Fence Installation Costs VIC 2026 - Get Free Quotes

Fence Installation Costs in VIC

Fencing in Victoria is priced by the metre, and most residential work falls between $80 and $350 a metre installed. A treated pine paling fence, the standard boundary between suburban blocks, sits at the bottom of that band at roughly $80 to $150 a metre, Colorbond steel a little above it, and hardwood, aluminium and tubular steel higher again. A full fencing job for an average suburban backyard usually comes to somewhere between $3,000 and $10,000 once gates, the removal of the old fence and any awkward ground are added in. The per-metre rate is a useful guide, but the total depends heavily on the specifics of your block.

The material is the first thing that moves the price, and it moves it a long way. Treated pine is the cheapest and most common, Colorbond offers a maintenance-free steel fence at a middling price, and premium timbers such as merbau, along with aluminium and tubular steel, cost considerably more per metre. Beyond those sit brick and rendered fences, which need footings and often engineering, and glass, which is used mostly around pools. Each material is a different job to build, so the labour tracks the material as much as the material cost itself.

Two Victorian rules shape almost every fencing job before you even choose a material, and it pays to understand them early. The first is that a fence on the boundary between two properties is a dividing fence under the Fences Act 1968, which sets out how neighbours share the cost, so your share of a standard dividing fence is often only half the total. The second is that a fence enclosing a swimming pool or spa is a safety barrier governed by strict standards and a council registration scheme, not an ordinary fence, and getting it wrong carries penalties as well as risk. Both of these are covered in detail below, because they change what you can build and what you will pay.

The ground is the hidden variable that separates a cheap quote from an accurate one. Standing posts in soft, even soil is fast, but Melbourne's reactive clay, the basalt rock through the western suburbs and the goldfields, and blocks that slope across the run all add real time and sometimes special equipment. A fencer who has walked the line and dug a test hole will price the footings properly, while one quoting a flat rate from the street is guessing at the part of the job most likely to bite. This is why a site measure matters more in fencing than the smooth per-metre rate suggests.

Removing the old fence is a line that deserves its own attention, and in Victoria it occasionally becomes the largest surprise in the job. Many properties built or fenced before the 1990s have asbestos cement fencing, often the corrugated sheet known as super six, and taking that down safely is licensed work with proper disposal rather than a job for a ute and a trailer. Where the old fence is ordinary timber or steel, removal and disposal is straightforward and modest. Where it is asbestos, the cost and the care both rise sharply, which is one more reason to have the line inspected rather than guessed.

Throughout this guide the figures are indicative and the approach is the same. Decide the material and the height, understand your obligations to your neighbour and to any pool, and get a fencer to see the actual ground before you accept a price. A fence is one of the few building jobs where the finished product looks identical whether the posts were set to the right depth or not, so the quality you are paying for is mostly in the parts you cannot see once the panels are up. The sections that follow break down each of those decisions in turn.

Cost by Fence Type

Treated pine paling is the workhorse of Victorian fencing and the benchmark everything else is measured against. At roughly $80 to $150 a metre installed it is the cheapest standard option, it suits the typical rear and side boundary, and it can be capped, lapped or left as a plain paling depending on the look you want. Treated pine handles the ground well because it is designed to, though the palings themselves weather to grey and can cup over the years unless they are oiled or painted. A coat from a fence painting and staining specialist every few years keeps a pine fence looking new far longer.

Colorbond steel has become the default choice for many homeowners who want a fence they never have to maintain. At about $90 to $170 a metre it costs a little more than pine, it comes in a wide range of colours, it does not rot, warp or need painting, and it gives good privacy with no gaps. The trade-off is that a dent stays a dent and a damaged sheet is harder to patch invisibly than a timber paling, and in very exposed coastal positions the fixings and finish matter more. For most suburban blocks it is a sensible middle option that holds its appearance for decades.

Hardwood and premium timber fences are chosen for their look, and they are priced accordingly at around $120 to $250 a metre. Merbau, spotted gum and other hardwoods give a rich, natural finish that many people prefer to steel, particularly for a front fence or a feature screen, and they can be built as palings, slats or a horizontal batten screen. The cost reflects both the timber and the extra labour, and hardwood needs oiling to keep its colour or it will silver off like any timber. A landscaping project often pairs a hardwood screen with planting to soften a boundary.

Aluminium and tubular steel sit at the top of the common range, from about $150 to $350 a metre, and they are used where you want a fence you can see through. Pool surrounds, front boundaries and garden fences are the usual applications, because these fences are strong, low maintenance and available in both classic and modern styles. Aluminium in particular is light, will not rust and suits coastal Victoria well, while tubular steel is heavier and more traditional. Both are frequently the material of choice for a compliant pool fence, where see-through strength is exactly what the safety rules call for.

Brick, rendered and glass fences are the premium end and they are different jobs again. A brick or rendered fence needs proper footings and sometimes engineering, which is why it runs from $400 a metre well upwards, and a bricklaying and blockwork crew rather than a fencer usually builds it. Glass fencing, most often seen around pools, costs roughly $300 to $650 a metre and combines an unobstructed view with a compliant barrier, and a glass pool balustrade uses the same toughened glass and stainless fittings. These options buy appearance and permanence, and they are worth it where the fence is a feature rather than just a boundary.

What Drives the Price

Length and height are the first drivers, and they are the ones a quote is built on. Fencing is sold by the metre, so a longer run costs proportionally more, and a taller fence uses more material and needs stronger, more deeply set posts for every metre of that run. A standard rear-boundary fence is usually around 1.8 metres, and going higher for privacy pushes both the material and the labour up while also raising the question of whether a permit is needed. The height you choose is therefore a cost decision and sometimes a planning one at the same time.

The footings are where the real money hides, because a fence is only as good as the posts holding it up. Posts must be set to a proper depth in concrete to resist wind and the weight of the panels, and that depth and the amount of concrete increase with the height of the fence and the softness of the ground. In easy soil this is quick, but in the reactive clay common across Melbourne, or the bluestone rock through the west and the goldfields, digging is slow and occasionally needs a rock auger or a rock drill. A quote that assumes easy digging on a block that turns out to be rock will not hold.

Access and the shape of the site affect the labour more than people expect. A clear, straight run at the back of a flat block is the quickest fence to build, whereas a narrow side access, a steep drop to the rear, established gardens to protect, or a boundary that steps around corners all slow the work down. Where machinery cannot reach, posts and concrete are barrowed in by hand, which adds hours across a long run. A fencer who sees these constraints on site will price them, while one quoting blind will either pad the rate to be safe or discover the problem halfway through.

Removal and disposal of the existing fence is a distinct cost and worth itemising separately. Taking down an ordinary timber or steel fence and carting it away is modest, but the volume of an old fence is easy to underestimate, and a demolition and cart-away line grows with the length of the boundary. Where an old fence is asbestos cement, the cost rises considerably because the work must be done under controls and the waste taken to a licensed facility. Green and general waste from clearing a boundary can also be handled by a garden cleanup and green waste removal service.

Gates, returns and extras round out the quote and add up quietly. A single pedestrian gate, a wide vehicle gate, a lockable latch, capping, a lattice extension for privacy or a stepped design on a slope are all sensible additions that each carry a cost, and a run of them can lift a simple fence noticeably. It is worth deciding these before you get quotes so every fencer is pricing the same scope. Adding them one at a time after the job starts is how a straightforward fence becomes an expensive one.

Dividing Fences and the Law

A fence on the common boundary between two properties is a dividing fence, and in Victoria it is governed by the Fences Act 1968. The core principle is that neighbours generally share the cost of a sufficient dividing fence equally, because both properties benefit from it, so for a standard fence your share is often half the total rather than the whole amount. What counts as a sufficient dividing fence depends on the properties and the neighbourhood, and it is the standard the law expects both parties to contribute to. Anything grander than that is usually the choosing party's own expense.

The Act sets out a process for getting a neighbour to contribute, and following it protects you. If you want to build or replace a dividing fence and share the cost, you serve your neighbour a fencing notice setting out the proposed work, the material and the estimated cost, and the two of you then have a defined period to agree. Getting two or three quotes before you serve the notice is sensible, because it shows the cost is reasonable and gives your neighbour real figures to consider. General guidance on dividing fences and neighbourhood disputes is available through the Victorian Government.

Disagreements about dividing fences are common and there is a clear path for them. If you and your neighbour cannot agree on the fence, the cost or the boundary, the free mediation offered by the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria resolves the great majority of cases without anyone going near a court. Where mediation does not settle it, dividing fence disputes under the Fences Act are heard in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria rather than at VCAT, which is a point people often get wrong. Trying mediation first is almost always faster and cheaper than reaching for a hearing.

A few practical points save a lot of grief with a shared fence. Talk to your neighbour before you commit to anything, agree the line of the boundary if there is any doubt, and put what you agree in writing, because a friendly verbal understanding has a way of fading once the invoice arrives. If your neighbour wants a more expensive fence than the standard, they can generally have it by paying the difference, and if you want the upgrade, the extra is usually yours. A fence and gate repair to an existing shared fence follows the same cost-sharing logic as a new one.

Permits, Height and Boundaries

Most ordinary fences do not need a permit, but several common situations do, and it is cheaper to check than to rebuild. A building permit is generally required where a fence forms part of a swimming pool or spa safety barrier, where a masonry fence exceeds a set height, or where a fence sits on a street alignment or a corner in a way that affects sightlines. A very tall fence can also cross the threshold, so if you are going well above the standard 1.8 metres it is worth asking. A registered building surveyor can tell you quickly whether your particular fence needs one.

Front fences carry their own planning rules, and they are stricter than most people assume. In many residential zones a front fence above roughly 1.2 to 1.5 metres, depending on the road, needs a planning permit, and a property inside a heritage overlay may be required to match a particular style, such as a traditional timber picket in an area of Victorian and Edwardian homes. Corner blocks have sightline rules to keep driveways and intersections safe. Checking your council's controls before you design a front fence avoids designing something you are not allowed to build.

Boundaries themselves are worth getting right before any post goes in the ground. A dividing fence is normally built on the common boundary, but the exact line is not always where a hedge or an old fence suggests, and building in the wrong place can create a dispute or an encroachment that is expensive to unwind. Where there is genuine doubt, a licensed land surveyor can establish the boundary, and for a significant investment such as a brick fence or a retaining wall that certainty is money well spent. A building inspection or survey before you start is cheap next to moving a wall.

Digging brings one more obligation that is easy to overlook and dangerous to ignore. Before any post holes are dug, the location of underground services should be checked through the free Before You Dig Australia service, because striking a gas, electricity, water or telecommunications line while digging is hazardous and the repair bill lands on whoever dug. A professional fencer will do this as a matter of course, and it is one of the quiet marks of a proper operator. Guidance on working safely around these hazards is available through WorkSafe Victoria.

Pool and Spa Safety Barriers

A pool or spa fence is a safety barrier first and a fence second, and Victoria treats it that way in law. Any pool or spa capable of holding more than 300 millimetres of water must be surrounded by a compliant barrier, and the requirements cover the height of the barrier, the gaps beneath and between it, the climbable zone that must be kept clear, and gates that must be self-closing and self-latching. These rules exist because a barrier is the last line of defence for a young child, and they are published as Australian Standards through Standards Australia under the AS 1926 series. A pool fencing installation specialist builds to that standard as a matter of routine.

Victoria also runs a registration and inspection scheme that pool owners must comply with, and it is separate from simply building the fence. Owners are required to register their pool or spa with the local council, arrange for a registered inspector to check the barrier, and lodge a certificate of barrier compliance, with re-inspection required periodically. The barrier must meet the standard that applied when the pool was built, and the Building and Plumbing Commission provides guidance on how the scheme works. Penalties apply for an unregistered pool or a non-compliant barrier, so this is not an area to treat casually.

The materials for a pool barrier are chosen for strength and visibility rather than privacy. Tubular steel, aluminium and frameless or semi-frameless glass are the usual choices, because a barrier must be strong, non-climbable and able to be seen through so a pool is never unwatched, and a solid privacy fence generally does not suit unless it is specifically designed as a barrier. Frameless glass gives an unobstructed view and a premium look at $300 to $650 a metre, while tubular and aluminium are more affordable and just as compliant. The right choice depends on your budget and how much you want to see the pool from the house.

A common and costly mistake is treating an existing fence as a pool barrier when it was never built to be one. A boundary fence that happens to run past a pool is not automatically compliant, gates into the pool area must self-close and self-latch to the standard, and even small details like a gap under a gate or a climbable object near the fence can fail an inspection. Getting the barrier assessed by a registered inspector before you assume it passes is the sensible order of events. Fixing a barrier after a failed inspection almost always costs more than building it right at the start.

Materials Compared

Choosing a fencing material is a trade between upfront cost, maintenance and looks, and each option lands differently on those three. Treated pine is cheapest to install but needs oiling or painting to stay presentable and will eventually weather and cup, so its low price comes with ongoing attention. Colorbond costs a little more upfront and asks for almost nothing afterwards, which is why so many people choose it, though it offers less warmth than timber and shows a dent. Weighing the purchase price against the years of maintenance is the sensible way to compare them.

Timber rewards the owner who likes the look and accepts the upkeep. Hardwoods such as merbau and spotted gum are beautiful and strong, and a horizontal slat or batten screen in hardwood is a genuine feature rather than just a boundary, but timber moves with the seasons, needs oiling to hold its colour, and costs more than pine or steel. For a front fence or a courtyard screen that upkeep is often worth it, while for a plain rear boundary many people would rather not sign up for it. The choice usually comes down to how much the fence will be seen.

Metal fencing suits owners who want durability and a clean line with minimal fuss. Aluminium will not rust, is light to work with and stands up well to coastal Victorian conditions, tubular steel is heavier and more traditional, and both are strong choices for pools, front boundaries and see-through garden fences. They cost more than pine and Colorbond, but they last a very long time with little care, and powder-coated finishes hold their colour for years. Where you want strength and visibility rather than solid privacy, metal is usually the answer.

Masonry and glass are the permanent, premium options and they behave like small building projects. A brick or rendered fence is effectively part of the structure of the property, needs footings and often engineering, and lasts more or less indefinitely, which is why it commands a builder's price rather than a fencer's. Glass, used mainly around pools, buys an uninterrupted view and a compliant barrier in one, at a cost to match. Neither is a casual purchase, but for the right property they add value and presence that a standard fence cannot.

Ground and Sloping Blocks

The ground your fence goes into is the single biggest source of pricing surprises in Victoria, and it varies enormously across the state. Much of Melbourne sits on reactive clay that swells and shrinks with moisture, which means posts must be set properly or they will heave and lean over time, and the western suburbs and the goldfields carry seams of basalt rock that can turn a quick post hole into a slow, equipment-dependent job. A fencer who digs a test hole before quoting is protecting both of you, because the difference between soft soil and rock across a long boundary is measured in hours and dollars.

Sloping blocks are common in the hillier parts of the state and they change how a fence is built. On a grade, the panels either step down the slope in a series of level sections, which suits paling and Colorbond, or they rake to follow the ground, and either way the posts and the setting out take more work than a flat run. Where the drop across the boundary is significant, the fence may need to sit on top of a low wall to keep it level and private. A retaining wall builder is often involved before the fencer even starts.

Retaining and fencing frequently go together, and the retaining is usually the larger job. Where one property sits higher than the next, the soil has to be held back before a fence can sit on top, and a retaining wall over about a metre generally needs a building permit and proper engineering, along with drainage behind it so water does not build up and push it over. The cost of a combined retaining wall and fence runs well above a simple boundary fence, and it is worth reading a dedicated retaining wall cost guide before budgeting. Skimping on the drainage behind a wall is how retaining walls fail.

Ground preparation and what surrounds the fence also feed into the job. Clearing vegetation along the line, dealing with tree roots in the post holes, protecting an established garden, and reinstating the ground after the posts are set are all small tasks that add up on a long or overgrown boundary. Coordinating the fence with any paving or driveway work or new artificial turf along the boundary saves doubling up on access and reinstatement. A tidy finish along the base of the fence is part of what a good job looks like.

Old Fences and Asbestos

Replacing an old fence starts with taking the old one down, and in Victoria that step carries a specific risk worth understanding. Homes and yards fenced before the 1990s often used asbestos cement sheeting, and the corrugated grey sheet known as super six was a popular fencing material for decades, so a tired old fence on an older property has a real chance of containing asbestos. It looks harmless and it usually is while undisturbed, but breaking, cutting or dumping it releases fibres, which is exactly what happens if someone treats it as ordinary rubbish.

The rules around asbestos removal exist to protect you and your neighbours, and they are not optional. Removing more than a small area of non-friable asbestos requires a licensed removalist, the work must be done with proper controls, and the waste has to go to a facility licensed to accept it rather than a general tip, all of which is overseen by WorkSafe Victoria with disposal guidance from the Environment Protection Authority Victoria. This is why an asbestos fence costs more to remove than a timber one, and why the cost belongs in the quote as a clear line rather than a nasty surprise mid-job.

Identifying an asbestos fence before work starts is straightforward and worth doing. If the existing fence is a flat or corrugated cement sheet on an older property, treat it as suspect until proven otherwise, and a sample can be tested if there is doubt, which is far cheaper than assuming wrong in either direction. A reputable fencer will raise this with you when they inspect the line rather than discovering it with an angle grinder. Being told early that your old fence may be asbestos is a sign the fencer knows what they are doing, not a reason to look elsewhere.

Once the old fence is safely gone, the new one goes up faster and cleaner. A cleared, prepared boundary lets the fencer set out and dig without working around a dilapidated structure, and it is often the moment to tidy the whole boundary, whether that means new planting, a stain or paint on an adjoining timber section, or coordinating with a neighbour on the shared run. Getting the removal right is the unglamorous half of a fence replacement. It is also the half most likely to cause harm if it is rushed.

Gates and Automation

Gates are where a fence gets used every day, so it is worth getting them right rather than treating them as an afterthought. A simple pedestrian gate matched to a paling or Colorbond fence is inexpensive and can be built as part of the run, while a wide double gate for vehicle access, a heavy hardwood gate or a decorative metal gate costs more and needs stronger posts and hinges to carry the weight. The hardware matters as much as the gate itself, because a good self-closing hinge and a solid latch are what stop a gate sagging and dragging within a year. Spending a little more on the gate you open daily usually pays off.

Automated and driveway gates are a larger project and a different trade again. A sliding or swing gate across a driveway, with a motor, remote control and safety sensors, runs from a couple of thousand dollars into the many thousands depending on the size, the material and the level of automation, and it needs power run to the gate and proper setting out so it operates smoothly for years. An automatic and driveway gate installation specialist handles the motor, the wiring and the safety features that keep an automated gate from becoming a hazard. This is not a job to improvise, because a powered gate that is set up poorly is both unreliable and unsafe.

Security and privacy drive a lot of gate decisions, and they pull in different directions. A see-through metal gate suits a front boundary where you want the house visible and welcoming, while a solid timber or Colorbond gate matches a rear fence built for privacy, and a lockable gate to a side passage keeps a property secure. Matching the gate to the purpose of each boundary is more useful than fitting the same gate everywhere. The right gate in the right place is a small decision that improves how a property lives.

Repairs and small upgrades keep existing gates working without a full replacement. A dropped gate, a failed latch, a sagging hinge or a gate that no longer clears a settled path are all common and usually fixable, and a fence and gate repair is far cheaper than a new installation where the gate itself is sound. On a pool gate, though, any repair must keep the self-closing and self-latching function that the safety standard requires. A pool gate that has stopped latching properly is a compliance failure and a genuine hazard, not a minor annoyance.

Fencing Costs Across Melbourne

Across Melbourne, fencing rates are reasonably consistent and the variation comes from the ground and the access rather than the postcode. The inner and eastern suburbs carry heritage front-fence controls and tight access along old side passages, which lifts the labour, while the growth corridors on the fringe are mostly new estates with easy access and standard fencing. The western suburbs sit on reactive clay and pockets of basalt rock that make footings harder work, and coastal Bayside positions add wind exposure. A landscaping project that includes fencing will feel these same local factors.

New estates on Melbourne's fringe have their own fencing quirk worth knowing about. Many developments come with design guidelines or a developer's fencing standard that dictate the type, height and sometimes the colour of boundary and front fencing, so the choice is narrower than on an established block. Builders often include a basic boundary fence in a house-and-land package, but the standard is usually minimal, and upgrading it is a common early job for a new owner. Checking the estate guidelines before you order a fence saves building something you then have to change.

Fencing Costs in Regional VIC

In regional Victoria, fencing rates are often a little lower than in Melbourne, and travel, ground and the length of the run become the main variables. The larger regional centres are well served, though a remote property can attract a travel component, and the goldfields around Ballarat and Bendigo sit on rock and clay that make footings hard work, much like Melbourne's west. Coastal areas around Geelong and the Bellarine add wind exposure that favours stronger fences and better fixings. A fencing contractor who knows the local ground will price it more accurately than a rate pulled from the city.

Rural fencing is a different world from a suburban boundary, and it is priced differently too. Post-and-wire stock fencing, long boundary runs across paddocks, and gates wide enough for machinery are measured in hundreds of metres rather than tens, so the rate per metre is lower but the totals are large, and the work depends heavily on the terrain and the fencing type. A property owner on acreage is usually pricing a very different job from a homeowner replacing a back fence. Confirming that a contractor genuinely does rural work, rather than only suburban fencing, matters before you get attached to a number.

Wherever the property sits in regional Victoria, the same rule applies as everywhere: get the fencer to see the ground. A rate quoted from a map or a phone call cannot account for rock, slope, access or the state of the old fence, and those are precisely the things that decide the real cost of a country fence. Ordering materials in one delivery rather than several also saves on freight when a property is a long way from the nearest yard. A site visit costs nothing and prevents the argument that comes when a flat rate meets hard ground.

What to Look Out For

The clearest thing to check is the depth and the footings, because that is where a cheap fence is made cheap. A fence stands or falls on how well its posts are set, and a quote that is noticeably lower than the others has often shaved the post depth, thinned the concrete, or spaced the posts wider than it should, none of which shows until the first strong wind or the first wet clay season moves the fence. Ask how deep the posts go and how they are set, and be wary of a rate that seems too good on a block you know is hard to dig. The saving disappears the moment the fence leans.

Confirm who is responsible for the old fence and any asbestos before work starts. A quote should state clearly whether removal and disposal of the existing fence is included, and on an older property it should address the possibility of asbestos rather than staying silent on it, because discovering it mid-job with no plan is how costs and risks both blow out. A fencer who raises asbestos when inspecting an old boundary is showing diligence. One who ignores an obvious old cement fence is either inexperienced or hoping you will not ask.

On a shared boundary, sort out the neighbour and the process before you sign anything. If the fence is a dividing fence and you expect your neighbour to contribute, follow the fencing notice process and get their agreement in writing, because starting work on a shared fence without that agreement can leave you carrying the whole cost or facing a dispute. Get two or three quotes so the cost you are asking your neighbour to share is demonstrably fair. A little process at the start prevents a great deal of friction later.

For anything involving a pool, treat compliance as the first requirement rather than the last. A pool or spa barrier must meet the safety standard and pass a registered inspection, so a fence sold to you as a pool fence should be built to that standard and the installer should be comfortable talking about registration and certification. A cheap fence that is not compliant is not a saving, it is a legal and safety problem waiting to be found. Ask directly whether the barrier will meet the standard and who arranges the compliance certificate.

Finally, look past the panels to the parts that do the work. A fence looks the same whether the posts are set to the right depth or not, whether the concrete has cured before the panels went on, and whether the gate hardware is quality or the cheapest available, so the finished appearance tells you very little about how long it will last. Ask about the post spacing, the footing depth, the gate hinges and the warranty. A fencer who answers those questions easily is one who has nothing to hide in the ground.

What to Look for in a Quote in VIC

A strong fencing quote reads as a full scope rather than a single rate per metre. It should state the material, the height and the total length, the post type, spacing and footing depth, whether removal and disposal of the old fence is included and how any asbestos would be handled, the number and type of gates, and any allowance for hard ground or a sloping run. With that on paper you are comparing complete jobs, and the cheapest number is no longer the whole story. A quote that is just a rate and a total has left the important details unspoken.

Ask each fencer what they expect from the ground and the old fence. Their answer tells you at once whether they have inspected the site, because a fencer who has dug a test hole, looked at the slope and assessed the existing fence will talk about footings, access and removal, while one quoting from the street will simply give you a rate. On a Victorian block with reactive clay or rock, that question is the most revealing thing you can ask. It separates the fencer who has measured the job from the one who is hoping it goes smoothly.

Compare quotes on the scope and the ground rather than the headline rate. A cheaper figure that assumes easy digging, omits the old-fence removal, uses fewer or shallower posts, or fits budget gate hardware is not really cheaper, it is a different and lesser job, and the gap tends to reappear as a leaning fence or a sagging gate. Describing your job once on The Quote Yard brings responses from several fencers so you can weigh what each one includes. On fencing, the value is set below ground where you will never see it.

Settle the paperwork and the obligations before the posts go in. Confirm any dividing-fence agreement with your neighbour in writing, check whether your fence needs a building or planning permit, make sure a pool barrier will be compliant and certified, and see that underground services have been checked before anyone digs. A fencing job that gets the boundary, the permits and the footings right is one that stands straight for decades, while one that skips them is a fence you will be arguing about, repairing or rebuilding far sooner than you should.