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Fence Companies for Installation and Repair in Billerica, MA
Billerica's 2025 zoning bylaw counts a fence over six feet as a structure, and its historic district bylaw names fences outright. In the Center or the North Billerica mill district, a new fence may need a certificate before it goes up. Call (978) 800-2452 or use the form. A person reads every request and replies with what happens next.
- Free for homeowners
- Billerica zoning, pool and historic fence notes
- Pinehurst to North Billerica
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Fences in Billerica
What needs fencing or fixing?
Wood Fences
Privacy, picket, stockade and split-rail fences in cedar or pressure-treated lumber, new or replaced.
Vinyl Fences
Low-upkeep PVC privacy, semi-privacy and picket fences, with matching gates.
Chain Link & Aluminum
Galvanized or coated chain link and ornamental aluminum, including pool enclosures built to code.
Fence Repair
Leaning or rotted posts, sagging gates, storm-damaged sections and broken pickets or panels.
In a historic district?
(978) 800-2452Tell us the street and the style of fence you're picturing, and we'll put you in touch with a fence contractor who knows the Commission may need to see it first.
Permits
Fence permits in Billerica
No posted fence rule. Billerica doesn't say on its permit pages when a fence needs a building permit. The Residential Permit Application Required Forms list additions, decks and sheds, new homes, demolition, detached garages and accessory structures, pools, interior renovation, exterior envelope work, stoves and solar, but no fence category, and the Building Department's FAQ, which runs from ADUs to sheds and setbacks, does not mention fences. Call the department before you build, especially for anything over six feet.
Why six feet matters here. The Zoning Bylaw, recodified and approved at the 2025 Annual Spring Town Meeting, lists "Fences over six feet height" and a "retaining wall over four (4) feet" in its definition of a structure. A taller fence therefore picks up the zoning treatment a structure gets. The town's fee schedule is a scanned document, so ask the department for the amount if a permit applies.
- Zoning "structure"
- Fences over 6 ft; retaining walls over 4 ft
- Fences in yards
- Allowed in any yard, subject to height limits
- Pool permit
- Security Fencing Plan and certified plot plan
- Historic districts
- Center, North Billerica Mills, Corner, Richardson's Mill
- HDC application
- $25 minor, $50 major
What Massachusetts says. The state code, 780 CMR R105.2, exempts "Fences not over seven feet" high from a state building permit, while the state chart says a fence under seven feet needs no permit or construction supervisor license (HIC contractor resources). The chart adds that it is general guidance and that the building official decides. A contractor who builds only fences is exempt from home improvement registration, and the Guaranty Fund is limited to registered contractors, so it typically isn't available; a written contract still protects both sides. See our Massachusetts rules page.
Dig Safe before posts. Massachusetts names augering as excavation (c.82 §40). The notice to Dig Safe has to reach it at least 72 hours before digging, with Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays left out, and not earlier than 30 days before (c.82 §40A). Dig Safe says both property owners and contractors are required to notify it (How It Works), uses a fence on your own property as an example, and provides the 811 service at no charge.
Last verified November 2026. Fees, restrictions and deadlines on this page are due for re-checking by January 2027. New England Fence Pros introduces homeowners to fence contractors; we don't install fences or obtain permits.
Height and placement
Height limits, setbacks and corner lots in Billerica
Any yard, within limits. Under "Yard" in the 2025 Zoning Bylaw, fences, gates and security stations "are permitted in any yard but shall be subject to height limitations." Fences over six feet are structures, so they are the ones that raise setback questions. The bylaw's residential height limits and any corner visibility rule sit in sections we could not read from the posted file, so ask the Building Department for the numbers that apply to your district. The bylaw defines a corner lot as one with an interior angle of 135 degrees or less.
Screening is a different rule. Section 6.2.D requires a solid fence, wall or evergreen screen at least six feet tall along the property line where non-residential uses need screening, reducible to three and one-half feet where it shields an adjacent public way. That applies to business sites, not to the fence around your yard.
The lot line. We found no Billerica rule on which side of the fence faces the neighbor. For the boundary itself, a survey or the town can confirm where it runs.
Pools
Pool fences in Billerica
Billerica asks for the pool fence on paper before the pool goes in. Its Swimming Pool permit checklist requires a certified plot plan (with the note "No Mortgage Inspection Plans"), construction supervisor and home improvement contractor paperwork or a Homeowner Affidavit, manufacturer-stamped plans for an in-ground pool or a brochure for an above-ground one, a signed contract, an electrical permit by a licensed electrician, and a "Security Fencing Plan (CMR 421.10.1)." That code citation is the town's own wording, so ask what the plan should show. The zoning bylaw defines a swimming pool as one with a depth of 24 inches or more and a surface area of 250 square feet or more.
Today the state building code points pool barriers to the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code it adopts. CPSC guidance, which is advice rather than law, suggests at least 48 inches of height, openings too small for a 4-inch sphere, and self-closing, self-latching gates that open away from the water (CPSC Pub. 362). The Building Department can tell you what its fencing plan review looks for.
Historic districts and wetlands
Historic districts and wetlands in Billerica
Four local districts. The Historic Districts Commission oversees the Center, North Billerica Mills, Corner and Richardson's Mill districts, reviewing exterior changes to existing buildings and new development in them. Applications cost $25 for minor work and $50 for major work, and the 2026 calendar has the Commission meeting on the first Wednesday, typically at 7 p.m.
Fences are named. The historic district bylaw (printed date June 7, 1990) defines a structure as a combination of materials other than a building, "including but not limited to a sign, fence, wall, terrace, walk or driveway," and covers features "open to view from a public street, public way, public park, or public body of water." Its exclusions are storm windows and screens, window air conditioners, residential paint color and small home-occupation signs. Fences and walls are not among them. Ordinary maintenance, repair or replacement that keeps the design, material, color and outward look is exempt, so fixing an old picket fence in kind is different from putting up a new vinyl one.
Wetland strips. Billerica's Wetland Regulations, approved June 25, 2008, call for a continuous strip of at least fifty feet of undisturbed naturally occurring vegetation on undeveloped lots, and a strip of at least twenty-five feet of naturally occurring vegetation on lots developed as of June 27, 2003. The wetlands bylaw reaches 100 feet from wetlands and 200 feet from rivers. Fences aren't mentioned in the regulations, so the Conservation office is the place to ask about a fence line near those strips.
Billerica's homes
Colonials, mill housing and lake bungalows
The state's March 1980 survey of Billerica recorded central-chimney colonials, mill workers' row houses and double houses in North Billerica, and, from 1915 to 1940, modest bungalows and small Colonial Revival cottages in the Pinehurst and Nutting Lake subdivisions (MHC Billerica report). Those small early lots are where fence height and placement get tight.
Water is a bigger factor than many towns face. The 2024 Open Space and Recreation Plan says fifty-one structures in Billerica have had repetitive flood losses, the highest number of any non-coastal community. On a yard near Nutting Lake or any brook or wetland, check the wetland strips before you set a fence line.
FAQ
Billerica fence questions
Does Billerica require a permit for a fence?
The town doesn't say on its permit pages; the residential application has no fence category and the Building FAQ does not mention fences. Under the 2025 Zoning Bylaw, fences over six feet count as structures. Ask the Building Department before ordering anything taller than six feet.
What is a Security Fencing Plan for a Billerica pool?
It is one of the items the town's Swimming Pool permit checklist requires, cited there as CMR 421.10.1. It goes with a certified plot plan (the checklist says no mortgage inspection plans), plans or a brochure for the pool, a signed contract and an electrical permit by a licensed electrician.
Does the Historic Districts Commission review fences in Billerica?
Fences can fall under it. The historic district bylaw defines a structure to include a fence or wall, reviews features open to view from a public street, way, park or body of water, and doesn't list fences among its exclusions. Repair or in-kind replacement that keeps the design, material and color is exempt.
How close to a wetland can I fence in Billerica?
The wetland regulations require a continuous strip of naturally occurring vegetation: at least 50 feet wide and undisturbed on undeveloped lots, and at least 25 feet wide on lots developed as of June 27, 2003. Fences aren't named, so check with the Conservation office before the line goes in.
What does it cost me to use New England Fence Pros?
Nothing. Asking is free for homeowners; the contractor prices the job, and the price and contract are between you and them.
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