Before You Build in Daly City, CA: Permit & Rule Checklist (2026)

Daly City Title 17 zoning generally allows wood, vinyl, masonry, wrought iron, and chain-link fencing in residential zones, while barbed wire, razor wire, and electrified fencing are typically restricted to non-residential uses or prohibited outright in residential neighborhoods. California has no statewide cap on residential fence materials, so the local code controls.

All new and remodeled residential pools and spas in Daly City must comply with the California Swimming Pool Safety Act (Health and Safety Code Section 115922, as amended by SB 442 / SB 552). The owner must install at least two of seven listed drowning-prevention safety features, one of which is an enclosure meeting HSC 115923 standards.

Daly City caps fences at 6 feet on residential parcels and 3 feet in any required front yard or within 35 feet of the street corner on a corner lot. Non-residential and mixed-use parcels may have 8-foot fences, or up to 10 feet with administrative design review.

Daly City does not require a building permit to build a fence 6 feet tall or less. Permits come into play only for front-yard approval, encroachment permits in the right-of-way, and retaining walls over 48 inches or supporting a surcharge.

Retaining walls in Daly City over 48 inches tall - or shorter walls supporting a surcharge or excavated uphill slope - require a building permit and design by a licensed professional engineer. Walls under 48 inches holding only landscaping backfill may be wood.

Daly City treats boundary fences as a 'good neighbor' matter - the City neither requires fences nor referees disputes. Cost sharing between adjoining owners is governed by California's Good Neighbor Fence Act (Civil Code Section 841), which presumes equal responsibility.

Constructing, altering, or removing a swimming pool or permanent spa in Daly City requires a building permit from the Building Division under the California Building Code as adopted by Municipal Code Title 15; small prefabricated above-ground pools are the main exemption.

Permanently installed hot tubs and spas in Daly City need permits like pools, but California law exempts hot tubs and spas with locking ASTM F1346 safety covers from the drowning-prevention barrier requirements that otherwise apply to residential pools.

Daly City enforces the California Swimming Pool Safety Act through its building permit process: any new or remodeled residential pool or spa must include at least two of seven drowning-prevention safety features, most commonly a 60-inch isolation enclosure with a self-closing, self-latching gate.

Under California Health & Safety Code §115922 (Swimming Pool Safety Act / SB 442), every new or remodeled swimming pool or spa at a private single-family home in Daly City must be equipped with AT LEAST TWO of seven approved drowning prevention safety features. Daly City Building Division verifies compliance at final inspection. The required features include: a HSC §115923-compliant enclosure, ASTM F2286 removable mesh fencing, an ASTM F1346-23 safety pool cover, exit alarms on doors/windows providing pool access, self-closing/self-latching devices on access doors (release at 54+ inches), an ASTM F2208 water-entry alarm, or other approved equivalent protection.

Prefabricated above-ground pools at single-family homes that are less than 24 inches deep and hold no more than 5,000 gallons do not need a Daly City building permit, but any pool containing water over 18 inches deep is still covered by California pool-safety law.

Daly City requires a building permit for any garage conversion or construction of rooms in a garage, including secondary units; for garage-to-ADU conversions, state law bars the city from requiring replacement off-street parking.

Daly City follows state ADU law, which supersedes conflicting city code provisions. Single-family lots may add one attached or conversion ADU, one JADU, and one detached ADU; detached ADUs may reach 1,200 square feet with 4-foot rear and side setbacks.

Daly City has no separate tiny-home ordinance. A tiny home built on a permanent foundation is treated as an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) and is governed by California Government Code §66323, which Daly City must apply ministerially. A tiny home on wheels (THOW / movable tiny house) does not qualify as an ADU under state law and is regulated as a recreational vehicle - it cannot be occupied as a permanent residence on a single-family lot.

Carports in Daly City are treated as accessory structures under Title 14 (Planning, Zoning) and require a building permit under the California Building Code adopted in Title 12. They must observe zoning setbacks for the underlying residential district and may not encroach into required front yards. Carports replacing required off-street parking must keep the parking space conforming. Cal. Gov. Code §66323 protects carport conversions to ADU.

Daly City allows sheds, gazebos, pergolas, and similar accessory structures without setbacks only when combined floor area stays at or under 120 square feet; larger structures must meet zone setbacks, lot coverage limits, a 15-foot height cap, and administrative design review.

Burning yard waste, trash, or debris outdoors is illegal in Daly City. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District's Regulation 5 bans nearly all open burning region-wide, and the few allowable burn types are agricultural or land-management fires that require a designated burn day.

Wood-burning fire pits are allowed in Daly City only as code-compliant recreational fires: 3 feet across or less, at least 25 feet from structures, and constantly attended. Using any wood-burning device, including outdoor fire pits, is illegal during a Spare the Air Alert.

Daly City enforces California's permanent water-waste prohibitions, including no irrigation runoff onto sidewalks and no outdoor watering within 48 hours of a quarter inch of rain. For landscape projects regulated under Daly City Municipal Code Chapter 17.41, overhead irrigation must be scheduled between 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m.

No one may prune, spray, plant, or otherwise work on any public right-of-way or street tree in Daly City without a permit from the Director of Public Works under Municipal Code section 12.40.110. Unauthorized pruning of city trees is billed to the responsible property owner, and topping street trees is unlawful.

It is unlawful to cut down or remove any tree on a Daly City parkway, easement, or right-of-way without a Public Works permit under Municipal Code section 12.40.120. Removal of a live, healthy tree is at the requester's cost; trees that die of natural causes are removed and replaced by the city at no cost to the owner.