How high can a fence be in SA?

South Australia is generous on height, and strict on exceptions. Up to 2.1 m, a standard fence isn’t legally “development” at all, so you need no approval of any kind. 1 The catches are brick, corners, heritage areas, flood zones, and Adelaide’s much-loved brush fences.

How high can you build a fence in SA without approval?

2.1 m, measured from the lower of the two adjoining ground levels — so on a sloping boundary it’s your neighbour’s side that sets the limit, not yours. 1

South Australia gets there by a different route from every other state. Instead of exempting small fences from a permit, it leaves them out of the definition of “development” altogether. A fence under 2.1 m isn’t approved; it simply isn’t something the planning system has an opinion about. 1

So the exceptions matter more here than the height does. Fall into one and you are not over a limit — you are back inside the planning system from the start.

You need approval, even under 2.1 m, if the fence is:

• masonry over 1 m, including a fence with brick piers or columns, which is the trap that catches rendered-pillar front fences;
• over 1 m within 6 m of a street corner where two boundaries face roads;
• in a heritage area, either on the boundary with a road or anywhere in front of the house (a rule added on 1 July 2026);
• in a flood area, or another zone the Code singles out;
• on land used for co-located housing, unless the fence sits on the boundary with someone else’s land (also added on 1 July 2026);
• a pool safety fence, always, as covered below; or
• a brush fence within 3 m of a house, unless the wall facing it is fire resistant to the Building Code. 1

What happens over 2.1 m in SA?

The fence becomes “development”, and it falls into SA’s three assessment categories. 2

For fences, the statewide design policy sets no fixed number. An over-threshold fence is judged on its merits. 4

A handful of inner-city and master-planned zones are the exception. They give fence-and-retaining-wall structures their own fast-track “accepted development” class, up to a combined 3.3 m behind the front of the house. Adelaide Park Lands, Capital City, City Living and similar zones qualify. In an ordinary suburb there’s no such shortcut, and a taller fence gets judged case by case. 4

Who pays for a dividing fence in SA?

Half each, of an “adequate fence”. SA decides what counts as adequate by looking at your street, not by measuring anything. 3

Your neighbour’s contribution is capped at half the minimum cost of a basic fence, which is what the Act calls an “adequate fence”. If you want higher or fancier than the local standard, the difference is all yours. 3

The process runs on official forms. You fill in a notice of intention and give it to your neighbour, describing describing the fence and the cost. Your neighbour has 30 days to object with a form called a cross-notice, and silence counts as agreement. If you still can’t agree, it goes to the Magistrates Court. 3

What about brush fences and pool fences in SA?

Brush fences are an Adelaide signature, and they carry SA’s most unusual fence rule. It’s about fire, not height. 1

Pool safety fences sit outside the general rule completely. For pools built or approved from 1 July 1993, the safety fence always needs approval and follows its own standards. None of the numbers on this page apply to it. 1

Do councils have their own fence rules in SA?

No, and this is what makes SA different. Since 2019 to 2021 there have been no council planning rulebooks. One statewide Planning and Design Code applies everywhere, maintained centrally.

What changes from place to place is the zone your land sits in, and whether the Code puts extra rules over it. That’s what switches on the heritage and flood exceptions above, or the inner-city 3.3 m shortcut. The Code updates fortnightly, so check your address’s zone on the SA planning portal if anything above might apply to you. 4