Handyman in Moses Lake, WA

Six feet at the side or rear, four feet out front if the fence is solid. That is the city rule, in residential zoning districts inside the city line. A nonsight obscuring front yard fence may go to five feet. Nonresidential zones cap at eight feet.

Inside the city, height is only half the question. The city requires a fence permit before you install, maintain, repair or replace any fence, at any height and in any zone. Outside the city line, in unincorporated Grant County, the building permit does not start until the fence passes seven feet, counting the posts and anything on top.

No building permit for a residential shed under 200 square feet inside city limits. The city exempts a one story detached accessory storage structure such as a tool shed or playhouse when it stays under 200 square feet. Commercial and industrial uses drop to less than 120 square feet.

Setbacks are a separate question from the permit. In the city's R-1 Low Density Residential zone the rear setback is 15 feet, the side setback is 5 feet, and an accessory structure may be no taller than 20 feet. Outside the city line the shed is Grant County's call, not the city's.

Not as a pole building inside city limits. City code defines a pole building as a wood frame structure built with post and beam construction and no concrete footings or foundation, and does not allow one to be built in any zone of the city. The footings decide it, not the name.

A structure on a foundation is a different question, and the R-1 numbers still apply. In that zone an accessory structure may be no taller than 20 feet, set 15 feet off the rear line and 5 feet off the side. Outside the city line the project goes to Grant County Development Services.

No building permit if less than 25 percent of the existing roof sheathing is being replaced. That is the city rule for reroofing a single family dwelling or private garage inside city limits. Past 25 percent, the job needs a permit.

Check one more thing before you compare bids. The city does not require ice and water shield on roofing, so a bid that carries it is a choice somebody made and not a code item. That 25 percent line is a city rule and does not describe unincorporated Grant County.

The city publishes its own targets. Over the counter permits run 1 to 2 hours. Residential projects minor in complexity are targeted at 2 working days, and standard residential at 5 working days.

Those targets belong to the city, not the county. If your address sits outside the city line, the application goes to Grant County Development Services instead, and the city's numbers do not describe it. Settle which desk your project belongs to before you plan around a date.