Fence laws in Richland, Washington
What the Richland municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Richland sets no rule of its own, the Washington rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Richland, Washington, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- On a Richland corner lot or a lot with three street frontages, a solid fence over three feet or an open fence over four feet on the flanking street has to stand five feet back from the property line, or ten feet back from the back of the sidewalk where one exists, whichever of those two turns out to be greater, and the answer turns on whether the fence is solid or open, and which frontage it stands on. The figure is 5 feet, for setback from the flanking street property line.
- How tall
- Richland sorts fences into open and other, defining an open fence as one built of panels or sections with at least fifty percent open space and giving nonslatted chain link, wrought iron, picket and rail as the examples, and the answer turns on whether the fence is at least half open, and whether it sits in front of the setback line. The figure is 6 feet, for fence behind the building setback line.
- Permits
- A Richland lot that backs onto an arterial but takes its access from another street may put a six foot fence inside the property line along that arterial, either because an approved subdivision plat provided for it or because the administrative official grants special approval, and the answer turns on whether the lot fences an arterial it does not take access from. The figure is 6 months, for time allowed to finish the fence and the strip.
- 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
- Richland answers the sloping ground question with a window rather than a side. The figure is 2 feet, for band either side of the fence the grade is read from.
- Corner lots
- Richland leaves corner clearance to Chapter 12.11 RMC, Intersection Sight Distance, which sets the sight distance requirements.
- Retaining walls
- Richland 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
- Richland prohibits barbed wire and electrically charged fences together in one sentence and then reopens each for a different set of places, and the answer turns on the zone, the material and what it encloses.
- 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 Richland?
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Richland answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is solid or open, and which frontage it stands on.
On a Richland corner lot or a lot with three street frontages, a solid fence over three feet or an open fence over four feet on the flanking street has to stand five feet back from the property line, or ten feet back from the back of the sidewalk where one exists, whichever of those two turns out to be greater. The rule expressly does not reach the primary front yard, so it is the side street it is aimed at, and the code prints a diagram to go with it. The same section closes off the other direction for wire: where barbed wire is permitted at all it has to comply with the required zoning setbacks and, in any event, be located at or behind the property line, so no part of it may lean out over a neighbor or over the street.
For corner lots and lots with triple-street frontages, solid fencing on the flanking street over three feet in height and open fencing over four feet in height must be set back five feet from the property line or 10 feet from the back of the sidewalk if existing, whichever is greater.
The answer turns on whether the fence is solid or open, and which frontage it stands on.
- a tall fence on a flanking street
- Five feet off the line, or ten off the sidewalk, whichever is greater. 5 ft
- the primary front yard
- The rule does not apply.
- barbed wire where it is allowed
- At or behind the property line.
Also on fences on the property line in Richland
- 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 Richland?
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Richland answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is at least half open, and whether it sits in front of the setback line.
Richland sorts fences into open and other, defining an open fence as one built of panels or sections with at least fifty percent open space and giving nonslatted chain link, wrought iron, picket and rail as the examples. Both kinds get six feet anywhere on the lot provided they come no closer to a street right of way than the building setback line for the zone. The difference shows up in front of that line, where the city lets a fence stand in the adjoining right of way itself, up to a foot behind the sidewalk or five feet behind the back of the curb: an open fence may be four feet there and any other fence only three. Fences around public playgrounds, utilities and other public installations are outside the scheme entirely and may be any height necessary for safety and security, provided they stay ten feet off the curb line.
Open Fences (fences constructed of panels/sections with at least 50 percent open spaces such as nonslatted chain link, wrought iron, picket or rail fencing).
The answer turns on whether the fence is at least half open, and whether it sits in front of the setback line.
- behind the building setback line
- Six feet, open or solid. 6 ft
- an open fence out toward the sidewalk
- Four feet. 4 ft
- any other fence out toward the sidewalk
- Three feet. 3 ft
- a public playground or utility installation
- Any height needed, ten feet off the curb.
Also on fence height in Richland
- 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 Richland?
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Richland answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the lot fences an arterial it does not take access from.
A Richland lot that backs onto an arterial but takes its access from another street may put a six foot fence inside the property line along that arterial, either because an approved subdivision plat provided for it or because the administrative official grants special approval. The permission comes with obligations for the strip of land left between the fence and the back of the sidewalk. The owner improves it at the same time the fence goes up, files a treatment plan for it as part of the building permit application, and treats it at minimum with grass, decorative rock, wood, bark or similar materials in a way that resists disturbance by weather or by people walking on it, with xeriscaping using native plants encouraged. Both the fence and the treatment have to be finished within six months of the permit. Trees and shrubs may go on or behind the centerline of the strip and have to be kept from interfering with the sidewalk or street, and no vehicle may pass through the fence except for occasional maintenance.
Fence installation and treatment of the strip of land shall be completed within six months after a permit is obtained;
The answer turns on whether the lot fences an arterial it does not take access from.
- a six foot fence along an arterial
- A treatment plan with the building permit.
- the work itself
- Finished within six months of the permit. 6 months
- an arterial with no sidewalk or curb
- Treatment need not run past seven and a half feet, and may be waived.
Also on permits in Richland
- 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 Richland
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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 Richland 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 Richland
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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 Richland 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 Richland
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Richland answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Richland answers the sloping ground question with a window rather than a side. Height is measured above the highest grade within two feet of the fence line, so the reading is taken from the tallest patch of ground in a four foot wide band running along the fence, whichever side of it that patch is on. That quietly settles two arguments at once. A neighbor whose yard sits higher supplies the datum without the code having to say so, and an owner who mounds soil against the fence gains nothing, because the mound is inside the two feet and becomes the grade the fence is read from. It is a single sentence doing the work other cities spend a paragraph on, and it means a Richland fence on a slope is measured differently every few feet along its run.
Fence height shall be measured above the highest grade within two feet of the fence line.
2 ftband either side of the fence the grade is read from
Also on how height is measured in Richland
- 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 Richland
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Richland does not set this. It leaves it to Chapter 12.11 RMC, Intersection Sight Distance, which sets the sight distance requirements.
The fence section tells a reader that fences and hedges have to be built and maintained in accordance with Chapter 12.11, Intersection Sight Distance, which sits in the streets title rather than in the zoning code and holds the triangle dimensions, the protected heights and the exemptions. What the fence section does supply is a phrase that goes beyond what most cities protect. The permission to stand a fence in the street right of way is granted on condition that it does not form sight obstructions at intersections or at curves, and the curve is the unusual part, because a bend in the road has no triangle and no corner but is exactly where a low fence along the pavement edge blocks a driver view. That condition is attached separately to both the open fence allowance and the solid fence allowance.
Fences and hedges shall be constructed and maintained in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 12.11 RMC, Intersection Sight Distance.
The code hands this to Chapter 12.11 RMC, Intersection Sight Distance, which sets the sight distance requirements, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Richland
- 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 Richland
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Richland 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 Richland 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 Richland
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Richland answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone, the material and what it encloses.
Richland prohibits barbed wire and electrically charged fences together in one sentence and then reopens each for a different set of places. Both may be used in areas zoned for agricultural uses, and only for confining livestock, so the agricultural exception is about animals rather than about the zone on its own. Barbed wire alone gets two further openings: around outdoor storage areas in the general business C-3 district and in the business and industrial zones, and in any zone at all for security around public facilities. An electrically charged fence gets neither of those, so there is no lawful electric fence in a Richland business or industrial zone. Wherever wire is permitted it still has to meet the zoning setbacks and sit at or behind the property line.
The use of barbed wire and electrically charged fences is prohibited except as follows:
The answer turns on the zone, the material and what it encloses.
- confining livestock on agricultural land
- Barbed wire or an electric fence.
- an outdoor storage area in a business or industrial zone
- Barbed wire only.
- security around a public facility
- Barbed wire, in any zone.
Also on materials in Richland
- 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 Richland
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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 Richland 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 Richland
- 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 Richland 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 RichlandRichland Municipal Code, Title 23, Chapter 23.38, Section 23.38.070, 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 Richland 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