a wall, so the six feet does all the work.
Where no landscape buffer is required, fences and freestanding walls may be allowed without a setback within any front, rear or side yard.
The answer turns on whether the fence passes six feet nominal, and whether a landscape buffer is required.
- six feet nominal or less
- No setback in any yard. 6 ft
- above six feet nominal
- The zone front, side and rear setbacks apply.
- a required landscape buffer
- The fence goes behind it.
Also on fence height in Bothell
- 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 Bothell?
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Washington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Washington 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.
This one is Washington law, not Bothell law. All Washington findings
The 2021 edition of the International Residential Code as published by the International Code Council is hereby adopted by reference
Pool fence requirements in Bothell
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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 Bothell 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 Bothell
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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 Bothell 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 Bothell
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Bothell answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether a city approved finish grade has been established.
Bothell writes the measuring rule to survive an uneven yard. Height comes off the horizontal projection of the predominant ground level, taken from the city approved finish grade where one has been established and otherwise from the predominant existing grade in the vicinity of the fence. The word predominant is what matters, because it means a dip, a swale or a mound under one section does not set the number for the whole run, and the word vicinity means the reading is taken from the ground around the fence rather than from the exact soil the posts sit in. At the other end the fence is measured to the upper surface of the panel, so what is measured is the panel rather than a post or a cap standing above it.
Fence and freestanding wall height shall be measured from the horizontal projection of the predominant ground level of either the city-approved finish grade where such grade has been established, or from the horizontal projection of the predominant existing grade in the vicinity of the fence.
The answer turns on whether a city approved finish grade has been established.
- a site with a city approved finish grade
- Measured from that grade.
- a site without one
- Measured from the predominant existing grade nearby.
- the top of the fence
- The upper surface of the panel, not the post.
Also on how height is measured in Bothell
- 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 Bothell
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Bothell does not set this. It leaves it to the Bothell Standards, the city engineering design document that sets the sight distance requirements.
The Bothell fence section says every fence and freestanding wall has to comply with the sight distance requirements of the Bothell Standards, and that is the whole of it. There is no triangle, no leg length, no band of protected heights, no distinction between a street intersection and a driveway, and no list of things exempt from it. The Bothell Standards are the city engineering design document, kept and amended outside the municipal code, so the figure a homeowner actually has to meet at a corner is not in the code they are reading. The section does give one visibility rule in its own words, and it is about the fire service rather than traffic: a fence may not obscure the vision of any fire hydrant.
All fences and freestanding walls shall comply with the sight distance requirements of the Bothell Standards.
The code hands this to the Bothell Standards, the city engineering design document that sets the sight distance requirements, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Bothell
- 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 Bothell
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Bothell answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Bothell handles the fence on a retaining wall as a building code question rather than a zoning one, and it does so in the direction most codes do not. Where the International Residential Code or the International Building Code requires a guard on top of a retaining wall or retaining structure, any fence or freestanding wall placed there has to meet the minimum guard height and construction requirements of whichever code applies. So instead of the zoning rule cutting the fence down because it sits on a wall, the building code sets a floor it has to reach, covering how tall it must be and how it must be built to stop somebody falling. The zoning section gives no combined height figure for a wall and a fence at all, so the guard requirement is the only thing the code says about the pairing.
Where the International Residential Code (IRC) or the International Building Code (IBC) requires a guard on top of a retaining wall or retaining structure, any fence or freestanding wall so located shall meet the minimum guard height and construction requirements of the IRC or IBC, as applicable.
Also on retaining walls in Bothell
- left to the townWashington 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. WAC 51-51-003Washington · Building code
Fence materials allowed in Bothell
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Bothell answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, the purpose, and whether the chief of police has identified the site.
Bothell puts two of its three material decisions with the police rather than with the planners. Barbed wire is permitted for animal husbandry or pasturing, and for security to protect sensitive locations or facilities as identified by the chief of police. Razor wire is prohibited, except that military or police services may install it to protect sensitive locations or facilities identified by the same officer, so the exception is narrower than the barbed wire one in who may install it as well as where. Electric fences are permitted only within the residential zone classifications, and only for raising and keeping animals for agricultural purposes or pasturing, which is the reverse of the usual arrangement where the housing zones are the ones an electric fence is kept out of. Each carries permanent signs of at least two square feet at fifty foot intervals stating the fence is electrified.
Razor wire fencing is prohibited; provided, however, that military or police services may install razor wire to protect sensitive locations or facilities as identified by the chief of police.
The answer turns on the material, the purpose, and whether the chief of police has identified the site.
- razor wire generally
- Prohibited.
- barbed wire
- For animals, or for a site the police chief identifies.
- an electric fence
- Residential zones only, and only to hold animals.
- signs on an electric fence
- Two square feet, every fifty feet. 50 ft
Also on materials in Bothell
- 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 Bothell
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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 Bothell 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 Bothell
- 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 Bothell 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 BothellBothell Municipal Code, Title 12, Section 12.14.150, Fences and freestanding walls
- 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 Bothell 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