Fence Companies for Installation and Repair in Rochester, NH

Permits

Fence permits in Rochester

Every fence, one permit. Rochester's zoning is unusually clear: "A fence permit issued by the Director of Building and Licensing Services is required prior to the erection" of any fence, and no regulated fence or wall may be "installed, erected, or expanded" without one (fence regulations). That covers a short garden fence as much as a privacy run.

The Express permit. Fences fall under the city's Express Building Permit, offered "For Fences, Roofing (Re-Shingle only), Siding, Sheds (200 sq ft or less) and Windows ONLY" at "a flat fee of $10.00," effective October 2, 2019 (Permits). The minor permit form asks for a site plan showing property lines, roads, existing structures and distances, with the fence drawn on it (Minor Building Permit form). Building & Licensing Services is at the City Hall Annex, 33 Wakefield Street, and takes applications through its OpenGov portal.

Permit

Required for every fence

Fee

$10 flat, Express Building Permit (effective October 2, 2019)

Residential height

6 ft from grade; more only by special exception

Nonresidential height

8 ft

Setbacks

Exempt if fully on your own lot

Finished side

Faces outward

Office

Building & Licensing Services, City Hall Annex, 33 Wakefield St

New Hampshire basics. Rochester's permit rules are its own to set under RSA 155-A:2. The city's minor permit form notes that the state adopted the 2024 codes effective July 1, 2026 and that applicants may choose the 2021 or 2024 set until January 1, 2027. There's no state license for fence companies; the Attorney General advises checking references and insurance, signing a written contract before work or payment, and treating a deposit above 50% as a red flag (NH AG). RSA 359-G's pre-suit notice rules for residential construction may or may not reach a fence-only job; the statute doesn't say. Our New Hampshire fence rules page covers the rest.

Call before you auger. Setting posts is excavation under RSA 374. Notify Dig Safe at 811 or 888-DIG-SAFE at least 72 hours before digging, excluding weekends and legal holidays, and no more than 30 days ahead; outline the area in white paint, stakes or other white markings; the ticket lasts 30 days. Dig Safe says both property owners and contractors must notify, and the homeowner carve-out in RSA 374:55 removes only the civil penalty, not the duty (Dig Safe; RSA 374). The notice rule in RSA 374:51 covers digging within 100 feet of an underground facility.

Last verified November 2026. Fees, restrictions and deadlines on this page are due for re-checking by January 2027. New England Fence Pros is a referral service: we don't build fences or pull permits, and the company you hire handles any paperwork.

Historic and wetlands

Historic districts and wetlands in Rochester

Downtown Historic Overlay. The Historic Overlay District covers downtown, on Tax Maps 116, 120, 121 and 125, but it exempts "Work completed on a single-family or duplex building" and structures that aren't buildings, naming light poles, street furniture and fences, along with plantings (Historic Overlay District). A fence there still needs the ordinary fence permit, just not historic review.

Rivers, brooks and wetlands. The Conservation Overlay District, adopted October 7, 2003 with buffers amended March 5, 2019, sets 75-foot buffers along the Cocheco, Salmon Falls and Isinglass Rivers and 50-foot buffers along named brooks and ponds, among them Axe Handle Brook, Baxter Lake, the Rochester Reservoir and Hanson Pond, as well as poorly drained soils and vernal pools. "The land surface within 25 feet of the edge of the wetland shall not be altered," and heavy equipment and herbicides are barred within 25 feet (Conservation Overlay District). Fences are not among the uses the overlay lists, and uses it doesn't list are prohibited, so talk to the city before running a fence into a buffer. Wetlands under half an acre, other than vernal pools, are exempt.