Fence laws in Lakewood, Washington
What the Lakewood municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Lakewood sets no rule of its own, the Washington rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Lakewood, Washington, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Lakewood measures an electric fence against the people who might walk into it, and the answer turns on what stands nearby and whether the outer fence is solid. The figure is 150 feet, for distance from a home, school or day care.
- How tall
- Lakewood allows a fence in a required setback at all, then limits it to six feet in the interior and rear yards and four in the front, and the answer turns on the yard, whether the lot is a corner, and what the front faces. The figure is 6 feet, for fence in an interior or rear yard.
- Permits
- An electric fence in Lakewood needs more paperwork than most buildings, and the answer turns on whether the fence is electrified. The figure is 6 feet, for height permitted outright.
- 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
- Washington gives one plain starting point, in its livestock fence law, and nowhere else. The figure is 48 inches, for top wire of a lawful fence, measured above the ground. It reaches a lawful fence for animal damage claims only.
- Corner lots
- The corner rule is the first condition Lakewood puts on a fence in a required setback, and it is a test rather than a measurement.
- Retaining walls
- Lakewood 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
- The Lakewood residential ban is written as a purpose rather than a list, and the answer turns on the zone and whether the fence is electrified. The figure is 10 feet, for tallest an electric fence may be.
- 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 Lakewood?
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Lakewood answers this, but the answer changes depending on what stands nearby and whether the outer fence is solid.
Lakewood measures an electric fence against the people who might walk into it. It may not be installed within one hundred and fifty feet of a property line for a residence, or of a school or a day care facility, unless the outer non-electrified fence is covered with a solid covering such as mesh or slats to stop anyone reaching the wire. The same covering requirement applies within five feet of a sidewalk, trail or other pedestrian connection. The outer fence itself is mandatory in every case and has to be at least six feet tall and completely surround the charged one, with a gap of between four and twelve inches between the two, so the spacing is specified at both ends rather than as a minimum. Where the fence sits across a street or alley from a nonindustrial zone it also has to meet the city screening and street frontage standards.
Electric fences shall not be installed within one hundred fifty (150) feet of a property line for a residence, or from a school or day care facility, unless the exterior perimeter nonelectrified fence is covered with a solid covering (e.g., solid mesh, slats, etc.) to further prevent contact with the electric fence.
The answer turns on what stands nearby and whether the outer fence is solid.
- within a hundred and fifty feet of a home, school or day care
- Only behind a solid covered outer fence. 150 ft
- within five feet of a sidewalk or trail
- The same solid covering. 5 ft
- the gap between the two fences
- Four to twelve inches. 12 in
Also on fences on the property line in Lakewood
- 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 Lakewood?
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Lakewood answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, whether the lot is a corner, and what the front faces.
Lakewood allows a fence in a required setback at all, then limits it to six feet in the interior and rear yards and four in the front. Two exceptions lift the front figure to six. On a corner lot, the back half of the front yard setback may be enclosed to six feet along the rear lot line and the rear of the house, which lets the usable part of a corner back yard be private. And on a lot fronting a principal arterial the whole front setback takes six feet, because the street is the thing being screened rather than a neighbor. Six feet is also the highest anything may be outright, aside from what a design review permit allows on a commercial or industrial project, and going above it needs both a variance and a building permit rather than an administrative sign off.
Except that within the required front yard setback of a lot fronting on a principal arterial street, the maximum height shall be six (6) feet
The answer turns on the yard, whether the lot is a corner, and what the front faces.
- an interior or rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- an ordinary front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a front setback on a principal arterial
- Six feet.
- anything above six feet
- A variance and a building permit.
Also on fence height in Lakewood
- 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 Lakewood?
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Lakewood answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is electrified.
An electric fence in Lakewood needs more paperwork than most buildings. Before installation the owner or tenant files a director determination application, reviewed as a building permit review, and it has to include a site plan showing the protective barrier and the electrified fence against the property lines, walkways, buildings and curb, fence details covering the barrier and every gate, and all the manufacturer documentation together with a certification of service from the monitoring provider. Separately the same person files a registration with the Fire Department on forms the Fire Chief provides. A key box system built to West Pierce Fire and Rescue standards goes in, with the controller and the emergency key safe in one accessible place serving the whole fence. The burglar alarm side is permitted under the alarm chapter. And issuing the permit is conditioned on the applicant agreeing to defend, indemnify and hold the city harmless, including for personal injury and death.
Electric fences shall have installed a key box system in accordance with the West Pierce Fire and Rescue standards.
18A.60.090(12)(e)(i), (x), (xi) and (xii)
The answer turns on whether the fence is electrified.
- an ordinary fence up to six feet
- No land use permit under this subsection.
- an electric fence
- A director determination, a fire department registration and an indemnity.
- any fence over six feet
- A variance and a building permit. 6 ft
Also on permits in Lakewood
- 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 Lakewood
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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 Lakewood 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 Lakewood
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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 Lakewood 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 Lakewood
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Washington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Washington 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.
This one is Washington law, not Lakewood 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 intop wire of a lawful fence, measured above the ground
Fence rules for corner lots in Lakewood
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Lakewood answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The corner rule is the first condition Lakewood puts on a fence in a required setback, and it is a test rather than a measurement. A fence or other barrier must not obstruct the sight distance of a driveway, a private street or a public street, and the subsection gives no triangle, no leg length, no protected band of heights and no list of exempt objects. The same words appear a few lines earlier as the only limit on how far a wheelchair ramp may project into a required setback, so the phrase is doing real work elsewhere in the section. What it means for a homeowner is that the four foot and six foot figures are ceilings and not permissions, because a fence that clears both can still fail this first test, and the judgement about whether it does is made when the plans are reviewed rather than from anything published in the chapter.
Do not obstruct the sight distance of a driveway, private street, or public street.
Also on corner visibility in Lakewood
- 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 Lakewood
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Lakewood 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 Lakewood 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 Lakewood
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Lakewood answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone and whether the fence is electrified.
The Lakewood residential ban is written as a purpose rather than a list. Barbed wire, razor wire and embedded glass are named, and then the rule reaches any other similar material, construction or anti-entry technique that may cause injury, which catches spikes, broken bottles set in mortar and whatever is invented next. Electric fences are handled entirely separately and are confined to the C1, C2, C3, TOC, IBP, I1 and I2 zones and the public and institutional zone, permitted only on a nonresidential outdoor storage area and only on a director determination. Where one is allowed it has a minimum height as well as a maximum, running from eight feet to ten, and it has to be built to International Electrotechnical Commission Standard 60335-2-76 with the charge held to the energizer characteristics in paragraph 22.108 and Figure 102 of that standard.
In residential zoning districts, are not constructed of barbed wire, razor wire, embedded glass, or other similar materials, construction, or anti-entry techniques that may cause injury.
The answer turns on the zone and whether the fence is electrified.
- anything injurious in a residential zone
- Prohibited, whatever it is made of.
- an electric fence in a commercial or industrial zone
- Eight feet minimum, ten feet maximum. 10 ft
- an electric fence anywhere residential
- Not available.
Also on materials in Lakewood
- 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 Lakewood
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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 Lakewood 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 Lakewood
- 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 Lakewood 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 LakewoodLakewood Municipal Code, Title 18A, Section 18A.60.090, General standards
- 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 Lakewood 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