Most HOA fence guidance runs in the same order. Height first, then material, then setback, and hire somebody last.
Your board never meets the crew. It reads a drawing, a spec, and a stack of paperwork, and your contractor wrote all three. That makes the fence company the first decision in the process.
A Vendor List Is Optional, Architectural Review Is Not
Some Texas associations keep an approved-vendor list, and plenty keep none at all. Either way the fence still goes through architectural review, and review is where the field narrows. The board is judging a submitted design against the community’s own rules. A contractor who cannot produce that design in the community’s own language has already cost you a cycle before a post hole is dug.
Here are the words that show up on the paperwork.
| Term | What it means on a fence application |
|---|---|
| Architectural review | The board or committee decision on whether your submitted fence plan is allowed |
| ACC or ARC | The architectural control committee that reads fence applications in most Texas HOAs |
| Approved-vendor list | A roster of contractors the association has already checked for insurance and paperwork |
| Certificate of insurance | A one-page proof of general liability and workers compensation, issued by the insurer |
| Additional insured | The association added onto the contractor’s liability policy for work inside the community |
| Setback | The distance a fence or gate must sit back from a lot line or a road |
Over 40 Lots Means a Formal Review With Legal Deadlines
Texas law draws the line at lot count. Section 209.00505 of the Texas Property Code, which governs architectural review authority, applies only to an association of more than 40 lots, and it does not apply during a developer-control period (Texas Property Code, 2025). Above that line your submission runs a defined process, with written decisions and a hearing you can attend.
The deadlines are real and they are short. If the board or the owner asks to postpone an architectural denial hearing, the postponement runs no more than 10 days (Texas Property Code, 2025). The review window itself is set by the community’s own covenants. Circle C Ranch gives its architectural control committee 30 days to review submitted plans (Circle C Homeowners Association, 2020).
Now put a rejected submission into that calendar. You lose the review window, you lose the redraw, and you lose whatever install date your contractor was holding for you. Nobody refunds a month.
SB 711 Lets Your Board Dictate Fence Type and Gate Setback
Your association cannot stop you from fencing your yard, and it can still tell you a great deal about the fence. As amended by SB 711 and effective September 1, 2025, Texas Property Code Section 202.023 keeps an HOA’s power to regulate fence type and material, to bar fencing that blocks a public-use sidewalk or a drainage easement, and to require a driveway gate set back at least 10 feet from the right-of-way where the driveway meets a laned road (Texas Legislature, 2025).
Read that setback line twice if a gate is in your plan. Ten feet changes where the posts land, how long the driveway run is, and what the operator has to move. We install gate operators to UL325 standards, and the standard does not care whether the geometry was measured before or after the board said no. Measure first.
Read the Community Spec Sheet Before You Read a Bid
The association’s own guidelines are the real spec, and they are usually far more specific than state law. Circle C Ranch’s fence guidelines set a standard height of six feet, allow eight feet where a fence backs a common-area street with no driveway cuts, call for four-inch or six-inch pickets installed vertically with dog-ear tops, name Western Red Cedar as the preferred material, and recommend galvanized steel posts for longevity (Circle C Homeowners Association, 2020).
Every one of those lines is a number on your quote.
| What the guidelines set | Circle C Ranch’s published rule | What it changes on your quote |
|---|---|---|
| Height | Six feet standard, eight feet backing a common-area street | Panel height drives picket count and post length |
| Picket | Four-inch or six-inch, vertical, dog-ear tops | Picket width and top cut are separate line items |
| Material | Western Red Cedar preferred | Cedar and treated pine price differently per foot |
| Posts | Galvanized steel posts recommended | Post material changes the post and concrete line |
A bid written without that sheet in hand is a guess at your neighborhood. Ask your contractor to quote the height, the picket width, the species, and the post material by name, so the bid and the application say the same thing.
The City Permit and the HOA Approval Are Two Separate Jobs
Clearing the board does not clear the city, and clearing the city does not clear the board. Houston has no zoning and requires a residential fence permit only when the fence goes above 8 feet, or when it is built wholly or partly of masonry or concrete at any height (City of Houston, 2026). A standard six-foot wood replacement in a Houston HOA needs no city permit at all, and still needs the committee’s written yes.
Masonry is where the two tracks meet. Brick columns and stone bases pull a Houston permit and usually pull extra scrutiny from the committee at the same time. We determine whether a project needs a permit and file it when it does, which keeps one date on the calendar instead of two.
Boards Ask for License, Insurance, and an Installation Record
Texas issues no statewide license for a fence contractor. The state’s licensing authority regulates specific trades such as electricians and air conditioning, so a residential fence builder can work anywhere in Texas without a state license (Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, 2026). That shifts the whole burden of proof onto documents, which is exactly what a vendor packet is.
What a management company typically asks a fence contractor to hand over:
- General liability insurance. A current policy, with limits the association will actually read.
- Workers compensation coverage. Who covers a crew member hurt on your lot, and it should never be you.
- A certificate of insurance. Issued by the insurer, dated, and naming the association as additional insured when the packet asks for it.
- A written scope and drawing. Footage, height, material, post type, and gate locations on one page.
- Project history and references. Finished work the committee can go look at, ideally inside the same community.
- A W-9 and signed vendor agreement. Standard where a management company enrolls vendors formally before work is scheduled.
The Better Business Bureau tells homeowners to verify licenses and insurance, insist on a signed contract before work begins, and call a list of recent local references (Better Business Bureau, 2025). We are licensed, bonded, and insured, and we have held an A+ BBB rating with accreditation since March 2003. Our crews work to OSHA standards, and we hold licenses through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Department of Agriculture for the landscape and irrigation work that often sits beside a fence line.
