What Should You Think About Before Fencing Around Utility Lines?

You’ve finally decided to put up the fence you’ve been wanting. Then it hits you: what’s actually buried under your yard? Gas lines, electrical cables, water pipes, communication lines. The thought of accidentally hitting one of them is enough to make anyone pause. That concern is completely valid. Across the country, an underground utility line is damaged every nine minutes because someone started digging without checking first.

At Fence Masters, we’ve been installing fences since 1983; working around utility lines is something we do regularly. A utility line doesn’t have to stop your project. It just means the installation needs to be planned carefully before anyone picks up a shovel.

Here’s what every homeowner should think about before fencing around utility lines:

• Where underground utilities are located, and how to get them professionally marked before digging starts.
• Whether the fence will cross or sit within a utility easement, and what that means for access.
• How close you can safely dig to marked utility lines, including when hand digging is required.
• Which fence materials work best near electrical utilities.

Knowing these four things before your project begins is what separates a smooth installation from a costly, potentially dangerous mistake.

How Do You Find Out Where Underground Utility Lines Are Before Installing a Fence?

Even if you’ve lived at your property for years and think you have a general sense of where your utilities run, that assumption isn’t worth the risk. Being wrong by even a few feet can have serious consequences.

In Illinois, state law requires homeowners to have underground utilities marked before any digging project, regardless of depth or size. The way to do that is through JULIE (Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators), which you can reach by calling 811. Here’s what that process looks like:

• Call 811 at least three business days before your planned dig date. Weekends and holidays don’t count toward that window, so plan ahead.
• JULIE notifies its member utility companies, which then send professional locators to mark the approximate location of underground lines on your property at no cost to you.
• Locators use color-coded flags or paint to show you where each type of utility runs, giving your fence installer a clear picture of where posts can and cannot safely go.

Skipping this process puts you at serious risk. If you dig without confirmed markings and strike a utility line, you could face injuries, costly repairs, and significant legal liability.

Can You Put a Fence Inside a Utility Easement?

Locating your utilities is only the first part of the conversation. You also need to understand whether your planned fence sits within a utility easement, because that changes what you’re allowed to do.

A utility easement grants utility companies the legal right to access buried lines on your property for inspection, repairs, and maintenance. Even if the easement runs through your backyard, you cannot build a fence within it without written permission from every utility that holds the easement. There is also another risk to consider: if your fence blocks utility access, a utility company can order its removal at your expense, regardless of what it cost to install. This applies even if you received written permission, as utility companies can still require access years later.

You could get the fence exactly where you want it today, only to have it torn down later. That’s a conversation worth having with your fence contractor before installation begins.

How Close Can You Safely Dig Fence Posts to a Marked Utility Line?

Knowing where your utility lines are is a good start, but it does not tell you where to place your fence posts. That decision requires a second layer of planning.

The standard rule is straightforward: do not use power digging equipment within 18 inches of a marked utility line. Within that zone, hand tools are required, and every post hole must be dug by hand. For a full fence line, that adds up to significant extra time and labor. Your fence layout should account for utility markings before anyone decides where each post goes. Placing posts too close to a marked line results in more manual work, slower installation, and higher overall costs.

Which Fence Materials Are Safest to Use Near Utility Lines?

Once you know where the utilities are and how the fence will be laid out, material choice becomes part of the conversation, particularly near electrical lines. Not all fencing materials carry the same level of risk in these areas, so it’s worth thinking through your options before committing to a material.

• Vinyl and wood fencing are non-conductive, making them a lower-risk choice in areas near electrical utilities.
• Metal fencing, including aluminum and steel, can conduct electricity, which raises safety concerns if an electrical line is ever damaged or contacted.

Choosing vinyl or wood near a utility area doesn’t mean you can skip proper marking and safe digging. Those steps are still required no matter what material you choose. But if the presence of electrical lines is already on your mind, a non-conductive material is one fewer thing to worry about.

Ready to Have Your Fence Installed the Right Way?

You can absolutely put up a fence near utility lines, as long as the planning happens before anyone starts digging. The problem is that most utility line incidents happen during DIY installations, simply because homeowners aren’t familiar with the process. We are.

At Fence Masters, our team handles utility line considerations as a standard part of every fence installation. If you’re concerned about what’s underground on your property, let us take it from there. Contact us today to request a free estimate.