Commerce City, CO Fence Regulations: Fence Permit Requirements (2026)

Sec. 5-8 of the Commerce City Building Code lists the work exempt from the C3BC's permit requirement in Sec. 5-7, and paragraph (d) addresses fences specifically. A fence up to seventy-two inches high is exempt from a permit in occupancy Groups R-3, R-4, and R-5, which the code ties to the residential occupancy classifications defined in Chapter 3 of the International Building Code as amended by the city, unless the fence serves as a swimming pool barrier. Any other occupancy group only gets a permit exemption for fences up to forty-two inches high.

A masonry or concrete wall gets the same seventy-two-inch exemption in Groups R-3, R-4, and R-5 under paragraph (e), with ornamental column caps excluded from the height measurement, but a wall used as a pool barrier still needs a permit at any height. Sec. 5-8 also makes clear that an exemption from the permit requirement never authorizes work that would otherwise violate the C3BC or any other city ordinance, so a fence built under the height threshold must still meet any applicable Land Development Code standard for that district.

Once a fence exceeds the exempt height for its occupancy group, or is being installed as a pool barrier, Sec. 5-7 requires the owner or the owner's authorized agent to apply to the building official and obtain a permit before construction begins.