Prince William County, VA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Sec. 3 governs every fence in the county's agricultural and residential districts except those tied to a public use, and its material rules sit apart from the dimensional standards later in the same section. Subsection (a) is the operative material ban: electrified fences, other than underground pet-containment fences, and any fence using barbed wire are prohibited outright in every residential district and on agricultural lots smaller than two acres. The single carve-out applies to an A-1 Agriculture-zoned lot under two acres that has a principal dwelling and borders another A-1 lot used to pasture livestock; that lot alone may have an electrified or barbed wire fence along the shared property line.

A separate material rule in subsection (d) bars any fence built of temporary or semi-temporary materials, the code names silt fencing and non-fabricated plastic specifically, except when it's serving as erosion or siltation control during active construction. Subsection (g) adds a functional restriction that applies regardless of material or height: no fence anywhere in the county may be erected in a way that blocks emergency equipment from reaching a building. These material standards apply on top of, not instead of, the separate height and setback rules that govern fences in the same section.