Electric fencing
Electric fencing installed on walls and perimeters, from homes to agricultural and game farms.
Send us a message
An electric fence is a few thin strands on top of a wall. After a month, nobody in the house looks at it. That is fine, as long as it is working.
A fence knocked out in the last storm still looks like a fence. It ticks for nobody. It waits on the wall, night after night, until the one night you need it.
What is electric fencing?
An electric fence is a set of wires, usually on top of a wall, carrying short pulses of high voltage from a unit called an energiser. The shock is painful but isn't meant to cause lasting harm. If someone cuts or shorts the wires, the energiser sounds an alarm and can alert your phone or armed response.
We install, maintain and repair electric fencing for homes, businesses, complexes and estates. We walk the whole boundary first, wall by wall and corner by corner, before anything is quoted.
What a working fence does
The energiser sends a pulse along the wires about once a second. When someone touches or cuts a wire, the fence sounds an alarm and can send an alert to your phone.
Voltage monitoring watches the power on the fence wires for you, so when it drops, because a wire was cut or a branch is touching it, you hear about it straight away. You don't find out the other way.
The shock is short and sharp, and it is meant to be. It tells a person to let go and step back. A fence built to the regulations does its work long before anyone reaches the house.
Homes, businesses and estates
A home needs a fence along its boundary walls. A factory needs one covering a long perimeter, split into zones, so the alarm says where the fence was touched.
An estate needs both, over a long boundary, with one panel showing the whole perimeter at a glance.
- Residential electric fencing on boundary walls
- Commercial and industrial fencing for warehouses, factories and business parks
- Estate and long perimeter fencing
- GSM alerts and integration with your alarm
Linked to your alarm and your phone
A fence on its own makes a noise. A fence linked to your alarm wakes the whole house.
With a GSM module on the energiser, the fence sends alerts to your phone. You know when it is touched, when it is cut and when its power drops.
At night, that is the difference between a noise somewhere outside and a message telling you which wall.
The same alerts reach you when you are away, so the fence keeps reporting the week you are on holiday.
Keeping the fence live
Plants grow into the wires. Storms knock strands loose. A branch rests on the top line, and the fence starts to sound for no reason. Most false alarms start this way.
People switch a noisy fence off "for now". Months later, it is still off. A fence sounding for no reason teaches the house to ignore it. That is the worst fault a fence can have.
We find the cause, repair it and get the fence live again. Battery backup keeps it running through load-shedding, while the battery is healthy.
Service and maintenance plans →What affects the cost of an electric fence
The length of the fence counts most, but it is one part of the price. A straight wall around a small garden is one job. A long boundary with corners, gates and trees is another.
On the visit we walk the whole boundary, the way someone looking for a way in would walk it.
The quotation is written down, and nothing is ordered until you accept it.
- The length of the boundary, and how many corners and gates it has
- The height of the wall, and the number of strands on top
- The energiser, sized for the length of the fence
- GSM alerts to your phone, and a link to your alarm
- Battery backup, so the fence stays live through load-shedding
- Whether old brackets and wire can stay, or must come down first
The Certificate of Compliance
In South Africa, an electric fence needs an Electric Fence Certificate of Compliance, issued by a registered installer. We are registered, and we issue the certificate for the fences we install. You may be asked for it when you sell the property.
The certificate shows the fence was built and tested to the regulations. That covers the energiser, the height of the wires, the warning signs and the earth.
A fence without one can hold up a sale at the worst moment. Older fences, and fences changed since they were certified, may need work first. Ask about yours when we assess the property, and we tell you what your fence needs.
Nemtek and Stafix electric fencing
We install, maintain and repair electric fences built with Nemtek and Stafix energisers and components, on walls, perimeters and estate boundaries.
Both brands are common on South African walls, so parts are easy to find when a fence needs one.
We choose the energiser for the length of your fence, and the components for the wall it sits on. A fence on a low garden wall and a fence on a factory perimeter use different hardware.
When we service a fence built with either brand, we test the energiser, the earth and the voltage along every line.
Electric fencing: our gallery
Related services
Fencing
Electric fencing for homes, businesses, agricultural and game farms, on top of a wall or as a freestanding fence. Sophisticated systems can link to an app on your phone and pinpoint the exact zone the moment someone tampers with the fence or cuts it.
Industrial fencing
Anti-climb welded mesh fencing for homes, and for sites ranging from parklands to factories, warehouses and industrial yards.
We offer service level agreements and finance for your electric fencing. Each one is a service contract with 24-hour support at night and on weekends.
Planning your security from the start? Read our home and business security guide, covering gates, access control, cameras, alarms and fencing.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an electric fence cost?
The cost of an electric fence depends mainly on the length of the boundary, the number of corners and gates, and how many strands go on top of the wall. A short wall around a townhouse costs far less than a long perimeter around a farm or a business. The height and condition of the wall count too, since brackets need a solid base. The power of the energiser (the box powering the fence), a GSM module for phone alerts, a link to your alarm and zones for a long fence all add to the price. Each one makes the fence more useful. We walk the whole boundary first, wall by wall and corner by corner. Then we give you a written quotation listing every part before anything is ordered. If you already have a fence, we can quote to repair or upgrade it instead.
Which electric fence brands do you use?
We install Nemtek and Stafix electric fencing, two of the best-known names in South Africa. This covers the energiser (the box powering the fence), which powers the fence and sounds the alarm, and the components on the wall, such as brackets, insulators, wire and warning signs. We choose the energiser to suit the length of the fence and the number of zones. A short home fence needs a smaller unit than a long perimeter around an estate or factory. GSM alerts, links to your alarm and the number of zones decide the rest of the setup. Both brands are widely stocked, which makes parts easier to find for repairs later. We also service and repair fences using other brands, as long as parts are still available. The written quotation lists the brand and model.
My fence keeps going off. Can you fix it?
Yes. Most electric fence false alarms come from plants or branches touching the wires, a loose or broken strand, a cracked insulator, a faulty earth or a tired energiser. Storms, birds and monkeys can cause trouble too. We walk the fence, test each section and find the fault, then fix it, often on the same visit. Don't leave the fence switched off while you wait. A fence switched off still looks like a fence from the street, but it protects nothing and warns you of nothing. If the fence goes off often, trimming plants along the wall helps a lot. Splitting a long fence into zones also makes faults easier to find. If the energiser (the box powering the fence) is too old to repair, we tell you and quote for a replacement before any work starts.
Can my fence send alerts to my phone?
Yes. With a GSM module on the energiser (the box powering the fence), your electric fence sends a message to your phone when it's touched, cut, shorted or loses power. You find out within seconds, wherever you are. If the fence is split into zones, the message tells you which part of the boundary was affected, so you know where to look before you open the door. At night, this is the difference between hearing a noise outside and knowing what it was. Some systems also let you switch the fence on or off from your phone, which helps when a gardener or contractor needs to work near it. The module needs a SIM card with airtime or data. We fit and set it up, test it with you, and show you how to change which phones receive alerts.
Do I need a certificate for my electric fence?
Yes. In South Africa, every electric fence installed or changed since October 2012 needs an Electric Fence System Certificate of Compliance, issued by a registered installer. Without one, you may struggle when you sell the property, and some insurers ask for it after a claim. The certificate confirms the fence meets the safety rules, including the energiser (the box powering the fence) type, wire heights, warning signs and earthing. We're registered, and we issue the certificate for the fences we install. If you have an older fence, or one installed by someone else, we can inspect it when we assess the property. We tell you whether it complies, and if not, what needs to change. The written quotation covers both the work and the certificate.
Does an electric fence work during load-shedding?
Yes, as long as the energiser (the box powering the fence) has a healthy backup battery. The battery charges while the power is on and takes over when it goes off, so the fence stays live and keeps reporting to your alarm and phone. Outages are when many people feel most exposed, so a fence going dead with the lights is the worst case. The battery is the weak point. It fades over months without any warning and usually fails on the longest outage. Frequent load-shedding wears batteries out faster. We test the battery at every service visit and replace it before it gives up. If your outages are long, we can fit a bigger battery or link the energiser to solar power or a battery backup system.
Where we work
Our teams work from our Kya Sands workshop, for homes, estates and businesses in Randburg, Fourways, Sandton, Midrand, Waterfall, Centurion, Roodepoort, Krugersdorp, Bedfordview, Edenvale and the West Rand. See all the areas we serve.
Talk to us about your home and business security needs
You shouldn't have to sit at the bottom of your own driveway, wondering whether the gate will close. With Paul's Gates you won't. Send us a message or chat on WhatsApp, and we will come and look.