2025 Guide to Fence Laws in San Antonio, Texas

Unlock the secrets of San Antonio's fence height regulations and ensure your property's boundaries comply with local laws.
Renee Lewis
Renee Lewis
/
Updated on:
May 16, 2025

Unlock the secrets of San Antonio's fence height regulations and ensure your property's boundaries comply with local laws.

If you're looking to build a new fence in the city of San Antonio, there are city regulations you need to be aware of before starting your project. Residents of San Antonio also have unique conditions including historic districts that may impact the type of construction projects you can undertake. Here’s a summary of the most common fence laws in San Antonio:

Front-Yard Fence Height

Side- and Rear-Yard Fence Height

Authorized Materials

Permitted materials must be of similar durability to wood or masonry; prohibited materials include cast-off items or those not originally intended for fencing.

Authorized fence materials for San Antonio

Shared Ownership & Placement

Distance (Setback) from Neighbor

Regulations and requirements governing fence permitting vary from city to city and between residential property and nonresidential areas. Fences built near floodplains, airports, or around pools have their own special regulations that you'll need to be familiar with. San Antonio, which is home to protected historic districts, may have special rules for these areas. Continue reading to understand the above laws and any special ones in detail: 

If you are working with a reputable fencing company, they will help you better understand any rules that apply to your fence installation project and whether or not you need to apply for a building permit.

In San Antonio, residential fence permits may be required. Since some rules vary by county, and San Antonio covers three different counties - Bexar, Comal and Medina - you should consult your county authorities to see what permit rules apply for your property. There are permit fees for your fence permit application, which you can find out more about here.

Below are a few examples of laws you need to be aware of for your fence project within they city limits of  San Antonio, Texas.

Fence Material

San Antonio regulates the types of materials that may be used in the construction of a fence on single family or mixed residential use lots. Allowed materials include wood, chain link fence, stone, rock, concrete block, masonry brick, brick, decorative wrought-iron, and other materials with similar durability.

Barbed wire and razor wire are prohibited for use in fences. Other types of materials that can't be used for fencing are cast-off, secondhand or items not intended to be used for constructing a fence as well as sheet, roll or corrugated metal.

Fence Height

Here is an overview of the maximum fence heights allowed in different areas of San Antonio, including front yards and backyards, helping you navigate the guidelines and make informed decisions for your fencing project.

Front yards

San Antonio's rules for front-yard maximum fence height vary slightly by county and below is a quick-reference table summarizing the differing front-yard fence height limits in the San Antonio area’s three main counties, based on available county regulations. Unfortunately, county-level ordinances aren’t centrally posted online, so you’ll often need to verify directly with each county’s or zoning district's permitting office. Please make sure you verify this information directly with us or your local fence contractor before beginning any fence installation project. For absolute certainty, always check each county’s permitting office or the official county code document before you build.

Front yard regulations for San Antonio, Texas

Back yards

For the backyard, there is a maximum fence height of six feet for a regular permit. However, you can build up to eight feet if you get a special, engineered permit. That's to confirm that the foundation and support structure are designed to sustain wind loads in accordance with the International Building Code.

There are some exceptions in which you can build a fence up to a height of eight feet, including:

Side fences

For a fence on your side yard, you can build up to three feet on a side street and six feet on an interior side fence.

Retaining walls

Retaining walls less than four feet tall do not require a permit. 

Property Line Regulations

Fence setbacks are not needed in San Antonio. 

Before you construct a new boundary line fence or remove an existing fence, it's advisable to make sure you have evidence of the legal property lines.

Talk to Your Neighbor

Special Considerations

Historic districts

If your property is within a historic district, the historic preservation officer will need to review your fence plan in order to determine whether it is compatible with the district' provisions before a permit is issued for your fence.

Clear vision areas

San Antonio also regulates certain areas as "fence clear vision areas." These include:

If you think your project could be built differently without impacting safety, and you can demonstrate that, you may be able to get an administrative exception from the development services department.

Neighborhood rules

If you belong to an HOA, contact them for their fence regulations, which could be different from those of the municipality.

Safety

State law in Texas requires you to contact Texas 811 before starting your fence project. 

While calling 811 addresses underground hazards, fence construction itself poses other risks, especially for inexperienced homeowners:

Next Steps

Before starting your fence project, make sure to review your city, state and neighborhood rules governing fence construction. Each city can have different regulations, and every HOA has the potential to have their own specific rules about fences. You'll need to be familiar with these to find out if the fence you want to build is allowed, or requires a permit or special review.

Check out Ergeon‚'s San Antonio page for how to get started! Interested in learning about North Texas fence laws? Discover our 2025 guide to laws and regulations in the region.

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