Who pays for a shared fence, and how tall it can be in San Francisco

The boards along the back of the lot have leaned toward the neighbor's yard since last winter, and one post now rocks when you push it. Before anyone digs, two sets of rules decide how this goes: a state law about who pays for a fence between two lots, and San Francisco's rules on how tall it may be.

#What Civil Code 841 says, in plain English

California rewrote its fence statute in 2013, and the current Civil Code 841 took effect on January 1, 2014. It opens with a general rule: adjoining owners share equally in maintaining the boundaries and boundary markers between them. Then it gets specific. Owners on each side of a fence that divides their properties are presumed to benefit equally from it and, unless they agreed otherwise in writing, to be equally responsible for the reasonable costs of building, maintaining or necessarily replacing it.

Two words do most of the work. Presumed means the even split is where a court starts, not where it must end: a neighbor who proves by a preponderance of the evidence that an equal share would be unjust can be ordered to pay less, or nothing. Reasonable matters because the statute tells a court to weigh costs that look unnecessary or excessive, or that come from one owner's own taste.

HUD's inspection guide adds a practical point: fences often turn up in homeowner association bylaws and deed covenants. In an HOA or a planned development, read those papers before relying on the presumption; whether they count as the written agreement the statute mentions is a question for a lawyer.

#Five situations, and what the law does with each

Find the card closest to your situation. Each one names the part of the statute, or the city rule, that settles it.

• My neighbor won't pay their share

  Start with the paperwork: Section 841 calls for 30 days' written notice before you take on fence costs, and a notice missing a required part invites an argument you don't need. If you sent a complete one and they still refuse, offer mediation; Community Boards, a San Francisco nonprofit founded in 1976, offers neighborhood mediation. If the work goes ahead and they won't pay, the courts' self-help site says to ask for the money first, in person, by letter or by email, before you file in small claims. Keep the notice, proof of delivery, the estimate, the invoice and dated photos.

• My neighbor sent me a notice

  Read it against the statute: it should state the presumption of equal responsibility and describe the problem, the fix, the estimated cost, the proposed split and the timeline. Then answer in writing inside the 30 days. You can agree, propose a cheaper repair, get your own estimate, or explain why an even split would be unjust: the cost far outweighs your benefit, exceeds what the fence adds to the property's value, would be an undue hardship, or comes from their preferences, such as a taller or fancier design. Ignoring it is the weakest option.

• A storm or a tree knocked it down

  Photograph everything before cleanup, including each broken post at ground level. Then read your policy for other structures coverage, which the state Department of Insurance's homeowners guide describes as covering structures not attached to the house; ask your insurer whether the fence counts. The department lists windstorm and falling objects among perils policies typically cover, and wear and tear among those they usually don't, which matters if the posts had rotted. A necessary replacement is still presumed a shared cost under 841, so the 30-day notice applies; put up a temporary barrier on your own side if you need one sooner.

• I want it taller

  Check the city's numbers first: San Francisco Planning allows up to 10 feet in required rear and side yards, and 3 feet solid or 6 feet at least 75% open in a required front setback; over 6 feet at a side or rear line also needs a building permit. A court may weigh costs that come from one owner's aesthetic preferences, so plan to pay for extra height yourself unless the neighbor wants it too. And don't build tall to make a point: under Civil Code 841.4, a fence unnecessarily over 10 feet, put up or kept maliciously to annoy the neighbor, is a private nuisance.

• The fence isn't on the property line

  Where a fence stands proves little about where the line runs. In California only a land surveyor with a current license, or a civil engineer whose license predates 1982, may survey a boundary, according to the state's engineering and surveying board. Get the line surveyed before you pay for anything built on it, and don't take down a fence you don't solely own. If a fence has stood off the line for years, or one neighbor has used the strip, see a lawyer first: long use of land raises legal questions a survey won't settle.

#The 30-day notice, piece by piece

Section 841(b)(2) requires 30 days' prior written notice to each affected neighbor before you incur costs for a dividing fence, and lists what it must contain. The outline starts with those required parts, marked as such, then adds details that keep a reasonable neighbor from saying no for the wrong reasons. It is a sample structure for your own letter, not a legal form.

1. Date, names and the fence. Your name and address, the neighbor's, and which fence: for example, the run along the shared rear lot line from the garage corner to the side gate.
2. The presumption (required). A sentence saying that under Civil Code 841, adjoining owners are presumed equally responsible for the reasonable costs of construction, maintenance or necessary replacement of the dividing fence.
3. The problem (required). What is wrong and how you know: leaning sections, rotted posts, missing boards, storm damage. Attach dated photos.
4. The proposed solution (required). Repair or replace, and with what: height, material, posts and footings, and whether the gate stays.
5. The estimated cost (required). The figure from a written estimate, with the estimate attached.
6. The proposed split (required). Half each, or a different split and why.
7. The proposed timeline (required). A start date no sooner than 30 days after the notice, and roughly how long the work takes.
8. Who will do the work. The contractor's name and CSLB license number, or the handyman's name if the job fits the minor-work exemption.
9. Any permit. In San Francisco, say so if the new fence tops 6 feet at a side or rear line.
10. How to respond. A date, a phone number and an email, and an offer to meet at the fence or weigh another estimate.
11. How payment works. Each owner paying the contractor directly, or one paying and the other reimbursing by a set date.
12. Signature and delivery record. Keep a copy and proof of delivery; the statute requires writing but doesn't say how to deliver it.

#From the first conversation to a paid share

1. Before any letter

   Talk at the fence

   Walk it together and agree on what's wrong. A neighbor who has seen the rotted posts is easier to bring along than one who first reads about them.

2. Day 0

   Send the written notice

   Every required part, with the estimate and photos attached. Keep a copy and proof of delivery.

3. Days 1 to 30

   Let the neighbor answer

   They may agree, question the cost, bring their own estimate or argue an even split would be unjust. Answer in writing.

4. Day 31 or later

   Do the work

   Follow the notice's timeline, pull the permit if one is needed, and photograph before, during and after.

5. After the work

   Ask for the share

   Send the final invoice and ask for payment. The courts expect you to have asked before you file in small claims.

6. If they refuse

   Mediation, then small claims

   Offer mediation first. If that fails, the courts' self-help guide explains whether small claims fits and what an individual can claim there.

Talk at the fence first, then put it in writing: the law expects the letter, and the neighbor deserves the conversation.

#How tall a fence can be in San Francisco

San Francisco Planning's fence guidance, a page updated in May 2026 with a handout dated January 2019, sets limits by where the fence stands. No building permit is required for a fence 3 feet or less at the front of a property, or 6 feet or less at the side or rear property lines. Fences up to 10 feet need no neighborhood notification and are usually approved over the counter if they meet the yard rules.

Does my lot even have a front setback?

Front setbacks apply in the RH, RM and RTO districts that cover most residential neighborhoods. The requirement is usually the average of the two neighboring buildings' setbacks, capped at 15% of lot depth or 15 feet, whichever is less. Where both neighbors are built right to the front line, your lot has no front setback requirement at all.

One caveat: these numbers come from Planning's guidance, and the Building Code's own list of work exempt from permits couldn't be checked for this guide. Generic California fence articles often quote limits that aren't San Francisco's. Before building anything over 6 feet or in a front setback, confirm at the Permit Center, 49 South Van Ness Avenue; the permits guide covers the process.

#When a retaining wall holds up the fence

On a hillside lot, the back fence may stand on a retaining wall that holds up the neighbor's yard, or yours. Planning's handout allows for that: where grades differ a lot between lots, the Zoning Administrator may authorize a fence up to 6 feet above a retaining wall, case by case, whatever its height above the lower yard. The wall is the bigger question. If it leans, bulges or cracks, deal with it before a new fence goes on top.

California's engineering board lists retaining walls among the things civil engineers design and repair, and says the city's building department can tell you when an engineer is required. Section 841's presumption is written about fences; who pays for a failing retaining wall, especially one holding up only one neighbor's soil, is a question for a lawyer. If the wall is part of a wider drainage problem, the rainy season checklist covers what to check before winter.

#Who can build or fix the fence

Fencing has its own contractor's license: the CSLB's C-13 Fencing class covers building, altering and repairing fences, posts and gates, but not masonry walls. A handyman without a contractor's license can take a fence job only when the whole job is under $1,000 in labor and materials, needs no building permit and isn't split off a larger job, under Business and Professions Code 7048. In San Francisco that rules out any fence over 6 feet at a side or rear line.

Ask about the posts before the boards: whether the old footings stay or come out, and what the new posts will sit in. HUD's guide has inspectors check wood fences for rot and insects, and lists fences among the spots where wood touches soil that termite inspections cover. Where new footings mean real concrete work, concrete contractors take that part. Before signing, read the guide to hiring a handyman.