Fence Regulations in Illinois (2026)

In unincorporated DuPage County, residential fences may rise to 4 feet 6 inches in the front yard (and must be at least…

Arlington Heights, Illinois fences top out at 36 inches in the front yard and six feet in side and rear yards, per…

Aurora limits residential front-yard fences to 3-4 feet, side yards to 4-6 feet by lot width, rear yards to 6 feet, and…

Bolingbrook caps residential fences at six feet generally, but front-yard fences must be decorative and no taller than…

Champaign caps residential fences at eight feet, but limits anything between the front building line and the street to…

Champaign County's Zoning Ordinance caps residential fences at 6 feet in required front yards and 8 feet in side and…

Chicago's Building Code caps a combustible solid fence at 6 feet (8 feet under stated conditions) and a combustible…

Cicero bans front yard fences in residential districts outright and caps side and rear yard fences at six feet under…

Homeowners in unincorporated Cook County can put up a privacy fence, wall, hedge or shrubbery up to six feet tall, but…

Des Plaines caps residential fences at 4 feet in front and corner side yards and 6 feet in rear and interior side…

Evanston caps most fences at 6 feet, drops that to 4 feet near the front facade, and allows 8 feet along a lot line…

Kane County does not cap fence height countywide, but it requires a permit for any fence that cannot be seen through…

Unincorporated Kankakee County caps open fences at four feet in front yards and solid or semisolid fences at six feet…

Unincorporated Kendall County caps front-yard fences at four feet and lets side and rear yard fences run six to eight…

Unincorporated Lake County caps fences and walls at six feet, with a taller eight-foot fence allowed by the zoning…

In unincorporated Macon County, residential lot-line fences, walls, and hedges may reach eight feet, but drop to three…

Countywide, unincorporated Madison County caps fences at 6 feet under Zoning Code § 93.080(E), drops that to 4 feet and…

In unincorporated McHenry County, the Unified Development Ordinance caps a solid fence (obscuring more than 50% of the…

McLean County caps fences over four feet tall at four feet in a front yard and seven feet everywhere else on the lot…

Naperville caps residential fences at 3 feet in front yards, 6 feet elsewhere, and 9 feet along arterial roads or…

Residential fences in Oak Lawn top out at 6 feet between buildings or in the rear yard, and can't cross the front yard…

Peoria's zoning code caps residential fences at 3 feet in the front and corner side yard and 6 feet in the side and…

Peoria County caps residential fences at six feet, but any solid fence in the front setback past the building line is…

Fences, walls and hedges facing a public street on R-1 or U-1 property in unincorporated Rock Island County cap out at…

Residential fences top out at 4 feet in the front yard and 6 feet everywhere behind it, business and industrial fences…

Schaumburg caps most residential perimeter fences at 5 feet and privacy fences around a patio or deck at 6 feet…

Skokie caps yard fences at 6 feet, but a fence along a shared side lot line between two residential lots drops to 5…

Springfield caps fences in a required front yard at 4 feet (and they must be at least 50% open), limits residential…

Fences, walls, and hedges in unincorporated St. Clair County may run along any lot line up to six feet without extra…

Tazewell County limits front-yard fences to 4 feet in residential and agricultural dwelling areas, allows up to 6 feet…

Waukegan caps residential fences at 4 feet in front and corner side yards and 6 feet in interior side and rear yards…

In unincorporated Will County, fences top out at 7 feet in residential/agricultural side and rear yards, 4 feet in…

Winnebago County caps residential fence height at 6 feet in side and rear yards and 4 feet in front yards under the…

In Arlington Heights, Illinois, no fence may go up without a permit from the Director of Building. The Village Code…

Aurora requires a fence permit before any fence is built, rebuilt, enlarged, or structurally altered in every zoning…

No fence or wall may be built, erected, or replaced anywhere in Bolingbrook without a building permit first. If an HOA…

Champaign caps residential fences at 8 feet citywide and 3 feet in the strip between the front building line and the…

A fence counts as a STRUCTURE under the county Zoning Ordinance's definitions, so building or erecting one in…

Chicago Municipal Code 13-32-200 makes it unlawful to erect any fence more than five feet in height without first…

It is unlawful to erect or alter any fence in Cicero without a permit from the director of code enforcement under…

Fence permits are required in unincorporated Cook County for most fence installations. The Cook County Department of…

Des Plaines requires a building permit for any residential fence, applied for through the City's online Customer Self…

Every fence and wall in unincorporated DuPage County needs a permit before it goes up. Section 37-407.1(C) of the…

Elgin requires a building permit before any fence is constructed or installed anywhere in the city. Fences must also…

Evanston requires a certificate of zoning compliance before any fence is erected, constructed, installed, or replaced…

A privacy fence (one that cannot be viewed through or over) requires a building permit from Kane County. Chain link…

A fence built in unincorporated Kankakee County falls under the same building-permit law as any other structure: nobody…

Unincorporated Lake County deleted the standard building-code exemption for low fences. Under the county's 2024…

Building a solid fence in unincorporated McHenry County requires a building permit from the Department of Planning &…

McLean County's construction-permit rule, § 350-19, exempts only open fences four feet tall or less from needing a…

Any fence in Naperville taller than three feet needs a City permit before it goes up, per Section 6-2-12:1.11 of the…

Oak Lawn requires a permit before erecting any fence, issued by the director of the office of quality control for a $30…

Oak Park exempts fences that are 7 feet or less in height from needing a building permit under the Village's amended…

Anyone erecting a fence in unincorporated Peoria County needs a building permit from the Zoning Administrator first…

Rockford requires a permit before any fence is erected, with double fees and escalating fines for violators.

Building a fence in unincorporated Sangamon County requires a building permit under the county fee schedule -- a flat…

Any Schaumburg fence taller than 2 feet needs a permit from the director of community development before it goes up…

Skokie requires a Village building permit before anyone builds, installs, or replaces a fence on private property. The…

Any fence over four feet tall in a residential, commercial, or industrial district requires a fence permit from the…

Any fence erected in unincorporated St. Clair County needs a Certificate of Zoning Compliance before construction under…

Tazewell County requires a $50 building permit before installing most fences in the unincorporated area, per the…

No fence or planting screen may go up in Waukegan without a fence permit from the building department under Sec. 6-301…

Winnebago County requires a zoning permit from the Planning and Zoning Officer before erecting any fence, since a fence…

Unincorporated Will County requires no permit to build a fence, but height and material limits still apply by district.

Under the Illinois Fence Act (765 ILCS 130/3), adjoining landowners must each build and maintain a just proportion of…

Aurora requires the finished side of fences to face outward toward neighbors. Illinois has no residential fence…

Cook County follows Illinois common law regarding shared boundary fences. Illinois does not have a mandatory…

Des Plaines requires fences to be installed entirely on the owner's property, with the finished or 'good' side facing…

Property owners in unincorporated DuPage County share responsibility for division fences on their common boundary under…

Illinois has no residential fence cost-sharing law. Each property owner is responsible for their own fence. Fences must…

The McHenry County UDO requires the finished side of every fence to face away from your own lot, and posts must be…

Naperville requires the finished side of all fences to face away from the property on which the fence is installed…

Oak Lawn requires fences to be installed with the finished (smooth) side facing the neighboring property. Oak Lawn does…

Schaumburg's Village Code requires fence posts to be set so the finished, good-facing side points toward the…

Skokie does not require neighbor consent for a fence, but fences must be entirely on the owner's property with the…

St. Clair County's zoning code sets no cost-sharing rule for boundary fences. The Illinois Fence Act (765 ILCS 130)…

Retaining walls in unincorporated Madison County cannot go in a public street or alley right-of-way without Building…

Aurora requires retaining walls to stay structurally sound; failing walls over 30 inches tall, or carrying vehicle-load…

Any Bolingbrook retaining wall over four feet must be designed by a structural engineer licensed in Illinois, and any…

Chicago Building Code 13-96-135 requires any fence directly adjacent to the public way on a lot with a Class A…

DuPage County requires grading plans to show retaining wall elevations, and any wall 24 inches or taller needs a…

Elgin's amended residential code requires a 36-inch guard on any retaining wall within 2 feet of a walk, path or…

Retaining walls in unincorporated Lake County must sit at least 4 feet from property lines and stay under 6 feet tall…

The McHenry County UDO sets no separate height cap for retaining walls, but a 'fence or wall' must sit entirely within…

Oak Park exempts retaining walls up to 4 feet high, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall…

Peoria's zoning code treats a retaining wall as a permitted yard obstruction, but only if it meets the same height…

Schaumburg requires a land development permit for any retaining wall three feet or taller, measured from existing…

Springfield doesn't require a building permit for a retaining wall under 30 inches tall. Sec. 170.10.22(a)(4) exempts…

Zoning Ordinance Sec. 40-5-5(C) bars building a retaining wall inside any public street or alley right-of-way in…

City Code § 9-2(b) bans barbed wire, spikes and shock-capable electric fencing within seven feet of ground level…

The Town of Cicero bans barbed wire, razor wire and electrically charged fences everywhere except manufacturing…

In unincorporated Kankakee County, barbed wire and electric fences are prohibited outright in every residential…

Kendall County bans barbed-wire and above-ground electric fences in residential districts and residential subdivisions…

Peoria County outlaws barbed wire, electrified, spiked, and glass-topped fences under UDO Section 7.4.3. These…

Springfield prohibits barbed wire, metal spikes, and other sharp materials on residential fences and bans electrified…

Will County prohibits barbed wire, razor concertina, and electric wire fences in residential zoning districts and on…

Bolingbrook bans fences built with electrically charged wire, barbed wire, spikes, glass, or sharp material designed to…

Unincorporated DuPage County's zoning ordinance bans any fence carrying an electrical charge strong enough to shock, in…

Kane County's zoning ordinance bans barbed wire, spikes and electrically charged fencing on any residential lot in the…

In unincorporated Macon County, electric and barbed wire fences are banned on residentially zoned lots unless the…

Oak Lawn bans barbed wire, electrically charged wire, chicken wire, mesh wire, snow fence and solid concrete block on…

Barbed wire and electric fences are confined to Agricultural and Suburban Estate-1 districts in unincorporated Rock…

Schaumburg bans barbed wire, electric fences, and any fence topped with spikes or broken glass anywhere in the village…

Skokie bans electrically charged fences and barbed or razor wire in residential areas outright; barbed wire is allowed…

Unincorporated St. Clair County bans barbed wire fencing below ten feet off the ground, any other sharp-pointed fence…

Tazewell County bans barbed wire and electric fencing outright inside any residential district and requires them to sit…

Barbed wire and electrically charged fences are flatly banned on every residential lot in Waukegan under Sec. 6-308; on…

Residential fences in Winnebago County must be built from an approved list of materials, and barbed wire, razor wire…

Arlington Heights bans barbed wire fencing outright and prohibits slatted chain link fencing anywhere in the Village…

Aurora's zoning code sets approved fence materials by classification, masonry, ornamental iron, chain link, wood…

Chicago Municipal Code 13-96-160 prohibits barbed wire less than 8 feet above the ground, though it is allowed above 6…

In unincorporated Cook County, fences can't use barbed wire, razor wire or iron spikes on residential lots, with narrow…

Des Plaines requires the finished side of a fence to face out with posts on the owner's side, mandates that front-yard…

Evanston limits residential and mixed-use fences to six named materials, wood, recycled-content wood-polymer lumber…

Unincorporated Lake County caps fences and walls at six feet, requires the finished side to face outward, and makes…

Madison County bans barbed wire fences under 6 feet and electrically charged fences everywhere in unincorporated…

The McHenry County UDO defines a fence broadly as a barrier of wood, masonry, stone, wire, metal, or a combination…

Along Hobson Road, Naperville limits fences to aluminum, wrought iron, PVC, split rail, or three-board horse-fence…

Peoria's code prohibits any fence or barrier under six feet high made wholly or partly of barbed wire along city…

Sangamon County bans hazardous fencing like barbed wire or electrically charged fencing in most residential settings…

Tinley Park bans barbed wire and electrically charged fencing within three feet of any public right-of-way, street…