Do you need a permit for a fence?

No building permit, within these heights

A fence needs no building permit if it is no more than:

2 m high

Anywhere on the block.

1.5 m within 3 m of a street

Or 1.2 m if it is masonry, concrete or similar.

1 m within 9 m of a corner

Measured above the footpath, near where two streets meet.

A lane, footway or right of way isn't a street for these limits. A pool barrier is never covered by this exemption. Over 2 m, a fence needs a permit and has to meet rules on setbacks, a neighbour's windows and their sunlight.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Building Regulations 2018 (Vic), authorised version 031.

Front fences

Within 3 m of the front street, the height limit is 2 m on a declared road (a freeway or arterial road) and 1.5 m on any other street, unless the residential zone's schedule sets its own. That zone height applies to a fence within the building permit exemption too.

Yarra Ranges

Its residential zone schedules set no front fence height, so 2 m or 1.5 m applies.

Knox

Most Neighbourhood Residential schedules: 2 m on streets in a Transport Zone 2, 1.2 m on other streets.

Cardinia

Check its zone schedule for the block.

Maroondah

Most Neighbourhood and General Residential schedules: 1.2 m on streets in a Transport Zone 2, 0.9 m on other streets.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Building Regulations 2018 (Vic), authorised version 031, Knox Planning Scheme, Clause 32.09 schedules (front fence height) and Maroondah Planning Scheme, Clause 32.09 schedules (front fence height).

Planning permits: the overlays

Under the state's rules, a fence is exempt from the planning scheme's building and works permits unless the scheme specifically requires one. The exemption doesn't apply in the Public Conservation and Resource Zone, and it never covers clearing vegetation. The overlays that require one are the ones to check on your property report.

Heritage Overlay

A permit for a fence visible from a street (other than a lane) or a public park.

SLO1, SLO3 and SLO4

Yarra Ranges' ranges landscape overlays: a permit unless the fence is both under 1.8 m and more than 75% see-through. A solid paling fence doesn't pass.

SLO2, SLO5 and SLO6

Yarra Ranges' farmland landscape overlays: a permit unless the fence is a rural post and open-weave wire fence under 1.8 m.

SLO22

The foothills and township overlay: a front fence needs a permit unless it is under 1.2 m or more than 75% see-through.

ESO1

The biodiversity overlay names fences, but its wording can be read two ways. Ask Yarra Ranges planning before building on an ESO1 block.

DDO14, the hills towns

Kallista, Mount Dandenong, Olinda, Sassafras and Tecoma: design guidance that prefers planting to imposing fences, not a permit trigger.

Yarra Ranges' own fence page sums up its landscape overlays more simply than the schedules do; the schedules are the rule. The other councils here:

Knox

SLO2 and SLO3: a permit for a front fence unless it is 1.2 m or less and more than 50% see-through, and for a side fence in front of the house unless 1.2 m or less. SLO4, The Basin's rural landscape: a permit for any fence unless post and wire, 1.2 m or less and more than 75% open. Its ESO3, VPO1 and DDO1 have no fence rule.

Cardinia

Its hills overlays (SLO1, SLO4, SLO5, ESO1, VPO2, VPO3, DDO2) have no fence rule, so the state exemption for fences is the starting point. Clearing vegetation for a fence is a separate question.

Maroondah

Its landscape, vegetation and design overlays have no fence rule.

Get a free property report from VicPlan to see which overlays cover your block.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 62.02 (buildings and works), Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 43.01 (Heritage Overlay), Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedules to Clause 42.03 (SLO1–6, SLO22, SLO23), Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedules to Clause 42.01 (ESO1, ESO2), Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedules to Clause 43.02 (DDOs), Yarra Ranges Council: building a fence, Knox Planning Scheme, Schedules 2, 3 and 4 to Clause 42.03, Knox Planning Scheme, schedules to Clauses 42.01, 42.02 and 43.02, Cardinia Planning Scheme, schedules to Clauses 42.01, 42.02, 42.03 and 43.02 and Maroondah Planning Scheme, schedules to Clauses 42.02, 42.03 and 43.02.

Barbed wire

A fence beside a street or public open space can't carry barbed wire or sharp points, unless they are set back 150 mm, at least 2 m up, or the block is 2,000 m² or more and mainly used for livestock.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Building Regulations 2018 (Vic), authorised version 031.