An owner wants to build a fence. How should our HOA board review the request?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 12, 2026

How an HOA board reviews an owner's fence request: Texas, Florida and Colorado fence laws, the lot checks to make, approval conditions and denial wording.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

The short answer

Most fence requests should end in an approval with conditions. The real work is on the ground: where the property line is, what easements cross the lot, and where the water drains. Get those right and the style questions are easy. State law now limits what the board can refuse. Texas protects perimeter fences as a security measure, Colorado protects fire-hardened fencing materials, and Florida confines the committee to the authority its declaration actually gives it. Rules vary by state and by each community's governing documents. This guide is education, not legal advice. Send odd cases, like a fence on a disputed line, to the association's attorney.

What Texas, Florida and Colorado allow

Texas. Property Code 202.023(b) bars a property owners' association from adopting or enforcing a restrictive covenant that prevents an owner from building security measures, and the statute names a perimeter fence as one. The section does not apply to condominiums. Under 202.023(c) the association may still regulate the type of fencing; bar fencing that blocks a license area, a sidewalk, or a drainage easement or drainage area; require a driveway gate to sit at least 10 feet back from the right-of-way where the driveway meets a laned roadway; and, if a restrictive covenant provides for it, prohibit fencing in front of the front-most building line of the house. S.B. 711 added those last pieces effective September 1, 2025. Fences built before that date may stay under 202.023(d). Under 202.023(e) the front-yard ban cannot be applied to an owner whose address is exempt from public disclosure or who gives the association a law enforcement agency's documentation of a need for enhanced security. The statute says 'type' without defining it. Material and style fit plainly. Before denying a fence only because it is taller than your guideline allows, ask the attorney whether a height cap counts. Florida. Section 720.3035(1)(a) allows architectural review only to the extent the declaration or guidelines authorized by it state or reasonably infer that authority, and the standards must be applied evenly to every owner. Under 720.3035(2), if the documents list approved fence materials or styles, the committee cannot narrow the owner's choice among them. Section 720.3035(3) gives each parcel one front for setback purposes, which settles most corner-lot arguments, unless the documents say otherwise. Colorado. C.R.S. 38-33.3-106.5(3), added by H.B. 24-1091 effective March 12, 2024, voids any rule that prohibits fire-hardened building materials on an owner's property. Fencing gets its own paragraph, (3)(c). The association may set reasonable standards for the design, dimensions, placement and appearance of fire-hardened fencing, as long as they do not raise the cost more than 10 percent over other fire-hardened fencing and the review takes no more than 60 days. A guideline that requires cedar privacy fences and nothing else needs to change.

Check the lot before you look at the design

Pull the recorded plat and lay the owner's sketch over it. Check four things, all of which show up on paper before anyone digs. The property line. An owner who guesses and builds two feet onto common area has created an encroachment. When the fence runs along common area or a trail, ask for a survey or the corner pins flagged. Easements. Utility and drainage easements commonly run along rear and side lot lines. A fence can often sit in a utility easement with a gate for access, but the utility can usually take it down to reach its lines, and the easement's terms decide who pays to put it back. Drainage easements are different. In Texas the board can bar fencing that obstructs one outright. Water. A solid fence with its bottom rail at grade across a swale turns a yard into a pond during the first storm, and the neighbor uphill calls the board. Require a gap at the bottom, or open picket, where the fence crosses a drainage path. Sight lines. On a corner lot, a privacy fence near the intersection can block drivers' view. Ask the owner to confirm the city's sight-triangle limit before you approve.

What to put on the application

One page and a sketch is enough. Ask for: - a lot sketch or survey with the fence line, gates and distances to each property line, the house and the sidewalk - height, material, color or stain, and which side faces out - photos or a brochure page of the exact style - every gate, with its width and which way it swings - whether any part sits in an easement or drainage path on the plat - the names of the neighbors who share the line, and whether they have seen the plan - the contractor's name, and the start and finish dates In Florida, 720.3035(1)(c) bars the committee from requiring a city or county building permit as a condition of its review. The approval can still say the owner must get every permit the city requires.

Conditions worth writing into every fence approval

Put the routine answers in the guidelines so the committee is not deciding them one letter at a time. Finished side out. The smooth face of a board fence, with the posts and rails on the inside, faces the street, the neighbor or the common area. Height by location. One pattern that works: 6 feet for rear and side fences behind the front corner of the house, and 4 feet, or none, in front. In Texas, a front-yard ban needs a covenant behind it under 202.023(c)(5), and the exceptions in 202.023(e) still apply. Materials. List what is pre-approved by name, such as board-on-board wood, black ornamental aluminum or steel, and masonry. In Colorado, include at least one fire-hardened option and keep the standard within the 10 percent cost line. Pool fences. In Texas, Property Code 202.022 bars an association from prohibiting a pool enclosure of transparent mesh or clear panels in metal frames, no more than 6 feet tall and not climbable, that meets state or local safety rules. It may regulate color, but not to the point of banning black mesh. Anywhere, approve the pool barrier the city's code requires. Upkeep. The owner maintains the fence, both faces, and repairs or removes a leaning or broken section after written notice. Digging. In Texas, Utilities Code 251.151 requires whoever excavates to notify the one-call center at least 48 hours before digging, not counting weekends and legal holidays. Every state has an 811 one-call system. Put the call in the approval.

Boundary fences, common area and the neighbor

When a fence runs between two lots, the board approves the fence, not the deal between neighbors. Who pays and who owns it is between the two owners, and the approval should say so. Common area is different, because the association is the neighbor. No owner fence goes on common area, ever, without a written license agreement the board approves. Colorado's statute says plainly in 106.5(3)(d) that it gives no right to build on a general or limited common element. Where a lot backs onto a greenbelt, decide in the guidelines whether owners may add a gate onto it. Our guide on an owner request for a backyard gate onto common area covers that decision.

Timeline, denial notice and approval wording

Day 0: date-stamp the complete application. Days 1 to 5: one written request for anything missing. Days 5 to 15: a committee member walks the line with the plat. By day 30: a written decision. Use the declaration's deadline if it is shorter, and find out whether a missed deadline counts as approval. In Colorado, a fire-hardened fence application not denied or returned for changes within 60 days of filing is deemed approved under 106.5(3)(c), and any denial must be in writing, give the basis in reasonable detail, and not be arbitrary. In Texas, for associations with more than 40 lots once the development period is over, Property Code 209.00505(d) requires a denial by certified mail, hand delivery or electronic delivery. It must explain the basis in reasonable detail, state the changes needed for approval, and tell the owner they may request a board hearing within 30 days. Under 209.00505(e) the board holds that hearing within 30 days of the request, with at least 10 days' notice. In Florida, 720.3035(4)(a) requires written notice of a denial stating with specificity the rule or covenant relied on and the part of the request that does not comply. Under 720.3035(4)(b), an owner harmed by an unreasonable, knowing and willful infringement of these rights can recover damages and attorney fees. Approval wording: 'The Architectural Committee approves the fence described in your application dated [date] at [address], on these conditions: (1) height no more than [6] feet; (2) location as shown on your sketch, entirely on your lot and outside the drainage easement shown on the plat; (3) [material and color], finished side facing out; (4) a [2]-inch gap at grade where the fence crosses the drainage swale; (5) you call 811 before digging and obtain any permit the city requires; and (6) you maintain both faces of the fence. This approval does not decide cost-sharing or ownership with any neighbor.' If one stretch is the problem, approve the rest and condition that stretch.

Mistakes that cost boards fence disputes

Approving off a hand sketch on a lot that backs onto common area. Ask for the pins. Enforcing a dead rule. In Texas, a covenant against perimeter fences no longer works outside condos, and a front-yard ban needs a covenant behind it. In Colorado, a wood-only rule fails against fire-hardened materials. Mark superseded clauses in the guidelines. Approving one owner's black aluminum and denying the identical fence two doors down. Florida's statute requires even enforcement, and inconsistent approvals are the first thing an owner's selective enforcement defense points to. Keep past fence approvals, with photos, in one folder and check it before each decision. For the owner's side of this question, see our guide on whether an HOA can restrict fences. When a fence is already over the line, see our guide on handling an owner encroaching on HOA common area.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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