Barbed wire is allowed only on top of fences more than 6 feet 9 inches high (or on farms for livestock). Electric fences are permitted only on farms to retain livestock. Fences may not have sharp points or jagged edges that could injure people or animals.
Baltimore County Building Code Part 122.3 restricts fence materials on all properties. Electric fences are permitted only on farms for the retention of livestock and only if they are not a safety hazard to people. Barbed wire (or other approved retarding material) may be placed only on top of a fence more than six feet nine inches high, except where it would create a highly hazardous condition, and barbed-wire fences are otherwise limited to farms retaining livestock. No fence may have projecting sharp points, jagged edges, or projections that could injure people or animals, and no fence less than four feet may have sharp pickets or vertical pointed objects on top.
Prohibited barbed-wire, electric, or hazardous fence materials are code violations; the Building Official may order removal or correction of the unsafe fence.
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