Norfolk, VA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

1-13 of the Norfolk Code of Ordinances, in the Uniform Statewide Building Code chapter, prohibits using barbed or razor wire to wholly or partially enclose any lot or premises anywhere in the city; there is no residential exception for a homeowner's backyard fence. The ordinance carves out two narrow, verbatim exceptions. First, barbed ends of fences, barbed wire, and razor wire may top a wall or fence enclosing a lot in a district zoned commercial or manufacturing, as those districts are defined by Norfolk's separate zoning ordinance.

Second, barbed wire alone, not razor wire, may top a wall or fence protecting a public school, park, recreational, or playground site in any residential, commercial, or manufacturing district, but only if four conditions are all met: the wall or fence is at least six feet tall; the wire is installed on arms or brackets extending inward over the enclosed property, not outward over a sidewalk or neighboring yard; no more than three strands are installed; and the first strand sits at least six inches above the top of the wall or fence.

Because the exception requires the brackets to angle inward, a qualifying school or park fence cannot legally overhang its wire onto a public right-of-way or adjacent lot. The section traces to Ordinance No. 34,384, adopted March 17, 1987, and remains unamended since. Enforcement runs through the code official and property maintenance code official under the general provisions of Secs. 1, who administer the Uniform Statewide Building Code provisions codified in this chapter; a lot found with unpermitted barbed or razor wire is subject to a compliance order to remove or reconfigure the fencing so it matches one of the two written exceptions.