Who to hire for a fence to replace

Short answer

A fencing contractor. Settle three things first: where the boundary actually is, what the neighbour agrees to contribute, and what material — because those three decide the quote, and changing any of them afterwards means starting again.

Plan itThere is time to get more than one quote, which is where the money is.

When it is someone else

Calling the wrong trade costs an attendance fee to be told so. These are the cases where this problem belongs to someone other than a Fencing Contractor.

  • a licensed surveyor

    the boundary is genuinely unclear or contested. It costs money and it is far cheaper than moving a fence twice.

  • a landscaper

    there is a level change. A fence that also holds soil back is a retaining wall and needs to be engineered as one.

What to do before anyone arrives

  1. Serve or agree the dividing fence notice with the neighbour, with quotes attached.
  2. Check your council's rules on fence height and materials at the front boundary, and any covenant on the title.
  3. Mark out what has to be moved: plants, sheds, air conditioning units, and anything the contractor cannot work around.
  4. Establish whether there are services in the fence line. A free dial-before-you-dig enquiry is worth doing.

What to ask when you book

  • How deep are the posts and are they concreted?
  • Does the price include removing and disposing of the old fence?
  • Which side gets the rails? It is a question worth agreeing rather than discovering.
  • Are gates included, and what hardware?

What changes the price

No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.

  • Material: timber paling, Colorbond, aluminium, brick or composite.
  • Length, height and number of gates.
  • Ground conditions — rock, slope, tree roots.
  • Removal and disposal.

Is this licensed work?

Generally not separately licensed, though building work thresholds can apply. If the fence retains soil it becomes a retaining wall and that is structural work with different rules.

There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.

Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.

Common questions

Who should I hire for a fence to replace
A fencing contractor. Settle three things first: where the boundary actually is, what the neighbour agrees to contribute, and what material — because those three decide the quote, and changing any of them afterwards means starting again.
How high can a fence be?
It is set by your local council's planning rules and sometimes by a covenant on the title, and front boundary limits are usually lower than side and rear. It is a quick phone call to the council and it is a much better time to find out than after the posts are in.

Find a Fencing Contractor near you

1,007 fencing contractors in this directory, ranked on published evidence rather than on advertising.

Who to hire for

General information about who does what, not advice about your specific job. Licensing, consumer law and council rules differ by state and change; the regulator for your state is the current source. More guides to hiring a tradesperson.