Fence laws in Madison, Wisconsin
What the Madison municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Madison sets no rule of its own, the Wisconsin rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Madison, Wisconsin, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Madison grants the boundary and then puts one duty on the owner before anything is built, and the answer turns on whether the line faces a neighbor, a street or another zoning district. The figure is 0 feet, for setback from an interior lot line.
- How tall
- Madison divides every fence into two kinds and gives them different rules, and the answer turns on whether the fence screens or decorates, the setback it sits in, and how opaque it is. The figure is 6 feet, for screening fence in an interior side or rear setback.
- Permits
- Wisconsin does not use the International Residential Code.
- Pool barriers
- Madison sets no statewide pool barrier rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Spite fences
- Wisconsin has a spite fence law and it covers hedges as well as fences. The figure is 6 feet, for height above which a maliciously built fence or hedge is a private nuisance.
- Measured from what
- Madison writes the fullest measuring rule in this project and answers three separate questions with it. The figure is 4 feet, for setback from a retaining wall that switches the datum to the base of the fence.
- Corner lots
- The fence rules state the obligation in a single line and keep none of the geometry, and the answer turns on the vision clearance triangle as defined in chapter 27 of the city ordinances. The figure is 4 feet, for screening fence in a front or street side yard setback.
- Retaining walls
- Madison sets no rule for a wall that holds back earth. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Materials
- Madison writes a short permitted list and applies it only where the fence is seen from the street, and the answer turns on where on the lot the fence sits and whether it is temporary. The figure is 180 days, for longest run for temporary fencing in a calendar year.
- Livestock
- Wisconsin lists the fences that count as legal and says nothing else does. The figure is 50 inches, for minimum height of a legal fence, measured at the posts.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Madison?
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Madison answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the line faces a neighbor, a street or another zoning district.
Madison grants the boundary and then puts one duty on the owner before anything is built. Fences and hedges may be erected, placed or maintained in any yard along or adjacent to a lot line, and the owner is responsible for properly locating all property lines before construction or installation, which writes the survey obligation into the zoning code rather than leaving it to a later dispute. No setback figure attaches to an interior line. Distance appears once, and as a purchase rather than a requirement: a screening fence in a street side yard setback may go from four feet to six if it is set back at least four feet from the street side property line. Screening along a district boundary is placed on the boundary line itself, where a fence up to eight feet is allowed between a residential district and a mixed use, commercial or employment one.
Fences and hedges may be erected, placed, or maintained in any yard along or adjacent to a lot line in accordance with the requirements identified in this section. The owner shall be responsible for properly locating all property lines before construction or installation of any fence or hedge.
The answer turns on whether the line faces a neighbor, a street or another zoning district.
- an interior lot line
- Along the line. 0 ft
- four feet off a street side line
- Six feet allowed instead of four. 4 ft
- a district boundary
- Eight feet on the line. 8 ft
- before any of it
- The owner locates the line.
Also on fences on the property line in Madison
- set in state lawWisconsin splits a fence on the property line in equal shares, but only where farming or grazing is involved. The duty runs between the people using two neighboring farm or grazing properties, and between the owners when one side is used that way. The fence stays in good repair all year unless both sides agree otherwise, and the two sides may agree to use markers instead of a fence. Wis. Stat. § 90.03Wisconsin · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Madison?
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Madison answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence screens or decorates, the setback it sits in, and how opaque it is.
Madison divides every fence into two kinds and gives them different rules. A screening fence or hedge in a required interior side or rear setback in a residential district stops at six feet. An ornamental fence or ornamental hedge in the same place may exceed six feet, with no ceiling stated anywhere, which is the loosest back yard allowance in this project and turns on what the fence is for rather than on how tall it is. Eight feet is allowed for a screen on a district boundary between a residential district and a mixed use, commercial or employment district, around a pool, or inside the building envelope. In a front or street side yard setback a screen is held to four feet, rising to six behind the rear plane of the house on a street side, or six anywhere in that setback if it is set back four feet from the street side line. An ornamental fence in a front yard gets five feet if it is less than half opaque and six if it is less than a fifth opaque.
The maximum height of a screening fence or screening hedge within required interior side and rear setbacks in a residential zoning district shall not exceed six (6) feet. An ornamental fence or ornamental hedge may exceed six (6) feet in height.
The answer turns on whether the fence screens or decorates, the setback it sits in, and how opaque it is.
- a screen behind the house
- Six feet. 6 ft
- an ornamental fence there
- No limit stated.
- a screen in a front setback
- Four feet. 4 ft
- an ornamental front yard fence
- Six feet if it is a fifth opaque or less. 20%
Also on fence height in Madison
- no rule, documents checkedWisconsin sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The six feet in the spite fence law is what starts a nuisance claim and not a cap, and that same law says a city or village may ban a fence under six feet. Chapter 90 describes legal fences for farm and grazing land without limiting height, and the Uniform Dwelling Code does not reach fences at all. Wis. Stat. § 844.10Wisconsin · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Madison?
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Wisconsin answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Wisconsin does not use the International Residential Code. It writes its own Uniform Dwelling Code in chapters SPS 320 to 325, which sets one set of building standards and inspections for one and two family homes and modular homes across the state. That code covers homes and their attached garages, porches, decks and stairways, and the word fence is nowhere in it. So a fence permit in Wisconsin is purely a local zoning question.
This one is Wisconsin law, not Madison law. All Wisconsin findings
The purpose of this code is to establish uniform statewide construction standards and inspection procedures for one- and 2-family dwellings and modular homes in accordance with the requirements of ss. 101.60 and 101.70, Stats.
Also on permits in Madison
- no rule, documents checkedThe fences, walls and hedges subsection sets heights, materials, measurement and a survey duty and never mentions an application, a fee, an inspection or a threshold at which review begins. No fence permit appears in it. One sentence assumes a permit exists somewhere else: temporary fencing is allowed for a time period consistent with an approved building permit, or for up to a hundred and eighty consecutive days in a calendar year where there is none, which treats the building permit as the clock rather than as the authority to build the fence. Screening of mechanical equipment is the only thing in the section that needs a sign-off, and it goes to the Zoning Administrator rather than through a permit. Whether an ordinary Madison fence needs a building permit is a question for the building inspection chapter, a separate document that was not read for this page. Section 28.142(11)Madison · Zoning code
Pool fence requirements in Madison
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Madison law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Wisconsin sets no statewide fence rule for a pool at a house. The state pool chapter, SPS 390, says on its face that it covers public pools and water attractions only. The Uniform Dwelling Code, which governs one and two family homes, has no pool, barrier, fence or enclosure section in any of its six chapters. A pool fence at a home is a local matter.
This one is Wisconsin law, not Madison law. All Wisconsin findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Wis. Admin. Code § SPS 390.02Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
- Wis. Admin. Code § SPS 320.01Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
Spite fence laws in Madison
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Wisconsin answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Wisconsin has a spite fence law and it covers hedges as well as fences. Any fence, hedge or structure like a fence that goes over six feet with no need to, and was put up or kept up out of spite to annoy a neighbor, is a private nuisance, which means the neighbor can sue over it. The same section says it does not stop a city or village from banning a fence under six feet, so local rules still bite below that line.
This one is Wisconsin law, not Madison law. All Wisconsin findings
Any fence, hedge or other structure in the nature of a fence unnecessarily exceeding 6 feet in height, maliciously erected or maintained for the purpose of annoying the owners or occupants of adjoining property, shall be deemed a private nuisance.
6 ftheight above which a maliciously built fence or hedge is a private nuisance
How fence height is measured in Madison
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Madison answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Madison writes the fullest measuring rule in this project and answers three separate questions with it. The datum is natural or approved grade, so a fence is judged against the ground as it was or as the city signed off on it rather than against whatever the owner has since done. Where the two lots sit at different levels, as when a retaining wall divides them, the height is taken from the average point between the highest and lowest grade, which splits the difference instead of favoring either side. Then it offers a way out of that average: if the fence stands at least four feet back from the retaining wall, the height is measured from the base of the fence itself. And it closes the loophole every other code leaves open, stating that berms and retaining walls may not be used to increase the grade relative to screening height, so mounding the ground first buys nothing.
Fence or hedge height shall be measured from natural or approved grade. In the case of grade separation, such as the division of properties by a retaining wall, fence or hedge height shall be determined based on measurement from the average point between highest and lowest grade. If the fence or hedge is set back from the retaining wall by a distance of at least four (4) feet, the height shall be measured from the base of the fence or hedge. Berms and retaining walls shall not be used to increase grade relative to screening height.
4 ftsetback from a retaining wall that switches the datum to the base of the fence
Also on how height is measured in Madison
- left to the townWisconsin does not set this. The city does. The fence law in chapter 90 covers fences on a property line and what a fence viewer does, and it has no measuring rule in it anywhere. Section 62.23(7)(am) lets a city council set rules for the height, number of stories and size of buildings and other structures, and tells courts to read that power broadly in the city's favor. So the city ordinance sets the fence height and decides on its own what the height is taken from. Wis. Stat. 62.23(7)(am)Wisconsin · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Madison
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Madison answers this, but the answer changes depending on the vision clearance triangle as defined in chapter 27 of the city ordinances.
The fence rules state the obligation in a single line and keep none of the geometry. Fences and hedges have to comply with the vision clearance triangle requirements of subsection 27.05(2)(bb) of the Madison General Ordinances, which sits in a different chapter of the city code and was not read for this page, so the distance from the corner and the protected height are not recorded here. What the zoning chapter does supply near a street is a height rather than a triangle. A screening fence or hedge in a required front or street side yard setback is held to four feet in residential, mixed use and non-residential districts alike, and that four feet does the work a corner rule does elsewhere on the two sides of a lot that face traffic. An ornamental front yard fence may go higher only by being see-through, five feet under half opaque and six feet under a fifth.
Fences or hedges shall comply with the vision clearance triangle requirements of Subsection 27.05(2)(bb).
The answer turns on the vision clearance triangle as defined in chapter 27 of the city ordinances.
- any fence or hedge
- The triangle applies.
- the size of it
- Set in chapter 27, not read here.
- a screen facing a street
- Four feet regardless. 4 ft
- an ornamental one there
- Taller only if it is see-through.
Also on corner visibility in Madison
- set in state lawWisconsin draws a triangle at every highway crossing outside a city or village, running 1,000 feet out along each center line, and bans danger causing advertising inside it. Section 86.191 then goes past signs. The road authority has to ask the owner of land inside that triangle to cut back whatever blocks the view across it, as far as that can be done, and to work out an arrangement that makes travel on both roads as safe as it reasonably can be. It is a duty to work it out with the owner rather than a fixed height, and it stops at the city line. Wis. Stat. 86.191(4)Wisconsin · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Madison
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Madison law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Wisconsin has no rule at all for a wall that holds back earth. It does not use the International Residential Code, so the model code line about a four foot wall never reaches this state. It writes its own Uniform Dwelling Code for one and two family homes, and both halves of that code were read end to end. Chapter SPS 320 is the paperwork half, covering the building permit, who issues it, inspections and exemptions, and the word retaining is nowhere in it. Chapter SPS 321 is the building half, covering digging, footings, frost protection, foundations, masonry walls and decks, and the word retaining is nowhere in it either. The code does have sections on digging next to a neighbor's land and on erosion control, and neither one sets a rule for a wall built to hold back earth. A permit for that kind of wall in Wisconsin is a local question.
This one is Wisconsin law, not Madison law. All Wisconsin findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Wis. Admin. Code ch. SPS 320Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
- Wis. Admin. Code ch. SPS 321Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
Fence materials allowed in Madison
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Madison answers this, but the answer changes depending on where on the lot the fence sits and whether it is temporary.
Madison writes a short permitted list and applies it only where the fence is seen from the street. A fence in a front or street side yard setback has to be made of wood, ornamental metal, brick, vinyl-coated chain link or stone, and the coating is the whole point of the fifth entry, because uncoated chain link is then permitted in interior side or rear yards. The city is regulating the look of the street rather than the strength of the fence. A separate rule covers screening between districts and for refuse, storage and loading areas, which has to be a solid commercial-grade wood fence, wall, year-round hedge or equivalent between six and eight feet. Temporary fencing gets its own permission: wood or plastic snow fence to stop drifting between November 1 and April 1, fencing around excavation and construction, and plant protection during grading, each allowed for the life of an approved building permit or up to a hundred and eighty consecutive days a year.
Fences located in the front or street side yard setback areas must be made of materials such as wood, ornamental metal, brick, vinyl-coated chain link or stone. Uncoated chain link fences may be used in interior side or rear yards.
The answer turns on where on the lot the fence sits and whether it is temporary.
- a front or street side setback
- Wood, metal, brick, coated chain link or stone.
- an interior side or rear yard
- Bare chain link is fine.
- a required screen
- Solid commercial-grade wood or equivalent.
- a snow fence
- November to April. 180 days
Also on materials in Madison
- set in state lawWisconsin prints a closed list of legal fences and says the builds on it and no others count. Barbed wire and high tensile wire run through most of the list, always above a woven wire or board base, and one build is four or more barbed or high tensile wires at least 48 inches high on steel or wood posts. An electric fence is on the list too, with two extra strings attached. It takes two strands of tightly stretched wire fed by a standard approved electric or battery charger, with the top wire 34 to 36 inches up on insulated posts no more than two rods apart, which is 33 feet. And it counts as a legal fence only where the owners on both sides put their agreement in writing. Wis. Stat. 90.02(1m)(i)Wisconsin · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Madison
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Wisconsin answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Wisconsin lists the fences that count as legal and says nothing else does. The list runs from woven wire of different widths with barbed or high tensile wire above it, to board fences on posts no more than eight feet apart, to a 48 inch fence of four or more barbed or high tensile wires. Whatever the build, the fence stands at least 50 inches high and its bottom sits no more than four inches off the ground, both measured at the posts.
This one is Wisconsin law, not Madison law. All Wisconsin findings
Fences shall not be less than 50 inches high, and the bottom of the fence shall be not more than 4 inches from the ground, measurements to be made at the posts.
50 inminimum height of a legal fence, measured at the posts
Also on agricultural fencing in Madison
- set in state lawIn Wisconsin the fence on the line is the price of a damages claim. An owner who does not keep that fence in repair cannot collect for damage done by a neighbor's animals. Building it does not settle the other side either, because the owner of pigs, horses, sheep or goats still answers for damage those animals do inside the enclosure. Wis. Stat. 90.04Wisconsin · Statute
Documents behind this page
12 documents, of which 1 was published by Madison itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Wisconsin LegislatureWisconsin Statutes, Chapter 90, Fences, Section 90.03, Partition fences; when required
- City of MadisonMadison General Ordinances, Chapter 28, Zoning Code, Subchapter 28I, General Regulations, Section 28.142, Landscaping and Screening Requirements
- Wisconsin LegislatureWisconsin Statutes, Chapter 844, Section 844.10, Private nuisance; fence
- Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional ServicesWisconsin Administrative Code, Chapter SPS 320, Section 320.01 Purpose
- Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional ServicesWisconsin Administrative Code, Chapter SPS 390, Public Swimming Pools and Water Attractions, Section 390.02 Applicability
- Wisconsin State LegislatureWisconsin Statutes, Chapter 62, Cities, Section 62.23, City planning
- Wisconsin LegislatureWisconsin Statutes, Chapter 86, Miscellaneous Highway Provisions
- Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional ServicesWisconsin Administrative Code, Chapter SPS 320, Uniform Dwelling Code Administration and Enforcement
- Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional ServicesWisconsin Administrative Code, Chapter SPS 321, Construction Standards
- Wisconsin LegislatureWisconsin Statutes, Chapter 90, Fences
- Wisconsin State LegislatureWisconsin Statutes, Chapter 90, Fences
- Wisconsin State LegislatureWisconsin Statutes, Chapter 90, Fences
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 Madison publishes, plus the Wisconsin rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Wisconsin 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