What is temporary fencing?
Free standing panels, usually 6 feet by 12 feet of welded chain link in a steel frame, set into plastic or concrete feet and joined with clamps. Nothing is dug in, which is why the whole line can be moved as the job changes. The standard product is chain link temporary fence, and the same system takes gates, privacy screening and windscreen. Where the requirement is crowd direction rather than security, crowd control barrier rental is the lighter answer. Pricing for both sits on the temporary fence cost page.
Why fence a construction site?
Liability, mostly, and then theft. An open Boulder site is an attractive nuisance after dark, and tools left near a storage container or a mobile office trailer walk if nothing stands between them and the street. A fence line also settles where the public may and may not go, which matters as soon as the work touches a footpath. Sites that carry a roll-off dumpster fence it in for the same reason: an unsecured skip fills overnight with material that is not yours and that you then pay to haul. The dumpster weight limits page explains why that gets expensive, and the 20 yard dumpster page covers the size most Boulder renovations settle on. The restrooms behind the fence follow the same logic: a portable toilet rental inside the line is used by your crew, and one outside it is used by the whole street.
How much fencing do you need?
Measure the perimeter and add for gates. A rectangular lot is simple arithmetic: total the four sides, divide by 12 feet per panel, then round up. Add a swing or slide gate wherever a truck enters, and remember the truck delivering a container needs roughly 100 feet of straight approach while a roll-off truck needs about 60 feet of clearance behind it, so gate placement and access planning are the same conversation. If you are not sure, walk it with us and we will count it off the site plan. The rental checklist covers the other things worth settling before a delivery date is fixed.
What about gates and access?
Every fenced site needs at least one gate wide enough for the largest vehicle that will enter. Pedestrian gates go where crews actually walk, because a fence with an inconvenient entrance gets a panel quietly removed within a week. Lockable gates matter overnight. Where deliveries continue through the job, put the vehicle gate on the side with the straightest approach so the driver is not reversing blind past a light tower or a bank of porta john units. Service access counts too, because the technician on a scheduled cleaning visit needs the same route as the delivery truck did.
Does temporary fence need a permit in Boulder?
On private property, generally not. Once the fence line sits on a sidewalk, a street or any part of the public right of way, that placement needs confirming with the City of Boulder before it goes up, and the same is true of a dumpster or a restroom in the same position. We can tell you the footprint and what the installation crew needs; obtaining the permit stays with the site owner unless the quote says otherwise. The porta potty permit requirements page sets out the line we hold on this.
How is it installed?
Panels arrive on a flatbed and go up by hand. Feet are laid out on the line, panels dropped in, clamps tightened at every joint, and bracing added at corners and along any long unbroken run. A crew can put up several hundred feet in a day on clear level ground. Wind is the design problem in an exposed Boulder lot: a fence with privacy screen fitted becomes a sail, so screened runs need heavier feet and more bracing than bare chain link. Tell us at quote stage if you want screening, because it changes the count.
What about privacy screen and windscreen?
Screen fabric zip ties to the mesh and does two things: it keeps the public from watching the work, and it holds dust and debris inside the line. On a demolition or a site running a construction dumpster that second effect is the useful one. The trade off is wind load, as above. On a short event hire, screen is often what makes a plain fence look deliberate rather than improvised, and it can carry event branding where that is wanted.
Do events use it too?
Constantly. A festival uses fence to define the site edge, protect the stage compound and channel the crowd toward entry points. A concert does the same with tighter control at the front of house. A county fair or a marathon uses barrier more than fence, because the requirement is direction rather than security. A film set uses screened fence to keep sightlines clean. In every one of those cases the fence order arrives on the same run as the restrooms and the handwashing stations, which is cheaper than two mobilisations.
How long can you keep it?
As long as the job needs. Fence rents by the month like the storage containers, so a build that runs a season pays one installation and one removal. Short event hires are priced around the labour rather than the panels, since putting up and taking down 400 feet across a weekend is the real cost. Long holds get an occasional check for loose clamps and shifted feet, particularly after a wet Boulder winter storm. A home renovation that stretches from spring into autumn is the classic long hold, and it usually carries a monthly restroom rental on the same account.
What does temporary fence rental cost in Boulder?
Three lines again: the panel count by duration, the installation labour, and the delivery. Screening, gates and extra bracing each move the figure. Distance moves the delivery leg, so a site in Valmont 2.3 miles north prices below one out in Broomfield at 9.3 miles southeast. The temporary fence cost page carries the working bands and the porta potty rental cost page shows how the rest of the fleet is priced. Send a quote request with the perimeter length and we will price it properly.
What else goes on the same order?
On a working site, most of it. Crews need a standard porta potty rental sized to OSHA 1926.51(c), which sets one facility for up to 20 workers and then one seat and one urinal per 40 above that, plus washing facilities under 29 CFR 1910.141(d)(2), which requires soap and towels or a dryer rather than sanitizer alone. Add a portable sink, a dumpster sized on the dumpster sizes and dimensions page, and a temporary power pole where there is no supply. Everything on one account means one schedule and one invoice. See construction site services for the bundle, or about Boulder Porta Pros for how we run the routes.
How tall are the panels?
Six feet, which is the standard for construction and event use. The 12 foot panel width is what sets the count, so a 240 foot perimeter needs 20 panels before you allow for gates.
Can the fence go on asphalt?
Yes. The feet are free standing and need no penetration, so panels sit on asphalt, concrete, gravel or grass without damage. That is the main reason temporary fence is used instead of driven posts.
How quickly can you install in Boulder?
Most orders go up within a few days of the quote being agreed, and urgent jobs sooner when the crew has a slot. Runs out to Erie 6.1 miles southeast or Louisville 3.0 miles west are routine, and the service areas page lists the rest.
Do you take it down at the end?
Yes, removal is part of the rental. Give us a date and the crew strips the line and loads out. If the job overruns, call before the end date and we extend rather than collecting early.
Is it secure enough to leave tools out?
It is a deterrent, not a vault. Fence with lockable gates stops opportunists and settles the liability question. Anything genuinely valuable belongs locked in a storage container behind that fence rather than leaning against it. A light tower covering the compound does more for overnight security than another 100 feet of panel.
Next step
Get a delivery date
Tell us the address, the dates and the headcount. We size the order and confirm the route.