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Do I need a fence permit?

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Fence permits

Do I need a fence permit?

The city your lot sits in writes the fence rule, and it is often not the city on your mail. Put in the address and find out what your city allows before anyone quotes the job.

City rules

Fifty Texas cities, and what each one allows

The four big cities and the forty-six smaller ones our crews work in. A Memorial address usually belongs to a village with its own ordinance, and a Westlake address usually belongs to West Lake Hills or Rollingwood rather than Austin. Every rule here traces to the city that wrote it.

Fence permit and height rules by Texas city
City	When a permit comes into it	How tall it may stand
the City of Houston	Houston asks for a building permit only when a fence stands over eight feet, or for a masonry or concrete fence at any height. An ordinary wood or metal fence of eight feet or under goes in with no permit.	Houston has no zoning, so the height rule is the permit rule and the HOA's deed restrictions, which cap most back yards at six feet and the front at four.
Bellaire	Bellaire dropped the fence permit for anything under eight feet. A lot in the floodplain still needs a floodplain development permit.	Six feet is the standard in most residential zones. A front-yard fence stops at four feet at the property line, and only an open material belongs there.
Katy	Katy asks for no building permit on a residential fence, and no inspection either. The deed restrictions are what govern instead.	The city sets no height of its own, so the HOA's cap is the one that binds. Most of them stop at eight feet.
Tomball	Tomball exempts a fence up to seven feet. Anything taller takes a building permit.	Eight feet is the ceiling. A front-yard fence has to be open and ornamental, at four feet or under.
Sugar Land	Sugar Land requires a permit for a new fence, or for one that changes the dimensions. A like-for-like replacement needs nothing.	A fence over six feet takes the permit, and the setback and visibility rules hold at any height.
Conroe	Conroe requires a permit for a fence over six feet.	Six feet covers most back yards with no permit. A lot outside the city limits answers to Montgomery County instead.
College Station	College Station treats a wood or chain-link fence under eight feet as something other than a structure, so it takes no building permit. A brick or stone wall gets the same treatment under six feet.	Eight feet for wood or chain link before a permit comes into it, and six for masonry.
Galveston	Galveston requires a building permit for every residential fence.	Four feet in a front yard, or six where the fence stands at least 60 percent open. Eight feet along a side or rear line. A historic district or a coastal lot carries more.
Friendswood	The city writes its own rule, and a salesperson reads it back to you on the call.	A salesperson confirms it before your estimate.
Magnolia	The city writes its own rule, and a salesperson reads it back to you on the call.	A salesperson confirms it before your estimate.
The Woodlands	The city writes its own rule, and a salesperson reads it back to you on the call.	A salesperson confirms it before your estimate.
Piney Point Village	Piney Point Village requires a fence permit before the work starts, and the village can pull it later if the fence does not match the approval.	Three feet is the cap in a front yard, and eight feet along a side or rear line. A fence facing a street has to stand 80 percent open, or be wood with a landscaping plan the village signs off on.
Hunters Creek Village	Hunters Creek Village keeps a fence behind the front building line, unless the yard fronts Voss Road or Memorial Drive.	Eight feet is the ceiling from natural grade. A masonry wall over seven feet needs a geotechnical report and a foundation an engineer has designed.
Bunker Hill Village	Bunker Hill Village requires a permit before a new fence goes in.	Eight feet is the cap along a side or rear line. The village keeps fences out of the front yard, apart from a three-foot fence at a subdivision entrance on a corner lot.
Hedwig Village	The city writes its own rule, and a salesperson reads it back to you on the call.	A salesperson confirms it before your estimate.
the City of Dallas	Dallas caps a fence in a residential front yard at four feet and any fence in a required yard at nine, and a panel less than half open has to sit at least five feet back from the front lot line. Anything above those limits needs a city permit.	Six feet is the back-yard standard and nine feet the ceiling, with the front yard at four.
Garland	Garland requires a permit for a new fence, and for a replacement that changes the height, the place it sits, or the material.	Eight feet is the cap on residential property, and a front-yard fence stops at three and a half feet.
Plano	Plano requires a permit for a new fence and for a replacement.	Anything over eight feet goes to the Board of Adjustment before the permit is issued.
Frisco	Frisco requires a permit for a new fence. Patching two sections, or sixteen feet, is the exception.	Eight feet is the cap along the side and rear. A fence in front of the house stops at four feet.
Arlington	Arlington requires a permit for a new fence, and for a replacement of half the fence or more.	Eight feet is the cap, measured from the highest ground within ten feet of the fence.
Grand Prairie	Grand Prairie requires a permit for every residential fence, replacements included.	Eight feet is the cap along the side and rear. A front-yard fence stops at three feet.
Coppell	Coppell requires a fence permit.	Eight feet is the ceiling, and the city keeps a fence out of the front yard between the building line and the lot line.
Carrollton	Carrollton requires a permit for any new fence over 20 feet long, and for moving or repairing more than 20 feet of one.	The zoning district sets the height, and no fence belongs in a drainage or a visibility easement.
Highland Park	Highland Park requires a permit before the fence goes up, and the building inspector comes out to look at it afterwards.	Eight feet is the cap in a residential district.
University Park	University Park requires a permit to put a fence up, move one, or replace more than a quarter of any one side.	Eight feet along a side or rear line. No fence belongs forward of the front wall of the house.
Fort Worth	The city writes its own rule, and a salesperson reads it back to you on the call.	A salesperson confirms it before your estimate.
Benbrook	Benbrook requires a $50 permit for a fence over six feet, for one over 30 inches that the street can see, and for replacing more than a quarter of an existing fence.	Six feet covers an ordinary back yard. Anything taller takes the permit.
Crowley	Crowley requires a permit for a new fence, and for replacing half of an existing one or more.	Eight feet is the cap.
Waco	Waco requires a permit for a residential fence over six feet, and for a masonry wall over four.	Six feet is the residential limit.
the City of Austin	Austin exempts a fence up to seven feet outside a floodplain. A permit comes into it above seven feet, above six feet along a public right of way on a residential lot, or anywhere in a floodplain.	A solid fence on a property line may not pass six feet from natural grade, rising to seven only where the ground changes by a foot or more.
Round Rock	Round Rock requires a permit above six feet, and for any fence in a sight triangle or an easement.	Six feet covers most back and side yards with no permit. A corner lot and a floodplain lot both carry extra rules.
Georgetown	Georgetown requires a fence permit inside the city limits. Farm fencing, and a garden or pet fence inside an existing perimeter, are the exceptions.	Four feet in a front yard, and it has to stand half open. Six feet along a side or rear line, dropping to four beside a local street and five beside an alley.
Cedar Park	The city writes its own rule, and a salesperson reads it back to you on the call.	A salesperson confirms it before your estimate.
Pflugerville	The city writes its own rule, and a salesperson reads it back to you on the call.	A salesperson confirms it before your estimate.
Hutto	The city writes its own rule, and a salesperson reads it back to you on the call.	A salesperson confirms it before your estimate.
West Lake Hills	West Lake Hills requires a fence permit. The city administrator signs off on an ordinary fence, and anything unusual goes to the commission and the council.	Six feet is the cap on each property line, measured from the natural ground rather than from a graded pad.
Rollingwood	Rollingwood requires a building permit to put a fence in, change one, or move one. A fence over six feet runs $450, which covers the permit and three inspections.	Eight feet is the standard from natural grade. A front-yard fence stops at three feet, stands 80 percent open, and sits at least 15 feet back from the curb.
Lakeway	Lakeway requires a permit for a new fence, and for a repair that moves the fence or changes its material.	Six feet goes through administratively. Eight feet takes the code official's sign-off.
Bee Cave	Bee Cave requires a permit for a fence over seven feet.	Seven feet covers an ordinary back yard with no permit.
Dripping Springs	Dripping Springs issues fence permits through its building department.	Three feet in a street yard, and six feet everywhere else. Every fence shows its finished face to the street.
Buda	Buda charges $75 for a permit on a new or a replacement residential fence.	Seven feet is the ceiling and nothing taller goes up. A front-yard fence stops at 42 inches and stands at least half open.
Lake Jackson	The city writes its own rule, and a salesperson reads it back to you on the call.	A salesperson confirms it before your estimate.
the City of San Antonio	San Antonio permits a fence on height. A residential front yard takes a solid fence to three feet and an open one to four, and eight feet is the ceiling for a residential fence anywhere on the lot, with no exception above it.	Six feet is the back-yard standard, eight the absolute cap, and a corner lot carries a clear-vision rule near the intersection.
New Braunfels	New Braunfels requires a building permit for a new fence, for a replacement, and for most alterations.	Three feet in a front yard, or four where the fence stands at least half open. Eight feet along a side or rear line.
Converse	Converse issues a fence permit through its building department.	Eight feet is the cap along a side or rear line.
Leon Valley	The city writes its own rule, and a salesperson reads it back to you on the call.	A salesperson confirms it before your estimate.
Helotes	The city writes its own rule, and a salesperson reads it back to you on the call.	A salesperson confirms it before your estimate.
Floresville	The city writes its own rule, and a salesperson reads it back to you on the call.	A salesperson confirms it before your estimate.
Lytle	The city writes its own rule, and a salesperson reads it back to you on the call.	A salesperson confirms it before your estimate.
Jourdanton	The city writes its own rule, and a salesperson reads it back to you on the call.	A salesperson confirms it before your estimate.

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Questions

Questions about fence permits

Does a wood privacy fence need a permit in Houston?: Houston asks for a building permit only above eight feet, or for a masonry or concrete fence at any height. An ordinary wood or metal fence at six feet goes in without one. The catch is the address: a lot in Piney Point Village, Hunters Creek Village or Bunker Hill Village carries a Houston postal address and a different fence rule.
Who pulls the permit, the homeowner or the fence company?: Johnson determines whether a project needs a permit and files it. A residential fence rarely needs one, and the crew handles it where it does.
What happens if a fence goes up without a permit?: A city can order the fence taken down and rebuilt to code, which costs the whole job twice. Piney Point Village can revoke a fence permit and give the owner ten days to pull the fence out, so the paperwork is cheaper than the alternative.
Does an HOA approval replace a city permit?: No. They answer to different people and a fence often needs both. Texas Property Code Section 202.023, as amended in 2025, also limits what an association may prohibit, so an HOA denial is worth reading closely.
How tall can a back yard fence stand in Texas?: Six feet is the common standard and eight feet the usual ceiling, though the number belongs to the city rather than the state. Austin stops a solid fence at six feet from natural grade, San Antonio caps a residential fence at eight, and West Lake Hills holds every property line to six.

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