Best Fence Company In Fayetteville AR

Usually not. If your fence is 7 feet tall or shorter, you don't need a building permit.

Taller than 7 feet? Then you'll need to apply through the city's Building Safety Division.

A standard 6-foot privacy fence sails through with no permit at all.

Source: City of Fayetteville Planning Division

Wrong — and this trips up more people than anything else on this page.

Skipping the permit doesn't skip the rules. Your fence still has to follow:

• Sight-line rules, so you don't block drivers' view (§164.09, §164.17)
• Easement rules, especially anything to do with drainage (§166.12)
• Banned materials in certain spots (§164.09)
• Downtown overlay rules, if you're downtown (§166.21)
• Historic district review, in two small areas (§33.232)
• Your HOA, which the city doesn't enforce but your neighbors will

Build something that breaks these and the city can still make you move it. No permit needed doesn't mean no one's looking.

The city's Zoning and Development Administrator makes that call (§164.09). In practice you're talking to the Planning Division.

There's no formula for it — it's a judgment call written right into the code. That's exactly why corner lots and fences near driveways are worth a quick phone call before you dig.

• Planning Division — can I put a fence here? How tall? What about my corner lot?
• Building Safety — the actual permit, if your fence tops 7 feet

Both sit in the same building at 125 W. Mountain Street.

You'll apply with Building Safety. Heads up: tall fences can pull in extra structural requirements from the state fire code, which Fayetteville follows (§173.02).

Ask them about that before you settle on a design. It can change your post size and spacing.

The city won't issue a permit until the fee is paid (§173.01). Fees change by ordinance, so we don't post a number here that would go stale — Building Safety will quote you.

And yes, permits expire. If your project stalls for months, check yours before you assume it's still good.

A regular gate is just part of the fence. Same height rules, same everything.

An automatic gate is different, because now you've got electrical work involved. Talk to Building Safety before you buy the opener.

The city can make you fix it, on your dime.

Fences are cheap to build and expensive to move. The corner-lot question and the easement question are the two worth settling before the post holes go in.

We handle permits as part of every quote, so this is our problem to get right, not yours.

Generally yes. Fences are allowed in setbacks and along property lines, as long as they don't block sight lines for drivers or people walking (§164.09).

The code spells this out: fences, walls, posts and other normal yard items are welcome in any yard, subject to height and visibility limits (§151.01).

So a fence isn't treated like a shed. It gets to sit at the line.

No — that's a different rule, and it's the single most common mix-up we hear.

The 3-foot side and 5-foot rear setback applies to accessory structures: sheds, detached garages, pool houses (§164.02).

A shed has a setback. A fence doesn't.

Depends entirely on what it's made of.

Easy to move — the code names field fence, barbed wire, chain link, and wood privacy fence. These can go in a non-drainage easement (§166.12). But:

• You have to take it down if the utility needs in
• They can remove it themselves if you don't
• They'll put it back only roughly as it was
• Nobody's liable for damage but you

Hard to move — walls, and brick or stone fences. These need written sign-off from every utility, plus city approval, plus paperwork filed with the county (§166.12).

Plain version: a wood or chain link fence in an easement is a risk you're allowed to take. A masonry fence is a whole process.

Hard no. You can't put a fence in a drainage easement if it could slow the water down (§166.12).

This is one of the few flat bans in the whole fence code, and it's the one most likely to cause you real grief. A solid fence across a drainage path sends water into your neighbor's yard — and that becomes your problem fast.

Yes. Nothing within 3 feet of a hydrant, and nothing that blocks a firefighter's view of it or access to it (§166.12).

That includes leaving room for the hose once it's charged and stiff.

This is the rule that catches the most homeowners.

• Homes: draw a triangle using the two streets and a line connecting points 25 feet from the corner. Inside it, nothing over 2½ feet can block the view (§164.17)
• Businesses: same idea, but 10 feet instead of 25 — and it doesn't apply in the DC, MSC, or DG zones

So on a residential corner, that triangle is effectively capped at 30 inches of solid fence. Plan the layout before you order material.

You still get a 5-foot maintenance strip along the structure — and fences and normal yard items are allowed in it (§164.11, §161.10).

No. The city enforces code; it doesn't survey your yard. Line disputes are between you and your neighbor.

If there's any doubt, get a survey first. A survey costs a lot less than moving a finished fence.

Three things — where it can go, how solid it can be, and how tall (§166.21):

• Where: side yards, back yards, and along any street or alley
• Solid or not: front yard fences can't be solid — you need visible gaps between boards. Back and side fences 10+ feet behind the front of the house can be fully solid
• Height: 42 inches max in front. Behind the house, 36 inches minimum and 8 feet max

The code actually lists them out:

• Wood — vertical pickets, horizontal slats with corner posts, or split rail. Privacy fences only in the back and side yards
• Metal — mostly vertical pickets, at least ⅝ inch thick, with no more than 4 inches of gap between them
• Brick and stone

That picket thickness and spacing spec rules out a lot of off-the-shelf panels. Worth checking with your supplier before ordering.

• Wood
• Wrought iron, steel, cast iron
• Brick and stone
• Concrete block, with or without stucco
• Poured concrete, with or without stucco

The two concrete options come with a condition: the fence has to match the main building (§166.21).

No. That single-family exemption only works outside the downtown overlay.

Inside it, chain link can't go in front of the building, and it's not on the approved materials list at all.

Yes, and this catches people. The downtown standards apply to all new construction, additions, and renovations whether or not you need a permit (§166.21).

Plain repairs and maintenance are exempt.

Only in two places. Fayetteville has exactly two local historic districts (§33.231):

• Oak Grove Historic District — 40 parcels
• The White Hangar at Drake Field — the hangar at 4290 S. School Avenue

Inside those two, fences and masonry walls are named right in the code. You need a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic District Commission before you build (§33.232).

And here's the kicker: you need it whether or not a permit is required. That 6-foot fence that needs no permit anywhere else still needs approval here.

Almost certainly not — and this is the mix-up we hear most often.

A National Register listing and a local historic district are two different things. The National Register is a federal honor. It matters for tax credits and federally funded projects. It does not create local design review, and it does not require a Certificate of Appropriateness for your fence.

Only Oak Grove and the White Hangar trigger commission review. Everywhere else on the Register follows the same fence rules as the rest of town.

Not sure which you're in? Planning can tell you in one phone call, and we're happy to make it.

Design guidelines based on the Secretary of the Interior's Standards, adapted for Fayetteville (§33.229).

They only review the outside. What you do indoors is your business.

Three things (§33.233):

• Ordinary maintenance and repair
• Safety work the city certifies as necessary
• Work that doesn't face a public street

That last one matters for fences — a back yard fence nobody can see from the street may fall outside review entirely. Confirm with Planning before you count on it.

Notice of the hearing goes out within 30 days of your application, to you and your neighbors (§33.234). Build that into your timeline — it isn't a same-week thing.

One more thing: once your certificate is issued, you can't change the plan without going back to the commission.

Once you have two or more units, a separate set of design standards applies — in every zoning district (§166.23):

• No barbed or razor wire, unless it's farm use
• No chain link closer to the street than the building front
• Front yard fences capped at 42 inches

There's no single-family exemption here, so the chain link rule does apply.

Two different things, easy to confuse:

• A required fence encloses something. At least 6 feet, solid materials, good workmanship, built to handle wind and look decent (§166.25)
• A required screen hides something. Fence, berm, plants, or a mix — tall enough to block the view from the street and from homes

In every zone, at the owner's expense (§166.25):

• Outdoor storage yards, including auto salvage — fully surrounded
• Trash and recycling containers — enclosed with materials that match the building, with the opening hidden from the street

Yes, but there's a clock on it. Plants used for screening have to grow in thick enough to block the view within two years.

If they don't, you have to put up a fence (§166.25). That's a real risk — underperforming plants turn into a mandatory fence bill.

• Towers — wood board fence at least 6 feet, plus an anti-climb device (§163.13)
• Impound yards — wood board privacy fence at least 6 feet, on every side (§164.18)

Fencing between a cluster housing unit and a street, trail, or shared open space maxes out at 48 inches (§164.22).

On development projects, you also have to fence off protected trees during construction (§167.04, §177.03).