Building a Fence in Michigan: Do You Need a Survey First?
Michigan does not have a state law requiring you to get a land survey before building a fence. But that answer needs context, because the legal minimum and the practical minimum are two different things. Homeowners who skip the survey and build on their neighbor’s land spend far more fixing the mistake than a survey would have cost.
The Michigan Line Fence Act
The Michigan Line Fence Act, found at MCL 43.51 through 43.62, governs fences along shared property boundaries. The act establishes rules for shared fence responsibility between adjoining landowners and creates an enforcement mechanism through township or county fence viewers.
Key provisions of the act include shared maintenance responsibility. When a fence runs along a property boundary, each adjoining owner is generally responsible for maintaining their half, typically the right half when facing from their property. If one owner fails to maintain their share, the neighbor can request fence viewer intervention.
The act does not tell you where your property line is. That is a separate legal question that can only be answered by a licensed land surveyor. The Line Fence Act assumes the boundary location is already known; it regulates what happens to the fence once it is built along that line.
What Fence Viewers Do
Fence viewers are appointed officials operating under the Line Fence Act at the township or county level. They have authority to inspect disputed boundary fences, order repairs or replacements, determine how costs should be split between neighbors, and issue written decisions that carry legal weight.
When a dispute arises about a boundary fence in Michigan, either landowner can petition the local fence viewers to intervene. The viewers will visit the property, examine the fence, and issue a written order. Their decisions can be appealed to circuit court, but they carry the force of law in the interim.
Fence viewers deal with maintenance and responsibility disputes. They do not resolve boundary line disputes. If the underlying question is where the property line actually is, that requires a licensed surveyor. Once the boundary is established, the fence viewer system handles what goes on either side of it.
When a Survey Is Strongly Recommended Before Building
You should strongly consider getting a boundary survey before fencing under these circumstances.
You cannot find your existing property corners. Michigan residential lots should have iron pins at the corners, set by the surveyor when the subdivision was platted. If those pins are not visible, they may have been covered by landscaping, paving, or grading over the years. Building a fence without confirming corner locations introduces real risk.
You have any reason to believe the boundary is disputed or unclear. If a neighbor has ever questioned where the line is, if the fence will run close to where a property line is supposed to be, or if your lot has an irregular shape or a metes and bounds description, get a survey before you start digging post holes.
Your fence will run close to any structure or improvement. If your planned fence runs within a few feet of a structure on either property, a survey helps confirm you are not inadvertently fencing in or out someone’s legitimate access or encroaching on a recorded easement.
You are in a waterfront or shoreline community. Michigan’s inland lakes and rivers create complex riparian boundary situations. Fencing near a shoreline without survey documentation can trigger disputes over water access rights and public trust doctrine.
How to Find Your Property Corners Before Fencing
Start with your deed and the county GIS portal for your area. Oakland County’s GIS at oakgov.com/maps, Wayne County GIS at waynecounty.com, Kent County GIS, and Washtenaw County GIS all show parcel boundaries and dimensions. These maps give you a working approximation.
But GIS maps are not legally accurate. They reflect deed descriptions that have not been verified against physical ground conditions. The boundary line shown on a county GIS map may be off by several feet from the actual legal line, especially in older subdivisions with accumulated measurement errors over decades of recording.
For legally reliable corner locations, hire a licensed Michigan land surveyor. They will locate existing monuments if they are in place, re-establish corners from deed records and adjacent survey data if they are not, and mark your corners so you can install your fence posts in the right place. The cost of a corner staking service in Michigan typically runs $400 to $1,000, depending on lot size and how much research is needed.
Permit Requirements in Michigan Municipalities
Many Michigan cities, townships, and villages require a fence permit before installation. Permit requirements vary by jurisdiction, but they commonly address fence height limits by zone (residential, commercial, industrial), setback requirements from the property line, material restrictions in certain overlay districts, and homeowners association approval in communities with HOA covenants.
Permit applications in Michigan municipalities often ask for a site plan showing the proposed fence location relative to property lines. In some communities, the building department may require a survey or at minimum a plot plan drawn to scale. Contact your local building department or township hall before starting work to confirm what your jurisdiction requires.
Municipalities like Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Lansing, and Detroit each have their own fence ordinance provisions. In communities that have adopted detailed zoning codes, fence rules can be quite specific about corner lot clearance, visibility triangles near intersections, and fence construction standards. Looking these up before you buy materials saves costly backtracking.
Encroachment Consequences in Michigan
If your fence encroaches on your neighbor’s property in Michigan, even by a few inches, your neighbor has legal remedies. They can demand removal in writing and back that demand with a quiet title or ejectment action in circuit court. Courts in Michigan regularly order fence removal at the encroaching party’s expense. In cases where the encroachment caused damages (blocked access, reduced marketability), courts may award damages on top of removal costs.
Michigan’s adverse possession statute requires 15 years of open and continuous occupation before a claim can be made, so a fence installed last year does not create any immediate adverse possession rights for your neighbor. But that same statute means you should act quickly if a neighbor has installed a fence that appears to encroach on your land. Delay can complicate the record.
The cost of a boundary survey before building a fence is typically $600 to $1,500 for a standard residential lot. The cost of fence removal, legal fees, and potential damages can easily run $5,000 to $20,000 or more. The math is straightforward.
If you need to confirm your property corners before building, find a land surveyor in Michigan near your property using our directory.