My fence was built without a permit. Does it have to come down?

Not automatically. Work already done without a permit generally has to be permitted after the fact, which can involve drawings and inspections, and in some cases a fence is rebuilt to an approved height and position instead. The building department with jurisdiction over the property decides which, and we do the work either way.

Will fixing the fence stop the fines on my case?

Fines, liens and hearings are decided by the code enforcement board, special magistrate or local government named on your notice. We are a contractor, so we do the repair and permit work and give you the paperwork. Anything about the money or the case status goes to that office, and legal questions go to a Florida attorney.

Does salt air off the St. Johns River change what you install in Jacksonville?

It changes the hardware choice. Gate operators, hinges, springs and latches corrode faster here, so galvanized or coated hardware and regular lubrication are worth specifying from the start. Components still have to be approved for the conditions where they are installed, and the building department confirms what it accepts.

A storm took my fence down. Is that treated differently?

The notice describes the condition, not the cause, and the deadline on it applies as written. Storm-damaged fences are a common source of notices in Jacksonville after hurricane season. We can look at the property and tell you what the rebuild involves.

Do you work outside Jacksonville?

Yes. Our Florida Certified Building Contractor licence CBC1267336 is a state certification valid in every Florida county, so we work across Florida, including Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach and Orange Park. The licence is verifiable on the Florida DBPR website.

What drives the cost of this work?

Length and height of the fence or wall, the materials, whether a survey is needed, whether a permit or an after-the-fact permit applies, and the condition of the gate and barrier hardware. We look at the property, tell you what the violation needs and agree the price in writing before work starts. The estimate is free.

Fence, wall or pool barrier in Jacksonville, FL

A fence, wall or pool barrier notice usually names one condition on the property: a leaning, broken or storm-damaged fence or wall, a fence built without a permit or outside the allowed height or setback, a pool barrier with gaps, or a gate that does not close and latch by itself. Read the notice through. Note the correction deadline and any hearing date written on it. Note the office and case number printed at the top. If anything on it is unclear, or you want to know where your case stands, call the code office named on your notice — that office, not us, answers questions about your case. If the citation involves the barrier around a pool, keep children and anyone else away from the water and keep the pool closed off until the gate, latch or gap is fixed, and please do not attempt structural repairs yourself.

Call now · (954) 906-7864

Call us or send your notice details · free estimate

A wooden privacy fence along a Florida backyard with two leaning sections and a new post set in fresh concrete, a screened pool enclosure in the background.

Jacksonville is an incorporated municipality, so code enforcement here is normally run by the municipality itself, though some local governments contract it out; your notice names the office that is handling it. Across Florida, code enforcement works under Chapter 162, Florida Statutes, which lets cities and counties use either a code enforcement board or a special magistrate. The process generally starts with a notice of violation giving the owner a reasonable time to correct the problem. If it is not corrected, the case is set for a hearing, and the board or magistrate issues an order with a compliance date. A fine may be imposed for each day a violation continues past that date, and a certified copy of an order imposing a fine can be recorded in the public records, where it becomes a lien on the property. The exact steps and dates vary by city and county, so confirm them with the office on your notice.

While your case is open, don't

Do not let the dates pass unnoticed. The compliance date and any hearing date are printed on the notice, and questions about them go to the code office named there.
Do not start permitted work before the permit is issued. Fence, wall and barrier work that needs a permit should be permitted first, or you can end up with a second problem on the property record.
Do not tear out an existing fence or wall yet. The building department decides whether unpermitted work is permitted after the fact or rebuilt to an approved height and position, so wait for that answer before demolition.
Do not leave a pool gate propped or a gap open. A barrier only works when the gate closes and latches by itself, so the opening should be closed off until it is repaired.
Do not assume an old permit is closed. An open or expired permit stays on the property record until it is properly closed out, and the building department can tell you the status.

What we do

We read the notice with youWe go through what the citation actually describes — height, setback, condition, barrier, gate hardware — and look at the property. That tells us what work the violation points to.
We check the line and the setbacksWhere the citation involves position or height, a survey is used to confirm the property line and setbacks before anything is built. That keeps the rebuilt fence or wall where it is allowed to be.
We repair or rebuild under a permitWe pull the permit under our Florida Certified Building Contractor licence CBC1267336 when the work needs one, including an after-the-fact permit for a fence or wall already built. Then we repair or rebuild it to code.
We bring the pool barrier into lineChapter 515, Florida Statutes, together with the Florida Building Code, requires a barrier around a residential pool, with gates and doors designed to keep young children from reaching the water. We close gaps and fit gate and latch hardware, and the local building department inspects the barrier and confirms the requirements for your pool.
We use components approved for the conditionsThe Florida Building Code sets wind-load requirements statewide and products must be approved for where they are installed. Outside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone of Broward and Miami-Dade, products typically carry Florida Product Approval or a local approval, and your building department confirms what it accepts.
We schedule inspections through to finalWe call the inspections, work to get the permit closed out, and hand you the paperwork to show the code office named on your notice.

Work by 360 Home Improvements, Florida Certified Building Contractor CBC1267336. Electrical, plumbing and AC work goes to our Florida-licensed subcontractors, who pull that trade's permit.

How it works in Jacksonville

Hurricane season in Florida runs June 1 through November 30, and in Jacksonville those months bring wind-borne debris, heavy rain and tropical-storm flooding. Storm damage left unrepaired — downed fences, scattered debris — is a common source of code enforcement notices afterward, and the compliance deadline on a notice still applies as written. Demand for this kind of work spikes ahead of and after hurricane season here, so it is worth starting the permit and survey steps early rather than late.

Jacksonville's Atlantic coastline and the tidal St. Johns River put salt-laden air over properties well inland, and corrosion on gate operators, hinges, latches and exterior hardware is a constant maintenance issue — galvanized or coated hardware and regular lubrication matter here. High year-round humidity swells wood gates so they stop latching, and northeast Florida sees several freezes each year that stress lubricant-starved mechanisms. The housing mix also changes the job from street to street: early-1900s wood-frame and brick homes in Riverside, Avondale and Springfield sit alongside mid-century concrete-block ranches and newer stucco and block subdivisions in Mandarin, Southside and Bartram Park, many of them in HOA or gated communities.

Questions people ask

My fence was built without a permit. Does it have to come down?: Not automatically. Work already done without a permit generally has to be permitted after the fact, which can involve drawings and inspections, and in some cases a fence is rebuilt to an approved height and position instead. The building department with jurisdiction over the property decides which, and we do the work either way.
Will fixing the fence stop the fines on my case?: Fines, liens and hearings are decided by the code enforcement board, special magistrate or local government named on your notice. We are a contractor, so we do the repair and permit work and give you the paperwork. Anything about the money or the case status goes to that office, and legal questions go to a Florida attorney.
Does salt air off the St. Johns River change what you install in Jacksonville?: It changes the hardware choice. Gate operators, hinges, springs and latches corrode faster here, so galvanized or coated hardware and regular lubrication are worth specifying from the start. Components still have to be approved for the conditions where they are installed, and the building department confirms what it accepts.
A storm took my fence down. Is that treated differently?: The notice describes the condition, not the cause, and the deadline on it applies as written. Storm-damaged fences are a common source of notices in Jacksonville after hurricane season. We can look at the property and tell you what the rebuild involves.
Do you work outside Jacksonville?: Yes. Our Florida Certified Building Contractor licence CBC1267336 is a state certification valid in every Florida county, so we work across Florida, including Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach and Orange Park. The licence is verifiable on the Florida DBPR website.
What drives the cost of this work?: Length and height of the fence or wall, the materials, whether a survey is needed, whether a permit or an after-the-fact permit applies, and the condition of the gate and barrier hardware. We look at the property, tell you what the violation needs and agree the price in writing before work starts. The estimate is free.

This page is general information about Florida code enforcement, not legal advice. For questions about your own case (deadlines, hearing dates, fines or liens), contact the code enforcement office named on your notice, or a Florida attorney.

Send us the notice

The estimate is free: we read the notice with you, look at the fence, wall or pool barrier, and agree the price in writing before any work starts — call (954) 906-7864 or send a request through the form on this website. Questions about the case itself — deadlines, hearing dates, fines or liens — go to the code office named on your notice.

Call now · (954) 906-7864

Request a free estimate

Tell us what the notice says and where the property is. We'll look at what the violation needs and agree the price with you before any work starts.

NamePhoneEmailProperty address (the property on the notice)CityZIP code (Florida)What does the notice say?Compliance date (if the notice gives one)Hearing date (if any)Anything else (optional)I agree that 360 Home Improvements may contact me about this request by phone call, text message and email at the number and email I gave, including with automated technology and an AI assistant. Consent is not a condition of any purchase. Message and data rates may apply; reply STOP to opt out of texts.

We use your details only for this request. Not legal advice; for legal questions about your case, contact the code office named on your notice or a Florida attorney. See the privacy page.

Other violations in Jacksonville

Code Violation Solver is run by 360 Home Improvements, a licensed Florida contractor. We fix the condition behind the violation; the code office named on your notice decides the case.