Fence laws in Federal Way, Washington
What the Federal Way municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Federal Way sets no rule of its own, the Washington rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Federal Way, Washington, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Federal Way treats the boundary as the thing that decides how an electrified fence is built, and the answer turns on how close the fence comes to the property line and what it contains. The figure is 20 feet, for distance from a line that triggers the second fence.
- How tall
- Federal Way does not write its fence height as a fence rule, and the answer turns on whether the fence is electrified and what else shares the yard. The figure is 6 feet, for fence or railing in a required yard.
- 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
- Everything Federal Way allows into a required yard is measured from finished grade, and the article uses that one datum to sort objects into tiers rather than to settle a single fence argument. The figure is 18 inches, for height that may extend five feet into a required yard.
- Corner lots
- Washington puts its clear view duty at the railroad tracks. The figure is 100 feet, for distance from a railroad grade crossing that has to be kept clear of brush and timber. It reaches brush, trees and signs within 100 feet of a railroad crossing on a county road only.
- Retaining walls
- Federal Way decides whether a wall and a fence are one object by the distance between them, and the answer turns on how far the wall is from the fence and whether fall protection is required. The figure is 5 feet, for distance at which a wall and fence are counted together.
- Materials
- Federal Way gives razor wire a section of its own and the section is one line long, banning it in the city with no zone, use or screening exception anywhere in the chapter, and the answer turns on the material, the zone and the use it serves. The figure is 6 feet, for fence height barbed wire may top.
- 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 Federal Way?
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Federal Way answers this, but the answer changes depending on how close the fence comes to the property line and what it contains.
Federal Way treats the boundary as the thing that decides how an electrified fence is built. Come within twenty feet of any property line and the charged fence has to sit at least six inches inside another fence or solid wall of at least six feet, so nobody outside reaches the wire first and there is a hand width of air between the two. Stay further back than twenty feet and that second barrier is not required. The one fence the code allows right on the line is the agricultural one: an electrified fence separating agricultural uses and intended to contain large domestic animals may be located anywhere on the property, the boundary included. Barbed wire is handled by the same logic from the other side, being allowed only on top of something already six feet tall rather than at a stated distance from a neighbor.
Be located at least six inches inside of another fence or solid wall at least six feet in height if the electrified fence is within 20 feet of any property line;
The answer turns on how close the fence comes to the property line and what it contains.
- an electric fence within twenty feet of a line
- Six inches inside a second fence at least six feet high. 20 ft
- an agricultural fence containing large animals
- Anywhere on the property, the line included.
Also on fences on the property line in Federal Way
- 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 Federal Way?
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Federal Way answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is electrified and what else shares the yard.
Federal Way does not write its fence height as a fence rule. It writes it as one item on the list of things allowed to stand in a required yard, alongside driveways, bay windows, signs and covered walkways, and the item says six feet for a fence or a railing and ten for an electrified fence. Because the number lives in the required yard list, it is the front, side and rear setbacks it controls, and the rest of the lot is governed by whatever the zone allows a structure to be. The same list caps a storage shed in a residential yard at eight feet and a covered walkway in a commercial, office or industrial yard at ten. There is no separate lower figure for the front yard, which is unusual, and no see through allowance to trade for extra height.
Fences and railings not over six feet in height, and electrified fences not over 10 feet in height, may be located in required yards subject to the fence regulations contained within this chapter.
19.125.160(5), Structures and improvements
The answer turns on whether the fence is electrified and what else shares the yard.
- a fence or railing in a required yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- an electrified fence where one is allowed
- Ten feet. 10 ft
- a storage shed approved into a residential yard
- Eight feet, and no front yard. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Federal Way
- 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 Federal Way?
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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 Federal Way 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 Federal Way
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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 Federal Way 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 Federal Way
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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 Federal Way 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 Federal Way
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Federal Way answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Everything Federal Way allows into a required yard is measured from finished grade, and the article uses that one datum to sort objects into tiers rather than to settle a single fence argument. Anything not more than four inches above finished grade may go anywhere in a required setback yard. Anything not more than eighteen inches above finished grade may reach five feet into a required yard. Above that the object has to appear on the list by name, which is where fences and railings at six feet come in. The practical effect for a fence is that the ground it stands on is the ground after the site is finished, not the ground before, so a yard raised during construction raises the fence with it, and there is no separate rule letting an owner read the height from the low side of a slope.
Any improvement or structure, other than a driveway and/or parking area, that is not more than four inches above finished grade may be anywhere in a required setback yard.
18 inheight that may extend five feet into a required yard
Also on how height is measured in Federal Way
- 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 Federal Way
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Washington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Washington 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.
This one is Washington law, not Federal Way law. All Washington findings
The county legislative authority shall cause brush and timber to be cleared from the right-of-way of county roads in the proximity of a railroad grade crossing for a distance of one hundred feet from the crossing in such a manner as to permit a person traveling upon the road to obtain an unobstructed view in both directions of an approaching train or other on-track equipment.
100 ftdistance from a railroad grade crossing that has to be kept clear of brush and timber
Retaining wall rules in Federal Way
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Federal Way answers this, but the answer changes depending on how far the wall is from the fence and whether fall protection is required.
Federal Way decides whether a wall and a fence are one object by the distance between them. Put a rockery or retaining wall in a required yard within five feet of a fence or railing and the two are added together and held to six feet, the same as a fence on flat ground, so the wall eats the fence. Move it more than five feet away and each is judged on its own. The way past the combined limit is not a variance but a safety requirement doing double duty: where a rockery or wall over two and a half feet needs a guardrail or handrail for fall protection, a safety feature up to three and a half feet is allowed on top, taking the pair to nine and a half feet. The code then guards against that becoming a privacy fence by trade, requiring the safety feature to have openings or gaps and not to present a solid or continuous visual surface.
When a rockery or retaining wall is also located in the required yard within five feet of the fence or railing, the total combined height of the fence and the rockery or retaining wall may be no more than six feet high.
The answer turns on how far the wall is from the fence and whether fall protection is required.
- a wall within five feet of the fence
- Six feet for the two together. 5 ft
- a wall over two and a half feet needing fall protection
- A see through safety feature up to three and a half feet. 42 in
- the wall and safety feature together
- Nine and a half feet.
Also on retaining walls in Federal Way
- 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 Federal Way
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Federal Way answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, the zone and the use it serves.
Federal Way gives razor wire a section of its own and the section is one line long, banning it in the city with no zone, use or screening exception anywhere in the chapter. Barbed wire survives, but only on top of a fence or wall already at least six feet high, or between two agricultural uses. Electrified fences are prohibited except where the chapter says otherwise, which means agricultural fences containing large domestic animals, a named list of heavy uses in the commercial enterprise zone such as manufacturing, warehousing, truck stops, hazardous waste treatment and self storage, and government facility uses in any zone. Every electric fence has to be listed or labeled by a qualified testing agency, installed to the manufacturer specifications, posted with permanent signs of at least thirty six square inches every fifteen feet, energized to no more than twelve volts direct current, and built to give safe access to emergency responders.
Razor wire fences are prohibited in the city.
19.125.120, 19.125.130 and 19.125.140
The answer turns on the material, the zone and the use it serves.
- razor wire anywhere
- Prohibited.
- barbed wire
- Only on a fence already six feet high, or between two farms. 6 ft
- an electric fence where one is allowed
- Twelve volts, labeled equipment, and signs every fifteen feet. 15 ft
Also on materials in Federal Way
- 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 Federal Way
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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 Federal Way 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 Federal Way
- 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 Federal Way 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 Federal WayFederal Way Revised Code, Title 19, Chapter 19.125, Outdoors, Yards, and Landscaping
- 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 Federal Way 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