NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 16 — Boundary walls exceeding 2.4 metres in height are illegal under Kenya’s National Building Code 2024, a construction expert has warned, amid debate over a viral image of a towering concrete wall rising several storeys above a neighbouring bungalow in Nairbi.
Quantity surveyor Ernest Nyakundi said the law clearly limits the height of boundary walls and cautioned property owners against erecting oversized perimeter barriers in response to disputes with neighbouring developments.
“The National Building Code is explicit — a boundary wall should not exceed 2.4 metres in height,” Nyakundi stated in a commentary on Monday.
The National Building Code 2024 provides that a boundary wall “shall be of a height that does not exceed 2.4m.”
The code also states that although a developer may initially build an enclosure around a residential property at a lower height, they may only increase it to a maximum of 2.4 metres.
Nyakundi explained that the restriction exists to safeguard public safety and ensure proper ventilation, lighting and orderly urban development.
Excessively tall boundary walls block natural light, he warned, interfere with airflow between buildings, create potentially unsafe free-standing structures and gradually transform neighbourhoods into isolated “concrete fortresses.”
“You cannot solve one planning violation by creating another,” he said, noting that urban planning regulations are designed to manage how buildings interact with each other rather than encourage defensive construction.
In many disputes between neighbours, Nyakundi said the real problem is not the boundary wall itself but issues of privacy, overlooking and the risk of falling debris or litter from upper floors of adjacent developments.
Planning requirements
Where a neighbouring building installs windows or balconies that directly face a smaller property, he explained, the developer may already be breaching planning and building regulations.
The National Building Code requires buildings to maintain sufficient open space between opposing windows to guarantee adequate ventilation, natural lighting and privacy.
In dense urban areas, planning authorities may also require setbacks for habitable rooms and balconies, meaning structures must be positioned at a minimum distance from property boundaries and neighbouring buildings.
Instead of constructing massive perimeter walls, Nyakundi advised affected homeowners to pursue formal regulatory remedies by filing complaints with the county planning department and the National Construction Authority, requesting inspection of approved building plans and challenging the development’s compliance with planning regulations.
If inspectors confirm violations involving setbacks, ventilation rules or planning approvals, authorities have the power to require corrective measures, including blocking windows facing neighbouring properties, altering balconies, demolishing illegal sections of the building or awarding compensation to affected property owners.
Nyakundi noted that such enforcement actions are not merely theoretical.
He pointed to a recent case in Eastleigh where authorities ordered a developer to block windows overlooking a neighbouring home and pay damages after inspectors established that the project had breached planning regulations.
“Urban planning laws already provide solutions,” he said. “Building fortress walls is not one of them.”