2 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 3 cities in Wake County, North Carolina.
Verified from official government sources
In unincorporated Wake County, most residential fences do NOT need a building permit. Wake County Inspections & Permits applies the 2018 North Carolina Residential Code, which under Section R105.2 exempts "fences not over 7 feet (2134 mm) high" from a building permit. Fences over 7 feet, fences acting as pool barriers, and any fence that violates the Wake County UDO sight-distance / visibility-triangle rule at intersections and driveways are NOT covered by the exemption. Inside municipal limits — Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Wake Forest, Garner, Holly Springs, Knightdale, Morrisville, Rolesville, Wendell, Zebulon, Fuquay-Varina — local town/city rules and permits govern, not the county.
The Wake County Unified Development Ordinance does NOT regulate residential fence materials, opacity, or finished-side orientation in unincorporated Wake County. There is no county-wide rule requiring a "good side" facing the neighbor, no prohibition on barbed wire on a typical residential lot, and no list of approved or banned materials. The single county-level material/design rule that affects fences is the UDO sight-distance triangle: at any driveway entrance or street intersection, no fence (or hedge, sign, or other obstruction) may extend more than 30 inches above the adjacent roadway grade inside the visibility triangle. Inside municipalities (Raleigh, Cary, Apex, etc.) local UDO/LDO material rules apply instead.
3 cities in Wake County have their own fence regulations rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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Wake County Ordinance Hub →