White picket fence beside a blue house and green trees

Residential Fences

How to get a permit to build a fence on your residential property.


Jump To:

 
Before Submitting an Application Prepare Application Materials Submittal Instructions Project Review and Permitting Paying Fees

If you are planning to add or move a fence, or replace 50% or more of an existing fence at your residential property, you must first obtain permits from the City before beginning construction.

  • A zoning permit is required when a fence is installed on any property.

All projects are reviewed for compliance with the Raleigh development code and North Carolina state building code.

Before Submitting an Application

Detailed code review will not begin until application submittals have been deemed complete by customer service staff. It is important that all required information is submitted for a project, and it is the applicant’s responsibility to be informed of the prerequisites below: 

  1. You must be registered in the permit portal before you can manage your project, pay fees, or schedule inspections. Learn more about how to register on our portal help page.
  2. If applicable, contractor information (General contractor and sub-contractors) must be entered into the portal when submitting the project.
  3. Is your home located in a Historic District or designated as a Raleigh Historic Landmark? If so, you are required to submit a Certificate of Appropriateness to the Raleigh Historic Development Commission (RHDC). Approval from the RHDC may be required prior to submitting your permit application.
  4. If your property contains a private well or septic services, approval from Wake County Environmental Services is required prior to applying with the City of Raleigh.
  5. The property should have a legally recorded map at the Durham or Wake County Register of Deeds.

Prepare Application Materials

The below application forms and supporting documents are required for this project type:

  1. Complete the Residential Permit Application.
  2. Complete the Residential Site Plan Checklist.
  3. Provide a diagram of the fence (picture of the proposed fence) - See a diagram example.
  4. Provide a survey indicating the proposed work on the property. - See a plot plan survey and materials example. This can be done in one of two ways:
    1. You may submit an original survey (signed and sealed by a land surveyor) that shows the proposed work. Please know we cannot accept a certified survey that has been revised by anyone outside of the surveyor, OR;
    2. If the certified copy of the survey does not show the proposed fence, submit it and an additional copy of the survey with the proposed work drawn in. This may be referred to as a supplemental copy as it does not show the surveyor's credentials (seal, signature, name, or any reference to the surveyor).

Submittal Instructions

At this step, your application materials should be ready to assemble. Please take note of the instructions below, applications that do not meet these criteria will not be accepted:

  1. Only PDF file types will be accepted unless other file types (such as image, Excel, or CAD) are specifically called for as part of the application submittal process.
  2. .ZIP files are not allowed.
  3. Only one file should be associated with each discrete document included with the application package. For example, if an application requires 1) an application form, 2) a set of plans, and 3) a calculation report, the applicant should transmit these as three separate files.
  4. City of Raleigh limits email attachments to 30 MB. To send larger files, you may send a file-sharing link (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.) to a folder with all required documents. Staff must be given direct access to your files and cannot accept links that require access codes, passwords, or logins.

Submit all files (or file-sharing link) via email to DowntownDS@raleighnc.gov.

Tips for Submitting Fence PDF Files:

  1. Submit one PDF file containing a residential permit application.
  2. Submit one PDF file containing a residential site plan checklist.
  3. Submit one PDF file with all other supporting documents (survey and diagram).

All application forms and supporting documents listed above must be attached as PDFs. Please send a PDF of the entire application packet (with all documents) to DowntownDS@raleighnc.gov.

Project Review and Permitting

Applicants will be notified by email when a project is processed. Standard review times are available to view online. Plan review comments can be viewed any time via a registered account in the Permit and Development Portal.   

Plans that are ready for permit issuance but have incomplete contractor information will be kept at the Planning and Development Customer Service Center for up to six months. After six months, the plans will be considered invalid, and the application will be voided. An administrative fee may be incurred when projects are voided. 

Inspections can be scheduled via the permit portal.

Paying Fees

A Plan Review Fee is due prior to project review. All other permit fees are due when permits are ready for issuance.

The Development Fee Guide provides a detailed list of specific development fees.

  • It is recommended that fees be paid via the Permit Portal.
  • All major credit cards and eCheck payments are accepted.
  • If you have questions, please contact the Customer Service Center.

A  fee calculator may be used to obtain an estimate of some building and trade permit fees.

 

Contact

 

Planning and Development
Customer Service Center
DowntownDS@raleighnc.gov
919-996-2500

Subscribe

 
Lead Department:
Planning and Development
Service Categories:
Permits - ResidentialZoning