Do I need a permit for fence installation or replacement in Unincorporated Duplin County?

It depends. Whether fence installation or replacement needs a permit in Unincorporated Duplin County comes down to the details of your project.

North Carolina sets no statewide fence height. The North Carolina Administrative Code and Policies has no work-exempt-from-permit list of the model code kind, and the statewide line is a cost test: under NCGS 160D-1110(c) no permit is required for work costing forty thousand dollars or less in a single-family residence, done to the State Building Code, unless it falls into one of the listed categories such as load-bearing structures or changes to plumbing, heating, air conditioning or electrical design. Many North Carolina jurisdictions do not require a building permit for a standard residential fence, but height limits, corner-visibility and setback rules still apply and some towns require a zoning permit. Confirm with your local planning or inspections department. A fence serving as a swimming pool barrier must meet the NC Residential Code pool-barrier requirements and is inspected as part of the pool permit. Duplin County's own permitting office is the Duplin County Building Inspections office, reachable on 910-296-2124 at https://www.duplinnc.gov/182/Building-Inspections. It issues permits for the unincorporated county. If your city does not run its own building department, this is the office that will handle the job, and that is more common in North Carolina than most states: the county is often the building authority even inside city limits, with the city handling only zoning. Fences are usually a zoning review rather than a building permit, and the zoning office may be separate from the building office. Duplin County has no countywide zoning, so a fence on unzoned unincorporated property is not subject to county zoning review. Property within a town's limits or ETJ follows that town's zoning, and the county Planning Department does not provide town zoning information. Property within one mile of Duplin County Airport or Henderson Field Airport may be subject to the county's Airport Land Use and Height Restriction Ordinance, which is not shown on GIS, so contact the Planning Department at 910-296-2102. A fence that serves as a pool barrier is part of the pool permit and is checked against the North Carolina Residential Code barrier rules at final inspection.