Columbia, SC Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

City Code Sec. 8-1, titled 'Hazardous fences,' makes it unlawful for any person to install, erect, maintain, or permit on property they own, occupy, or control any fence, wall, screen, barricade, post, or structure with barbed wire, concertina wire, electrically charged wire, spikes, blades, glass, or other sharp objects or hazardous materials affixed or incorporated at a level lower than five feet above the ground or the surface pedestrians or vehicles travel on. The ordinance does allow pointed surfaces above that line: a fence may carry points aligned parallel to it as long as they sit no lower than 45 inches above the ground.

There is one narrow exception written into the same section for agricultural use: low-impedance, pulse-type electrified fencing rated at one joule or less, properly grounded, is allowed if it is used under a prescribed grazing permit issued under City Code Sec. 4-37, the city's grazing-permit provision. Outside that specific agricultural permit context, any hazardous fencing material below five feet is unlawful regardless of whether the property is residential, commercial, or industrial. This provision sits in Chapter 8, Article I, 'In General,' of the Environmental Health and Sanitation chapter, meaning it is a standalone hazard-prevention rule rather than part of the zoning code's general fence height and setback provisions found in the Unified Development Ordinance.

The rule was most recently amended by Ordinance No. 2023-099 on December 5, 2023, which added the grazing-permit exception; the underlying prohibition traces back to the 1979 Code, § 2-2051.