Santee, CA Fence Regulations: Fence Permit Requirements (2026)

Section 11.04.030 amends California Building Code Section 105.2, Work Exempt from Permit, adding local subsections 14 through 19 to the state list. Item 17 specifically exempts fences not over 8 feet high from the building permit requirement, but only where permitted to be installed by the City Zoning Code in commercial and industrial zones; the exemption is a building-permit exemption layered on top of, not a substitute for, whatever height and location limits Title 13's zoning fence provisions set for those zones. A fence proposed in a residential zone falls outside this specific exemption item, meaning residential fence work is governed instead by the unchanged base state subsections of Section 105.2 and by Title 13's zoning fence-and-wall standards for the applicable residential zone.

Because the exemption in item 17 turns on the Zoning Code's own permission, a commercial or industrial property owner cannot rely on it if the Zoning Code otherwise restricts fence height or placement on that parcel; in that case the underlying zoning limitation controls even though the building-permit paperwork would otherwise be waived. Everything the item 17 exemption does not cover, including any fence over 8 feet anywhere in the City, still requires a building permit under the adopted 2025 California Building Code, with the City's fee resolution process under the same section's Section 109 amendment setting the applicable permit fee.