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Hiring a fence contractor: 5 red flags and 8 questions, checked against fence permits in 12 cities

To hire a fence contractor, check that the firm pulls the fence permit in its own name and that its fence permits reach a final inspection; a state license is required in only some states. In Cape Coral, Florida, 264 firms pulled 4,177 fence permits, 98.3% of those a year or more old reached a final, usually within 21 days, and the usual one was filed at $4,235. A fence firm well below its own city's numbers is the one to question.

By Contractor Records · data through October 17, 2026

Who licenses fence contractors in the states we cover

We hold fence permits for 12 cities in 8 states. Fencing is one of the least licensed trades, so the city permit record is often the only public check.

State What to ask for Look it up
Arizona ROC license. Unlicensed work is allowed only under $1,000 and only when no permit is needed (A.R.S. 32-1121) ROC Contractor Search
Florida Local licensing. Lee County (Cape Coral) issues a Fence Erection Contractor (FN) certificate of competency; Cape Coral also tells residents to check the city business tax receipt MyFloridaLicense for state licenses; CapeCoral.gov/BTR for local ones
Hawaii DCCA contractor license. The $1,500 exemption does not apply when a building permit is required (HRS 444-2) PVL search
Illinois No state license (Illinois Attorney General). Chicago licenses general contractors in five classes Chicago General Contractors (Active)
Minnesota No DLI license for fence-only work: fences are not among DLI's eight special skills City permit record
Missouri No state license; St. Louis requires a city contractor business license St. Louis business license search
Ohio No state license; Cleveland registers contractors Cleveland Building & Housing, (216) 664-2282
Texas None: TDLR does not license fence or general contractors City permit record

California, where we hold no fence permit file, has its own C-13 Fencing class (CSLB).

Eight questions to ask a fence contractor

Ask A good answer How to check it
1. Who pulls the permit? "We do, in our name" The permit on the city portal
2. Who calls in the utility locate before digging? The firm calls 811, the national call-before-you-dig number, before the first post hole Ask for the ticket number
3. Where is the property line, and who is responsible if you are wrong? A survey or pins you both looked at, in writing Your survey; the contract
4. How many fence permits have you pulled here in three years? A number The firm's page here; search by name
5. How many passed final? Near your city's share (table below) Finished share on the firm page
6. Does this fence count as a pool barrier? A clear yes or no, with the height and gate latch rules The permit type on the portal
7. What is the deposit? Enough for materials, with the rest after the final The contract
8. What license or local certificate do you hold? A number you can look up in the table above The board or city

Questions 4 and 5 take about five minutes on this site.

What the fence permit record shows

City Fence permits Firms Usual filed value Middle half of firms' usual job Usual days to final Reached final Five busiest firms' share
Cape Coral, FL 4,177 264 $4,235 $2,750–$5,000 21 98.3% 35.6%
Saint Paul, MN 1,964 81 $6,697 $5,895–$8,421 not recorded not recorded 68.6%
Chicago, IL 1,583 303 $5,000 $3,150–$7,340 160 83.9% 57.2%
Miami, FL 1,340 620 $6,000 $4,000–$8,600 86 85.2% 9.1%
Naperville, IL 1,331 105 $6,200 $5,000–$9,025 405 45.3% 46.4%
Orlando, FL 910 185 $4,600 $2,430–$5,549 55 not recorded 40.2%
St. Louis, MO 866 206 $5,693 $4,580–$7,000 213 71.2% 46.5%
Cleveland, OH 890 79 $4,242 $3,150–$5,500 168 74.3% 64.4%
Scottsdale, AZ 620 311 $7,628 $4,316–$11,040 not recorded 45.8% 31.1%
Denton, TX 652 157 $5,300 $4,200–$8,312 not recorded 97.9% 46.3%
Honolulu, HI 580 103 $7,504 $5,754–$15,000 130 94.2% 68.3%
Wheaton, IL 552 74 $6,003 $5,300–$7,020 375 80.0% 54.7%

Scottsdale files fences with walls, and Miami and Honolulu with gates, so those values cover more than a run of fence.

Five red flags the permit record can show

1. "You don't need a permit for this." Sometimes true: Columbus needs a building permit only above 6 feet (Columbus BZS FAQ, read October 2026). But the twelve cities above issued thousands of fence permits, so ask your own permit office, not the contractor. The FTC lists a contractor asking you to get the permits among its scam signs.

2. Its finished share is far below its city's. Among Cape Coral fence firms with 10 or more permits, the 10th-percentile firm still finished 93.0%, and only 1 of 54 were under 70%. In St. Louis, 7 of 13 such firms were under 70%. A Cape Coral fence firm at 70% is an outlier; in St. Louis it is not.

3. Its jobs sit open for a year. Naperville's usual fence permit took 405 days to reach a final and only 45.3% of older ones got there; 16 of 18 Naperville fence firms with 10 or more permits finish under 70%. When a whole city looks like that, the cause is usually how finals are booked or recorded, so compare firms within the city and ask the village what the open permits mean.

4. A price far under the neighbors. The middle half of Miami fence firms usually file between $4,000 and $8,600. A quote well below its city's range usually means a shorter run, cheaper posts or no permit fee, and you should know which.

5. A firm with no local history or one that went quiet. 13 Cape Coral fence firms with 5 or more permits filed none in the last 12 months of the window, and 61.8% of Miami fence firms filed exactly one. After a hurricane, out-of-area crews arrive; Cape Coral's own warning tells residents to check state licensing, Sunbiz and the city's business tax receipt (City of Cape Coral, 27 October 2025).

See every Cape Coral fence contractor by finished share →

What a clean record does not prove

A final inspection means the fence met the height, setback and, where it applies, pool-barrier rules when the inspector looked. It says nothing about whether the posts were set deep enough to last, whether the fence is on your side of the line, or what the crew did to the lawn. Insurance never appears on a permit. Saint Paul, Orlando, Scottsdale and Denton do not record every date or final we need, so there the table shows volume and price more than completion. Our copy updates about monthly; the city portal is the live record.

How we know this

Counts, usual filed values and days to final come from each city's fence permits over its three-year window (Saint Paul and Honolulu July 2022 to June 2025; Cape Coral January 2025 to September 2026; the others October 2023 to September 2026). "Reached final" is the share of permits a year or more old that the city closed with a final; days to final is the median from issue to final. The 10th-percentile and under-70% figures use fence firms with 10 or more permits; the middle-half range uses firms with 3 or more. State rules are quoted from the boards, statutes and city pages under Sources, read 20 and 21 October 2026; the Lee County certificate list is dated 2015, so confirm the current category with the county.

Numbers come from City of Cape Coral building permits (the city's open permit table starts January 2025); City of Chicago building permits (Chicago Data Portal); City of Miami building permits (since 2014); City of Saint Paul approved building permits; City of Orlando building permits for one- and two-family homes; City of Naperville building permits (the current permit system plus the city's older records); City of St. Louis building permits; City & County of Honolulu building permits (DPP), data through October 17, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.

Questions

  • Does a fence contractor need a license?

    Often not from the state. Arizona (ROC) and Hawaii (DCCA) license fence work like any other permitted job, and California has a C-13 Fencing class. Texas, Illinois, Missouri and Ohio have no state license for it, and fences are not one of Minnesota's licensed special skills. In Florida, Lee County (Cape Coral) issues a local Fence Erection certificate of competency.

  • Does a fence need a permit?

    It depends on the city and the height. Columbus, Ohio, for example, needs a building permit only for fences over 6 feet, though zoning rules still apply below that. A homeowners' association's approval is a separate step from the city's; get both before the posts go in. Cape Coral, Chicago and Saint Paul all issue fence permits in large numbers (4,177, 1,583 and 1,964 in our windows).

  • How much does a fence cost?

    The usual filed value of a fence permit was $4,235 in Cape Coral, $5,000 in Chicago, $6,000 in Miami and $7,504 in Honolulu. Filed values are what the contractor told the city, not the contract price.

  • How long does a fence permit take to close?

    In Cape Coral the usual fence permit reached its final in 21 days and in Orlando 55; in Chicago it took 160 and in St. Louis 213. Most of that gap is how quickly the final gets booked.

  • Why does a few firms' name show up on most fence permits?

    Fencing is concentrated in some cities. The five busiest firms held 68.6% of Saint Paul fence permits and 64.4% of Cleveland's, against 9.1% in Miami. A busy firm has plenty of jobs to check; it is not automatically the best one.

Build your own list

Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.

Cape Coral fenceChicago fenceMiami fence & gateSaint Paul fenceOrlando fenceNaperville fenceSt. Louis fenceHonolulu fence & gate

Related guides

For one city

All guides →

Sources
  1. Available Certificates of Competency — Lee County Contractor Licensing (list dated 3 March 2015) (accessed 2026-10-21)
  2. Cape Coral Reminds Residents to be Wary of Unlicensed Contractors — City of Cape Coral, 27 October 2025 (accessed 2026-10-21)
  3. Verify a License — Florida DBPR (accessed 2026-10-20)
  4. Licensing Classifications — CSLB (C-13 Fencing) (accessed 2026-10-21)
  5. Who needs a license? — Minnesota DLI (accessed 2026-10-21)
  6. Home Repair and Construction: How to Choose a Contractor — Illinois Attorney General (accessed 2026-10-20)
  7. General Contractors (Active) — City of Chicago (accessed 2026-10-20)
  8. HRS 444-2 Exemptions (Hawaii) (accessed 2026-10-20)
  9. PVL public license search — Hawaii DCCA (accessed 2026-10-20)
  10. A.R.S. 32-1121 Persons not required to be licensed (Arizona) (accessed 2026-10-20)
  11. Contractor Search — Arizona Registrar of Contractors (accessed 2026-10-20)
  12. St. Louis Business License Search — City of St. Louis License Collector (accessed 2026-10-20)
  13. Department of Building & Housing — City of Cleveland (accessed 2026-10-20)
  14. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation — regulated programs (accessed 2026-10-20)
  15. BZS Frequently Asked Questions — City of Columbus (accessed 2026-10-21)
  16. How To Avoid a Home Improvement Scam — FTC Consumer Advice (accessed 2026-10-20)