Are you planning to install a fence along the edge of your land? Before you set the first post, there is a step many homeowners overlook—and it can be costly: checking the road alignment. This boundary, set by the local authority, determines where the public highway ends and your property begins. If you misunderstand it, you may install your fence in the wrong place and have to take everything down. Here is what you need to know before getting started.
What is road alignment?
Alignment is the official boundary between the public domain (roads, pavements, municipal paths) and adjoining private properties. It is a line drawn by the administration that sets the legal boundary of your land on the street side. It is defined in the municipality’s alignment plan, an enforceable document that applies to all owners.
Do not confuse alignment with the cadastral boundary. The cadastre is a tax document, not a title deed in the strict sense. Alignment has stronger legal force: in some cases, it can even take part of your land for the benefit of the public highway if a road widening is planned.
How do you obtain an alignment certificate?
To find out the alignment line that applies to your plot, you must request an individual alignment order from your town hall. The process is free of charge, and it is a right for any owner bordering a public road. In principle, the municipality has one month to respond.
This document states the boundary of the public highway in relation to your land. If the municipality has an approved alignment plan, the order is based on it. Without a plan, the de facto boundary of the road—the actual edge of the pavement or carriageway—is used as the reference. In all cases, make this request before installing your fence.
Installing a fence on the road boundary: rules to follow
Once the alignment is known, you can install your fence provided you position it on your property: set back or exactly on the alignment line, never beyond it. Encroaching—even by a few centimetres—onto the public domain exposes you to a formal notice to demolish it.
Other rules also govern installation:
- Your municipality’s PLU (local urban planning plan) may impose constraints on height, materials, or appearance for fences along the road.
- A prior works declaration is often mandatory, especially if your land is in a protected area or if the PLU requires it.
- Visibility rules at intersections may limit the height of your fence so as not to obstruct traffic.
Alignment and an existing fence: beware of the required setback
A common situation: you have a wall or an old fence running along the street, and the municipality adopts a new alignment plan that moves the boundary back on the property side. Your fence then protrudes into the future public domain. As long as it remains standing, no one can force you to move it—this is the principle of the setback easement. But the day it needs major repairs or replacement, you will have to rebuild it in compliance with the new alignment, at your expense.
This is something to check when buying a property. Knowing the road alignment helps you anticipate a potential loss of land and avoid unpleasant surprises.
Which fences should you choose along a public road?
The choice depends as much on local regulations as on your needs. Along the roadside, municipalities often favour solutions that allow visibility: rigid mesh fencing, openwork panels, or a fence with a low base. Solid walls over 2 metres are regularly refused in urban areas.
To combine privacy screening and compliance, solutions such as privacy panels, screening slats to insert into rigid mesh fencing, or hedges alongside a metal fence work well. At Districlos, these products are available from stock, with in-store pickup or delivery to site.
The most common mistakes
The first: relying only on the cadastre to position your fence. The cadastre is not as precise as a boundary survey carried out by a chartered surveyor, and even less does it have the legal value of alignment. The second: forgetting the prior declaration, which can lead to an order to bring the work into compliance, or even a fine.
Finally, many owners do not think to check the easements attached to their land (utility routes, right to light, etc.) before installing their fence. A visit to the town hall, and possibly calling in a surveyor, helps avoid problems that are rarely settled amicably.
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