FENCE RULES – UPSHUR (COUNTY), WEST VIRGINIA
OVERVIEW
Residential fences are permitted on private property within the unincorporated portions of Upshur County, subject to applicable county and state requirements.
This page applies to the unincorporated portions of Upshur County. The referenced published materials do not establish a general county zoning ordinance for standard residential fences; separate building-permit, floodplain, road, drainage, utility, statewide fence-law, or private requirements may still apply where published. Incorporated cities, towns, and villages regulate property within their own municipal boundaries unless an official arrangement provides otherwise.
Upshur County does not publish a consolidated residential fence code. Fence-related administration in the referenced published materials appears through the Upshur County Commission, the Building Permit Ordinance, the Upshur County Floodplain Ordinance, the Addressing & Mapping, Building Permits and Floodplain Management Office, and applicable West Virginia statewide requirements.
This page focuses on typical single-family residential fencing. If the jurisdiction’s code, ordinance, or zoning materials do not state a specific limit or requirement, this page notes that the controlling regulatory text does not specify one. If no local code, ordinance, or zoning text is available in the approved source packet, this page notes that the jurisdiction does not publish the relevant standard in the referenced published materials.
Compiled From Upshur County official website, Upshur County Building Permit Ordinance, Upshur County Building Permit Application, Upshur County Contractor Licensure Affidavit, Upshur County Floodplain Ordinance adopted January 18, 2024, Upshur County Safe Structures and Sites Ordinance, West Virginia State Building Code, West Virginia Code Section 7-1-3n, West Virginia Code Article 19-17, West Virginia 811 requirements, West Virginia Division of Highways encroachment materials, and West Virginia contractor-licensing law as of July 2026.
GOVERNANCE
The Upshur County Commission is the governing authority for unincorporated Upshur County. This county publication page is limited to the unincorporated portions of Upshur County and does not apply county conclusions to the City of Buckhannon or another incorporated municipality.
The Upshur County Addressing & Mapping, Building Permits and Floodplain Management Office administers the published building-permit and floodplain programs. The county identifies a Building Permit Officer, and the Floodplain Ordinance appoints the Permit & Ordinance Officer as Floodplain Administrator.
West Virginia law permits a county to enact zoning for all or part of its jurisdiction, but the referenced published materials do not identify an Upshur County general zoning ordinance, zoning map, zoning district system, or separate planning-and-zoning office for standard residential fence administration.
The referenced published materials do not establish that Upshur County has adopted and enforces the West Virginia State Building Code. No county adoption order, applicable code edition, residential code-enforcement department, or intergovernmental enforcement arrangement is identified in the approved source packet.
The Safe Structures and Sites Ordinance provides complaint-based county administration for unsafe buildings, refuse, debris, overgrown vegetation, and related site conditions, but it does not publish standards for ordinary residential fence height, placement, or materials.
The West Virginia Division of Highways administers applicable state-highway right-of-way and encroachment matters. West Virginia 811 administers statewide underground-utility notice requirements for covered excavation.
PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS
• Local Fence Permit: Upshur County does not publish a separate local fence permit requirement for standard residential fences in the referenced published materials.
• General Building-Permit Context: The Building Permit Ordinance and current application establish a county permit process for site preparation, development, renovations, improvements, construction, or relocation involving a building or structure in unincorporated Upshur County. The ordinance defines a structure as a walled and roofed building, and neither source explicitly states that every standard residential fence requires the permit.
• State Building Code Context: The referenced published materials do not establish that Upshur County has adopted and enforces the West Virginia State Building Code and do not publish a separate local building-permit requirement for standard residential fences. The incorporated 7-foot building-permit exemption therefore is not presented as an operative Upshur County permit rule.
• Floodplain Development Permit: Within an identified special flood hazard area, the Upshur County Floodplain Ordinance requires a floodplain determination, permit application, and approved site plan before development. The ordinance defines development to include buildings or other structures, filling, grading, paving, excavation, and drilling. Fence work involving those activities within the regulated floodplain is subject to review by the Floodplain Administrator.
• Floodway and Stream Work: New development is restricted in a floodway where a reasonable alternative exists outside the floodway. Where a floodway encroachment is the only reasonable alternative, the ordinance requires the encroachment to be the minimum necessary and requires the applicable hydraulic showing before a permit is issued. Alteration or relocation of a stream is subject to separate notice, permit, design, and maintenance requirements.
• State Highway Right-of-Way: Work that enters, obstructs, or alters a state highway right-of-way, roadside drainage area, ditch, culvert, or access point may require review or an encroachment permit from the West Virginia Division of Highways. This review is separate from ordinary fence placement on private property.
• Paid Installation: Where the county permit process applies, the current application requests contractor-license and insurance documentation or a signed licensure affidavit. West Virginia contractor-licensing law includes paid residential work costing $5,000 or more in the statutory contractor definition and excludes a person who personally performs construction work on real property the person owns or leases. Licensing is separate from county permits and site restrictions.
FENCE PLACEMENT RULES
• Property Lines: The referenced published materials do not specify a setback requirement for standard residential fences from property lines; however, fences must be located entirely on the owner’s property and must not encroach into rights-of-way or easements.
• Yard Placement: Upshur County does not publish countywide front-yard, side-yard, rear-yard, or corner-lot placement standards for standard residential fences in the referenced published materials.
• Floodplain and Floodway Conditions: Fence work that constitutes development within a mapped special flood hazard area is subject to the Upshur County floodplain permit and site-plan process. Development in the floodway is restricted by the no-reasonable-alternative and minimum-encroachment standards described in the Floodplain Ordinance.
• Flood Protection Setback: For development governed by the Floodplain Ordinance, a setback equal to twice the width of the watercourse channel or 50 feet, whichever is less, is maintained from the top of both banks. The Floodplain Administrator may waive all or part only where development cannot otherwise occur, and the waiver is limited to the minimum necessary. This is a floodplain-development rule, not a countywide fence setback.
• Roads and Rights-of-Way: A fence project that enters or affects a state highway right-of-way, roadside ditch, culvert, drainage area, shoulder, or access point is subject to applicable West Virginia Division of Highways review. An existing fence line or roadway edge is not proof of the legal property or right-of-way boundary.
• Utility Safety: West Virginia law requires notice through West Virginia 811 before excavation or demolition where the Underground Facilities Damage Prevention Act applies. For covered fence work involving digging, drilling, augering, boring, trenching, grading, or other excavation, notice must be given not less than 48 hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and federal or state legal holidays, and not more than 10 workdays before work begins. A change in the proposed starting date or time requires at least 24 hours’ advance notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. West Virginia 811 notice is separate from local fence permitting, zoning approval, building-code review, easement limits, right-of-way or WVDOH approval, floodplain review, stormwater review, drainage review, historic or design review, HOA restrictions, and other applicable requirements.
FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES
• Maximum Height: Upshur County does not publish a defined maximum height for standard residential fences in the referenced published materials.
• Yard-Based Height Limits: The referenced published materials do not specify separate front-yard, side-yard, rear-yard, or corner-lot height limits for standard residential fences.
• State Building Code Threshold: The incorporated 2018 residential and building codes include a building-permit exemption for fences not over 7 feet high where the West Virginia State Building Code has been locally adopted and enforced. Because local adoption and enforcement are not confirmed for Upshur County, the 7-foot figure is not presented as a local permit exemption or a county maximum fence height.
• Visibility: The referenced published materials do not publish a numeric residential fence sight-triangle, clear-vision, driveway-visibility, alley-visibility, or intersection-visibility standard. State-highway right-of-way and access conditions remain separate where applicable.
MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS
• Standard Residential Materials: Upshur County does not publish defined permitted-material or prohibited-material standards for standard residential fences in the referenced published materials.
• Barbed Wire, Razor Wire, and Electric Fences: The referenced published materials do not publish a local residential barbed-wire, razor-wire, electric-fence, or high-tensile-fence rule for ordinary residential lots.
• Agricultural and Livestock Fences: West Virginia Code Article 19-17 establishes lawful-fence and partition-fence standards for specified agricultural, grazing, and livestock contexts. Those statewide standards are not ordinary county material, height, or placement rules for a standard residential yard.
• Finished Side, Opacity, and Orientation: The referenced published materials do not specify a finished-side requirement, opacity limit, orientation rule, chain-link restriction, or general gate-construction standard for standard residential fences.
• Floodplain Construction Context: Within the regulated floodplain, structures and other development must be placed to minimize obstruction to the flow of water and must be anchored as applicable to resist flotation, collapse, lateral movement, and blockage of watercourses. These are site-specific floodplain conditions, not ordinary countywide fence construction standards.
PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS
Private restrictions operate independently from Upshur County building-permit, floodplain, road, right-of-way, utility, and statewide fence-law requirements.
HOA covenants, subdivision restrictions, deed restrictions, private easements, architectural-review covenants, agricultural agreements, private boundary agreements, acknowledged partition-fence agreements, conservation easements, and other private restrictions may impose stricter placement, height, material, color, design, maintenance, or approval requirements than the published governmental 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:
• General County Permit Questions: Whether proposed fence-related work is expressly within the Building Permit Ordinance‘s building-or-structure process or instead falls outside the published permit trigger.
• Floodplain Permit Review: Development, excavation, drilling, grading, fill, site preparation, or placement of structures within an identified special flood hazard area without the required floodplain determination, permit, and site-plan approval.
• Floodway and Watercourse Conditions: Development in a floodway without the required alternative and hydraulic review, encroachment beyond the minimum necessary, work within the applicable flood protection setback, or alteration of a stream without the required approvals.
• Road and Drainage Conflicts: Encroachments into state highway rights-of-way, shoulders, ditches, culverts, drainage areas, or access points.
• Boundary and Easement Conflicts: Fence placement beyond the owner’s property or within a recorded easement or public right-of-way.
• State Building Code Status: The locally operative 7-foot building-permit exemption is not used because Upshur County adoption and enforcement of the West Virginia State Building Code were not confirmed.
• Utility Excavation: Covered post-hole, augering, drilling, trenching, grading, or other excavation begun without the required West Virginia 811 notice.
• Rural and Agricultural Conditions: Livestock containment, lawful-fence standards, agricultural partition fences, hedge fences, stream boundaries, cattle guards, or other specialized state-law contexts.
• Private Restrictions: HOA, deed, subdivision, easement, or private-agreement requirements that operate separately from county administration.
USING THIS INFORMATION
This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within the unincorporated portions of Upshur County, based on the referenced published materials as of July 2026.
In addition to local fence rules, certain West Virginia laws apply statewide. See Statewide Fence Laws in West Virginia.
It is not legal advice and does not replace official ordinances, permits, certificates, development approvals, applicable building-code requirements, surveys, or professional guidance. Rules and interpretations may change, and application may vary based on zoning district, county zoning coverage, site conditions, easements, rights-of-way, floodplain or floodway status, stream conditions, stormwater requirements, drainage conditions, road or highway conditions, WVDOH jurisdiction, historic district status, design-review status, rural or agricultural context, livestock, lawful-fence or agricultural partition-fence context, State Building Code adoption and enforcement status, contractor-licensing context, pool-barrier use, West Virginia 811 utility-safety requirements, and private restrictions such as HOA covenants, deed restrictions, private agreements, acknowledged partition-fence agreements, or conservation easements. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, confirm current requirements and any site-specific limitations with the Upshur County Addressing & Mapping, Building Permits and Floodplain Management Office and any applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with official ordinances, published guidance, or direction from the Upshur County Building Permit Officer or Floodplain Administrator, the official sources control. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.