New Hampshire Partition Fence and Boundary Statute

Under RSA 473, owners of adjoining lands must contribute equally to building and maintaining partition fences enclosing their property. If neighbors disagree, either party may apply to the town's elected fence viewers, who inspect the boundary and issue a binding written decision allocating responsibility. The fence viewers' assignment becomes a lien against non-compliant owners' land. The statute sets a default standard of four feet high and sufficiently strong to turn cattle. While towns may have local fence height ordinances for aesthetics, the partition fence cost-sharing framework applies uniformly statewide and cannot be overridden by municipal action.

Failure to comply with a fence viewers' order allows the complying neighbor to build the fence and recover double the cost as a debt or lien against the non-compliant owner's property.