FENCE RULES – ROWLETT (CITY), TEXAS

OVERVIEW

This page covers residential fences within the City of Rowlett, Texas, in Dallas and Rockwall counties. Lake Ray Hubbard Take-Area improvements have an additional lease and approval process. A Rowlett mailing address alone does not establish that a property is inside the city. Updated November 2026.

Rowlett requires a permit for a new fence and regulates fence repairs, location, height and materials. The general limits are 36 inches in a required front yard and eight feet in a required side or rear yard, but properties governed by the Form-Based Code have different rules. Wood pickets, PVC and chain-link appear in the general materials list; their use changes in special settings, especially the Take Area. Corner visibility, easements and drainage can limit an otherwise acceptable fence. Pool projects must satisfy applicable protection requirements, and replacing an existing fence can raise additional questions about its location and legal status.

Quick question	Rowlett answer
Permit or approval	A permit is required for a new fence. The ordinance exempts alterations, additions, changes or repairs that do not exceed 25% of the fence area; confirm how the City applies that exemption to the proposed repair.
Typical fence height	Generally 36 inches in required front yards and eight feet in required side or rear yards, unless zoning provides otherwise. Form-Based Code residential types commonly have a six-foot maximum and separate front-picket rules.
Placement & property lines	The general fence ordinance does not establish one citywide numeric property-line setback. Easements, rights-of-way, corner visibility, Form-Based Code alley setbacks and required screening walls can control placement.
Common fence materials	Wood: wood pickets are listed in the general ordinance. Vinyl/PVC: PVC plastic fencing is listed. Chain-link: listed. Form-Based Code standards and Take-Area restrictions can change these answers.
Important local conditions	Fence rules may be further affected by corner or double-frontage lots, Form-Based Code building types, planned developments, pools, floodplain and drainage conditions, easements, required screening and Lake Ray Hubbard Take-Area leases.
Official local resource	Rowlett residential permits and fence requirements

The table above is for quick reference; the corresponding sections below explain the additional rules. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, read the sections that apply to the property, review the linked official sources, and confirm site-specific questions with Building Inspections or the responsible office identified below.

GOVERNANCE

• City rules: The City Council adopts Rowlett’s ordinances. The Rowlett Code of Ordinances includes the general fence provisions in Chapter 78, fence-maintenance rules in Chapter 22, easement rules in Chapter 54 and development regulations in Chapter 77.

• Property-specific development rules: Planning and Urban Design administers the Rowlett Development Code and the Rowlett Form-Based Code. Which code applies depends on the property’s zoning and location. Within Form-Based Code districts, its standards control conflicting development-code provisions. Planned-development ordinances, approved plans and plat conditions may add property-specific requirements.

• Permits and site review: Building Inspections handles fence permit applications and inspections. Development Engineering and the City Engineer address easements, drainage, grading and floodplain questions. The Fire Marshal reviews required emergency access and controlled-access arrangements. Code Enforcement addresses fence condition and other ordinance violations.

• Adopted construction codes: Rowlett has adopted the 2021 International Residential Code and 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code with local amendments. Pool classification matters: an apartment, association or other shared pool can have additional requirements beyond those for an individual home’s pool.

• Lake property: The land between the Lake Ray Hubbard Take Line and the lake is owned by Dallas and leased to Rowlett for subleasing to adjoining owners. Community Development administers Rowlett’s Take-Area process, with approvals required from both cities for improvements.

PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS

• New fences and changes: Section 78-313 requires a permit before installing a fence or making alterations, additions or changes. Its express exception covers alterations, additions, changes or repairs that do not exceed 25% of the area of the fence. Confirm the repair-specific application and how fence area is measured with Building Inspections before relying on that exception.

• Application and inspection: Submit the permit through the City’s online permitting system. The fence application identifies the proposed height, materials, length and location; show property boundaries, streets, alleys, easements and relevant improvements on the site drawing. The City’s application includes a homeowner easement waiver requiring a notarized signature. Contractors must complete the City’s registration requirements before work. The fee schedule lists $40 for a residential fence permit; confirm the current fee and required inspections with Building Inspections.

• Additional approvals: A fence permit does not replace a required zoning approval, Form-Based Code warrant, floodplain permit or approval for work affecting drainage, grading or protected trees. For fences and retaining walls associated with new development, obtain the separate building approvals; approval of civil site work alone does not authorize their construction. Retaining walls also require review of structural design, loading and drainage conditions.

• Form-Based Code warrants: A qualifying plastic/PVC front picket fence requires a Minor Warrant under the applicable building-type standards. Minor Warrants follow the City’s administrative review process; Major Warrants require City Council action following Planning and Zoning Commission review. Obtain the appropriate approval before relying on a departure from the applicable standards.

• Existing double-frontage fences: Before removing or replacing an existing nonconforming rear fence on a double-frontage lot, confirm the current replacement exception with Planning and Urban Design.

• Take-Area improvements: The Lake Ray Hubbard Take-Area requirements and applications require a sublease before permits can be issued, applicable building and tree-removal permits, and approval from Rowlett and Dallas. Initial and renewal applications use the online permitting portal. A purchaser of the adjoining home must execute a new sublease to obtain Take-Area rights.

• Pool construction: Pool, spa and hot-tub projects must satisfy the applicable protection requirements, and plans must show compliance. Temporary fencing is required from the start of excavation. Any required permanent enclosure must be installed, inspected and approved before the pool is filled, and final approval depends on compliance with the applicable protection requirements.

FENCE PLACEMENT RULES

• Boundary and yard location: Establish the legal boundary from the survey and recorded plat before setting posts. Section 78-313 does not impose one citywide numeric fence setback from every property line. The Development Code allows fences and walls within required setbacks subject to their height and visibility restrictions. A sidewalk, curb, alley pavement edge or existing fence may not mark the property line.

• Lots facing more than one street: A corner lot has primary and secondary front-yard conditions; a key lot is subject to the 36-inch fence limit in both required front yards unless zoning provides otherwise. Double-frontage lots generally have front setbacks on each frontage unless the prevailing adjoining pattern and an authorized administrative adjustment apply. Confirm which yards are legally front yards before treating a street-facing fence as a rear-yard fence.

• Public ways and parkways: Keep fences and posts out of streets, alleys, sidewalks and parkways unless authorized by ordinance. In the parkway area between sidewalks of city streets, nothing may be erected or placed so as to materially impede vision between 2½ and nine feet in height. The separate corner sight-area rules below also apply.

• Utility and drainage easements: Section 54-189 allows removable section-type fencing in dedicated public utility or drainage easements. The fence must not hinder the easement holder’s use, construction or maintenance. The owner must maintain the area, and the City or franchised utility need not replace fencing removed for work in the easement. The City’s easement waiver places removal and replacement responsibility on the owner; drainage fencing must not restrict water flow.

• Drainage and floodplain: Fences and screening must not block surface-water flow or cause erosion under, around or near them. Work in a floodplain or floodplain management area requires the applicable City review and permits before construction. Ask Development Engineering to review a fence crossing a swale, channel, drainage corridor or mapped flood area. Texas law also prohibits diverting or impounding the natural flow of surface water in a manner that damages another’s property.

• Adopted regulatory floodway: For a fence project involving encroachment in the adopted regulatory floodway, Section 82-51 prohibits the encroachment unless hydrologic and hydraulic analyses using standard engineering practice demonstrate that it will not increase flood levels within the city during the base flood discharge. New construction and substantial improvements must also meet all applicable flood-hazard reduction provisions. As an alternative, the City may permit an encroachment that increases base flood elevations only after first completing the requirements of 44 CFR Section 65.12.

• Form-Based Code fences between houses: For Rural Estate and the Manor, Estate, Village, Cottage, Casita, Multi-Unit House and Townhome I building types, a metal-picket or masonry fence between houses may extend no closer to the street than ten feet behind the home’s front outside corner; wood requires 20 feet. This also covers fences parallel to the front property line. Wood between houses must be perpendicular to the front property line and not visible from a street or Open Space.

• Form-Based Code front and side streets: For those same building types, a qualifying front picket fence may approach to within 24 inches of a public sidewalk. The strip between fence and sidewalk must contain ground cover, grasses or shrubs rather than grass requiring mowing and trimming. A side-street fence must ordinarily be metal picket, begin no closer to the street than the home’s rear corner and not overlap the house face. A fence meeting the front-picket standards may instead come within 24 inches of the sidewalk.

• Form-Based Code rear alleys: For Manor, Estate, Village, Cottage, Casita, Multi-Unit House and Townhome I, fences must be at least three feet from the rear property line, with that area landscaped in grasses other than turf, ground cover or low perennial shrubs. Rear-alley fences may be solid wood or masonry unless they face a trail or Open Space. The area between fence and alley must be irrigated and planted with grasses, ground cover or shrubbery, and trees.

• Required screening walls: Where the Development Code requires a masonry screening wall, a wall or column along a residential alley must ordinarily be at least one foot from the property line, subject to constraints from topography, curvature and infrastructure. An adjoining residential lot must provide at least a five-foot wall-maintenance easement dedicated to or owned and maintained by the homeowners’ association. A screening wall cannot encroach on another easement without the City Engineer’s approval.

• Controlled driveway and subdivision access: Under the Development Code’s controlled-access driveway standards, an exit gate must provide at least 25 feet of stacking space per exit lane between the gate and the roadway right-of-way. Entry-gate stacking is determined through a queuing analysis. Development fronting Lakeview Parkway/SH 66 or the President George Bush Turnpike frontage roads must also meet applicable Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) access requirements, with the more stringent requirement controlling a conflict. Private-street subdivision gates require Fire Marshal approval and continued emergency, utility and government-service access. Approved project-entry fences and access controllers may occupy specified utility, drainage or storm-sewer easements only without impeding their purposes. Form-Based Code neighborhood street plans prohibit gated streets.

• Take-Area location: The defined subdivision-access fence follows one subdivision boundary, must be on its centerline and cannot enclose an area. The defined leased-property access fence is limited to individual leased single-family parcels with side-yard length greater than 50 feet without extending into or below 438 feet mean sea level. Its side-yard runs may extend no more than 50 feet lakeward from the Take Line and must be at least 100 feet apart. These defined fences have no Take-Line or side-yard setback, but cannot be below 438 feet mean sea level or at, upon or over the lake. Easements and access paths must remain clear unless appropriate gates provide 12-foot-wide openings. A subdivision boundary fence may serve as the adjoining leased parcel’s side barrier.

• Attached or shared fences: Agriculture Code Section 143.121 prohibits removing a jointly owned dividing fence or a fence attached to a fence owned or controlled by another person except by mutual consent or the statutory process. Under Section 143.122, a person owning an interest in an attached fence may withdraw that fence after six months’ written notice of the separation. Under Section 143.123, the owner of a fence wholly on that owner’s land may require the other owner to disconnect and withdraw the attached fence after six months’ written notice. Each notice must go to the other fence’s owner or that owner’s agent, attorney or lessee.

• Utility locating before digging: Request a locate through Texas811 before digging postholes. Subject to statutory exceptions, Utilities Code Chapter 251 covers powered or mechanized excavation, including augering, disturbing soil 16 or more inches deep. Ordinary notice must be given no earlier than the 14th day before excavation and no later than 48 hours before it begins, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. A qualifying Saturday notice filed before 11:59 a.m. permits a Tuesday 11:59 a.m. start, or Wednesday 11:59 a.m. if the intervening Monday is a holiday. Class A coverage includes electricity, gas, petroleum, steam and communications; water, slurry and sewage are Class B and may not receive the notice. Private irrigation, pool and outbuilding lines may need separate locating. Check responses and markings, preserve marks and dig carefully.

• Separate pipeline rules: Railroad Commission of Texas rules cover earth movement near regulated pipelines, including manual posthole digging deeper than 16 inches, subject to their own exemptions. Keep a valid locate ticket available within one hour of a request. Check the location, markings and site evidence. Missing, unclear or obviously erroneous responses, or an all-clear inconsistent with known or visible pipelines, require a second notice before digging. Section 18.4 permits starting if no positive response arrives within four hours after that second notice; reasonable damage-prevention duties remain.

• Pipeline ticket refresh and records: The default ticket life is 14 working days from the original notice. Refresh an unfinished project’s ticket for the area still to be excavated; a longer life requires a written agreement signed and dated by both excavator and operator. Both must retain the agreement, locate tickets and positive-response records for at least four years. Preserve markings throughout the work. Construction across a pipeline easement can also require separate operator notice and protective arrangements beyond the locate ticket.

FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES

• General yard limits: Unless the zoning ordinance provides otherwise, fences in required front yards may not exceed 36 inches. Both required front yards of a key lot have that limit. Required side- and rear-yard fences may not exceed eight feet. Determine the applicable yard and development code before selecting a height.

• Street-and-alley corners: Section 78-313 requires an eight-foot visibility triangle on corner lots where a street and alley intersect, measured eight feet from the corner in both directions.

• Development Code street corners: On a corner lot requiring front and side yards, Section 77-402 protects a triangle measured 25 feet along the front and exterior side lot lines from their intersection. A fence, wall, structure, sign or plant growth may not obstruct sight lines within that triangle at elevations between 2½ and six feet above any portion of the adjacent roadway crown.

• Form-Based Code neighborhood corners: In New Neighborhood areas, the street-to-street triangle is measured 25 feet along extended curb lines; in Urban Neighborhood areas it is 30 feet. Both use a ten-foot street-to-alley triangle. Keep these sight areas clear between 2½ and eight feet above the sidewalk, except for the specified traffic signs, tree trunks and light poles. These measurements are distinct from the Development Code lot-line triangle and the general street-and-alley rule.

• Form-Based Code house and Townhome I types: Rural Estate and Manor, Estate, Village, Cottage, Casita, Multi-Unit House and Townhome I fences have a six-foot maximum. Their front-yard picket fences must be at least 50% open and no more than 42 inches high, with corner posts and posts no more than 48 inches high.

• Other residential Form-Based Code types: For Townhome II, Mixed Residential and residential uses in the other building types governed by Section 2.8.5, fences next to the public realm generally have a four-foot maximum and may not extend closer to the street than the near building corner, with the stated exception for accessible residential units at grade. Perimeter fences have a six-foot maximum. For buildings with four or more residential units, a ground-floor unit may be at grade when a largely transparent fence no more than 48 inches high encloses the small yard and front-door entry.

• Manufactured-home parks: Section 86-84 requires a screening fence at least six feet high along park property lines not exposed to a dedicated public street or highway, as shown on the development plan. The requirement may be waived where natural or man-made features provide adequate separation.

• Pool enclosures: Pool, spa and hot-tub projects must satisfy the applicable protection requirements under the adopted pool code and local amendments. Where a fence enclosure is required, Section 78-311 calls for a complete protective enclosure designed to prevent small children from entering, at least 48 inches high, with no opening, hole or gap larger than four inches; for a fence composed primarily of vertical pickets, the opening is measured horizontally between members. Horizontal members must not enable climbing. Pedestrian access gates must close and latch automatically.

• Take-Area fences: Posts for the defined subdivision-access and leased-property access fences must be four to six feet high. The two end columns of a subdivision-access fence must be six feet six inches to eight feet high. Subdivision-access fences have the stated exception from a neighbor’s view-clear corridor; all other applicable Take-Area and current City requirements remain in effect.

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS

• General materials: Section 78-313 lists chain-link, brick, stone, stucco, wrought iron, wood pickets and PVC plastic fencing. Razor wire is prohibited. Materials manufactured for other uses, including plywood, corrugated steel and fiberglass panels, are prohibited as fencing materials under Section 22-124.

• Livestock fencing: The local ordinance limits barbed-wire and electric fences to fencing large livestock, and electric chargers must have approval from a nationally recognized testing laboratory. The City’s large-livestock definition includes horses, mules, donkeys, cattle, goats, sheep and swine regardless of age or sex, while excluding potbellied pigs, miniature horses, miniature donkeys and pygmy or dwarf goats. Qualifying agricultural operations are also subject to the separate Texas limits on municipal regulation.

• Condition and repairs: All fence components must remain reasonably plumb, structurally sound and free of deterioration. Missing, broken, loose or damaged components violate the maintenance rule. A fence likely to fall must be repaired, replaced or removed, and external bracing cannot substitute for repairing structural members. Members must be compatible in size, material and appearance; repairs must use materials comparable in composition, size, shape and quality to the original fence.

• Lean and composite construction: A noncomposite fence violates the plumb requirement when posts or frames lean more than ten degrees, measured with a plumb bob, carpenter’s level or City-approved device. The ordinance defines a composite fence as two materials with a structural masonry or concrete base more than one foot above adjoining ground, comprising no more than 40% of total fence height, topped by an approved material. Its columns or frames may not lean more than 15 degrees.

• Removal: The maintenance ordinance allows complete removal unless the fence encloses a pool or spa or is otherwise required. Maintain any required enclosure or screening, and address the separate ownership and attachment rules before removal.

• Dangerous-dog enclosures: For a registered dangerous dog kept outdoors, the required secure kennel or pen must be at least six feet high and five by ten feet in size. It must have a roof fastened to all vertical walls, with the walls submerged in impervious material, and remain securely locked. Its construction must prevent children from entering and the animal from climbing, digging, jumping or otherwise escaping, provide protection from the elements and allow daily waste removal as approved by the Animal Services Manager.

• Form-Based Code house and Townhome I construction: For Rural Estate and Manor, Estate, Village, Cottage, Casita, Multi-Unit House and Townhome I, use durable, low-maintenance materials with structural integrity. Wood over four feet requires metal posts set in concrete. Permitted wood is cedar or redwood, painted or stained on both sides and fitted with a cap rail. Metal pickets must be at least ¾ inch in material size. Publicly visible perimeter fences must face their finished side outward.

• Form-Based Code front pickets: For those same building types, front pickets must be painted or stained cedar or redwood, or metal picket. Flat-topped, noncrimped or capped plastic/PVC or similar material with integrated color requires a Minor Warrant. The opening, height, location and planting conditions in the placement and height sections also apply.

• Other residential Form-Based Code construction: For residential uses under Section 2.8.5, metal pickets must use material at least ¾ inch thick, and publicly visible fencing must face its finished side outward. Public-realm fences may not have barbs or sharp finials. Perimeter fencing must be masonry, metal picket, glass or another approved material; wood and chain-link are prohibited unless fully covered by landscaping. Under the residential-at-grade standards, balcony railings, patio railings and fences must be largely transparent and made of glass or metal picket; masonry columns may be accents on patios and fences. Wood fences, wood railings and chain-link are prohibited in that setting.

• Form-Based Code residential parking areas: Where Section 2.8.6 governs an approved surface parking lot beside streets and plazas, screening includes street trees averaging 25 feet on center and a 40-inch masonry wall or metal-picket fence with low shrubs. Ornamental metal may combine with masonry columns or a masonry base. Evergreen planting may replace the fence, with planting beds at least five feet wide. Provide pedestrian access between lot and sidewalk at least every 60 feet.

• Required masonry screening: Where Section 77-504 requires a masonry screening wall, it must be reinforced, six to eight feet high, and match the primary structure’s materials, color, texture and architectural details. Show details and materials on the facade plan. Reinforced concrete footings must be designed and signed by a Texas-licensed structural engineer; plans and specifications accompany civil plans for City Engineer approval. The footing or pier design must limit movement to one inch over eight feet. Drain water under, through and away from the wall without ponding. City design specifications apply, and slip-form or similar walls are prohibited.

• Required screening landscaping: For publicly visible masonry screening walls, landscape at least 25% of the adjacent exterior wall’s length, in areas at least three by five feet, using evenly distributed native shrubs or plant material. An applicable right-of-way buffer may satisfy this requirement. Where a required screening wall abuts an alley, place the required landscaping on the nonresidential-use side rather than between the wall and alley.

• Authorized living screens: Where a living screen is authorized under Section 77-504, the berm must have at least a four-to-one side slope and a crown at least 1½ feet wide, undulating from one foot to no more than five feet high. Use approved evergreen shrubs at least eight feet high at planting in a bed at least five feet wide, or wider when required. Plant staggered rows unless Planning approves an alternative producing a solid screen within one year. The screen also requires a wrought-iron fence six to eight feet high. Other shrub requirements are waived only for the buffer containing those large evergreen shrubs.

• Take-Area hedgerows: Hedgerows and shrub rows are prohibited under the Lake Ray Hubbard Take-Area landscaping rules.

• Pedestrian routes and equipment: Where Development Code site-circulation standards apply, fencing along on-site pedestrian walkways must be open, such as wrought iron. Form-Based Code residential building types require screening of mechanical equipment from the specified streets, alleys or Open Space; equipment may not be placed in front yards or street-facing side yards where those standards prohibit it.

• Take-Area construction: The defined Take-Area access fences may not be wood, plastic or chain-link. Use metal posts no wider than two inches, spaced less than four inches apart, with colors blending into the surrounding landscape. A subdivision-access fence requires two masonry-and-cement end columns similar to City median monuments. The Take-Area use table separately prohibits security/safety fences; the defined access-fence provisions apply to the permitted single-family private-parcel setting.

• Roadside bodies of water: Section 78-312 separately regulates a pond, lake, creek or ground depression containing water below adjoining natural ground. For a body of water in hazardous proximity to an adjoining road, the responsible owner or developer must provide the required barrier or device. Hazardous proximity begins within 200 feet of the roadway edge; new bodies of water cannot have a perimeter less than 25 feet from the outer public right-of-way line and require a safety plan when in hazardous proximity. The City determines the impact-resistant barrier’s substantial construction and height. City Council may grant a waiver on application through the City Manager, or the City may approve sloped banks instead, no steeper than 30 degrees from horizontal.

PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS

• Recorded restrictions and agreements: Review deed restrictions, homeowners’ association rules, architectural approvals, easements and recorded maintenance agreements before choosing a fence. A City permit does not resolve fence ownership, authorize work on a neighbor’s land or replace an applicable private approval. Check responsibility for shared fences, required screening and wall-maintenance easements.

• Texas security-fence protections: Property Code Section 202.023 limits an association’s ability to prohibit perimeter security fencing. It does not apply to condominiums or the specified master mixed-use associations. An association may regulate fence type and prohibit fencing that obstructs a written-license area, public or community sidewalk, drainage easement or drainage area. It may require a driveway gate to be at least ten feet from the right-of-way where the driveway intersects a laned roadway. A restrictive covenant may prohibit new fencing in front of the dwelling’s front-most building line, subject to the statutory exceptions.

• Existing fences and enhanced security: Under the same statute, an owner may maintain perimeter fencing or fencing in front of the front-most building line installed or constructed before September 1, 2025. An association cannot use the front-building-line prohibition against an owner whose residential address is legally exempt from disclosure or who supplies law-enforcement documentation of a need for enhanced security. These private-restriction protections do not replace applicable City approvals or safety requirements.

• Protected pool-enclosure designs: Property Code Section 202.022 protects a conforming enclosure that surrounds a water feature, consists of transparent mesh or clear panels in metal frames, is no more than six feet high and is designed not to be climbable. An association may regulate appearance, including color, but cannot prohibit a black transparent-mesh enclosure in metal frames that meets the statute and applicable state or local safety requirements.

REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT

Fence issues are typically reviewed during permit or approval review when required, and through complaint-based code enforcement. Examples include:

• Unpermitted work: Installing a new fence or changing an existing fence without an applicable permit or approval.

• Location and visibility: Placing a fence in a protected sight area, obstructing access, restricting drainage or interfering with an easement.

• Height and materials: Using the ordinary yard limits where a different Form-Based Code standard applies, or installing materials prohibited in the applicable setting.

• Required enclosures and condition: Removing required pool protection or screening, or allowing missing, leaning, damaged or externally braced fence components to remain.

• Special property approvals: Making Take-Area improvements without the required lease and approvals, or changing a subdivision screening or controlled-access arrangement without the applicable review.

Building Inspections, Planning and Urban Design, Development Engineering, the Fire Marshal and Code Enforcement handle their respective requirements. Boundary, ownership and private-agreement disputes may require separate resolution.

USING THIS INFORMATION

This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within the City of Rowlett, Texas. Updated November 2026.

In addition to local fence rules, certain Texas laws apply statewide. See Statewide Fence Laws in Texas.

It is not legal advice and does not replace official statutes, ordinances, orders, permits, certificates, development approvals, applicable building-code requirements, surveys, recorded documents or professional guidance. Rules and interpretations may change, and application may vary with municipal or unincorporated location, applicable extraterritorial authority, zoning or special-area status, code adoption and amendments, site conditions, subdivision or plat conditions, easements, rights-of-way, drainage and floodplain requirements, historic or design districts, pool use, agricultural operations and stock laws, fence ownership or attachment, coastal or public-access conditions, utility and pipeline excavation requirements, and private restrictions subject to Texas law. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, confirm current requirements and site-specific limitations with Building Inspections and the responsible office for each applicable issue, and review applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with controlling law, adopted regulations or official requirements, the controlling authorities govern. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.