How high is standard Colorbond fence?

Please note that information in this article was based on trends from 2019 and may now be outdated. 

There are four standard heights at which you can get your colorbond fence panels. Keep in mind that this is just the height of your panels and that any additional construction details can make the entire fence taller. The four standard heights are:

• 1.2 m
• 1.5 m
• 1.8 m
• 2.1 m

Of course, it is possible to just use the colorbond fence panels as the fence. However, there are elements that you can add to the bottom of the fence, as well as to the top. The bottom of the fence can have retaining plinths, while you can use decorative lattice on the top of your fence.

Usually, the treated pine timber sleepers are used at the bottom of the colorbond fence panels to increase the height of the entire fence. They can help retain soil but also add to the texture and colour of your colorbond fence, especially if the colorbond colours are different from the sleepers’ colours.

If you want to add more height to your colorbond fence but don’t like the idea of timber sleepers, you can go for the lattice on the top of your colorbond fence. Besides adding height, the lattice can be very decorative, and it can be used to block the view into your property.

You can rely on a professional colorbond fence installation expert to give you the best advice about what to choose for your colorbond fence and how high to make it. Get quotes for your colorbond fence installation project from several professionals before you choose one.

What Is the Maximum Height of a Fence Without Planning Permission?

The general rule is that your fence should not exceed 2.3 m in height measured from the natural ground level. For those types of fences, hedges and retaining walls, you don’t need a permit.

Other factors to take into consideration when assessing whether you need a permit is the type of material you use, the location of your fence, the ownership of the property and the maintenance costs and obligations. This is definitely a decision you should make with your neighbour.

When Can You Build Your Fence Without Approval?

According to the ACT Government Information Portal, there are cases when you can freely build without permission. Still, keep in mind that some local regulations can be in effect, and you need to check those, as well, before building. Generally, you don’t need approval for:

• Fences that don’t exceed 2.3 m in height measured from the ground level and are behind the front building.
• Hedges
• Fences that are separation lines between properties and are not higher than 40 cm.
• Fences that are replacing the deteriorated fences that had the permission, but only if they are the exact replicas.
• Fences that are replacing the destroyed fences with permission and which are used to prevent animal escape

These are the rules and regulations that are valid in most states and are the same for the majority of councils. However, just because you don’t need permission to build your colorbond fence doesn’t mean that there will be no local restrictions. Here are some restrictions you should be aware of.

• You should not create a fence that is facing the street in residential areas. You should use demarcation, such as hedges.
• You need to check the local authorities and see if your area requires your fence to be of certain colour, material or type.
• Check the Residential Boundary Fences General Code to see if your fence is appropriate in style, colour and material if it is facing public land.
• If you build a front fence, the cost of building and maintaining it is the owner's responsibility.
• Rear fence building and maintenance costs are to be split between the neighbours that share the property border.

You NEED approval for any fence that is between your own property and the territory land that hasn’t been leased to another person or company. You are responsible for the cost of building and maintaining these fences. Such territory land includes:

• Parks
• Natural reserves
• Streets
• Public access
• Laneways
• Other landscaped areas

As you can see, you may need a permit for your colorbond fence if you don’t fit into these criteria. In that case, you will have to lodge a development application and follow the instructions given to you by the officials.

The cost and the maintenance of the fence are your responsibility, or you can share this responsibility with your neighbour. So, let’s see how much that can cost you in the case of colorbond fencing.

How Much Does a Colorbond Fence Cost?

This mainly depends on the size of your colorbond fence, the length it needs to cover, and the complexity of the colorbond fence installation. Generally, you can break down the colorbond fencing cost to the cost of installation and the cost of material.

Colorbond fence panels can go from $60 up to well over $200. However, the regular-sized, plain panels with no special decorations and requirements rarely go over $150. Here are the prices of colorbond fence panels based on their height. Keep in mind that all of these are 2.4 m wide.

That is the price of the panels. Since the colorbond fence panels are 2.4 m wide, this means that you should measure the entire length of your colorbond fence and then divide that number by 2.4. In that way, you will get the number of panels you should use. If you get a decimal point, just round up to the higher number.

For example, if you have 50 m of the colorbond fence, this means you need 50/2.4 = 20.83. After rounding this up, you will know you need 21 colorbond fence panels for your project.

Similarly, if you just want to cover 10 m between your property and your neighbour’s, you will need 10/2.4 = 4.16. You will have to round up this number to 5, even though it is only a little bit over 4. When you install your fence, the panel will simply not reach the post, whether it is 2 cm or 20 cm away from it.

How Much Does It Cost to Install a Colorbond Fence?

The price of colorbond fence panels is just one item on the list of your costs. The other one is the colorbond fence installation cost. In other words, what is the installer going to charge you? The price range for this work is anywhere from $65 to $80 per metre.

This depends on whether your installer needs to do serious preparation work on your soil, how big your fence is, how complex the installation is about to be and even where you live.

The larger fences may be cheaper to install. Consider this as a discount on quantity. However, don’t be surprised if your short fence isn’t that cheap. Some of the installers will have a minimal price for their work and won’t go below it.

These are all details that should be mentioned in your colorbond fencing project description when you talk to your installer. The best way to go about this is to write one description about what you want done and how your property looks like and send it to different installers.

You will get a colorbond fence quote from each of them, so you can choose. This doesn’t take ages. On the contrary, get quotes from Australian professionals near you.