Can I Build a Shed on a Utility Easement?
Usually no — a permanent shed does not belong in a utility easement. A recorded easement (typically 5 to 10 feet wide along side and rear lot lines) reserves the utility's access, and permanent structures in it are prohibited: the utility can require removal at the owner's expense, commonly on 30 days' notice, when it needs its corridor. The narrow exception is a portable shed on skids, at or under 120 sq ft, that can be moved within 24 hours — and only with the utility's written consent. The right answer is almost always to site the shed off the easement entirely.
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The easement's rules
Utility easements on residential lots typically run 5 to 10 feet along the rear and side lines; drainage easements are wider — 20 feet is common — and are never buildable, since the channel must flow. Access is the easement's purpose: the utility holds the right to enter at any time, with trucks and equipment, through gates up to about 12 feet wide where fences cross. The recorded documents back that right with removal — a structure in the way comes out at the owner's expense on the stated notice period, typically 30 days. Even a permit-exempt 120 sq ft shed is prohibited by the easement; the building code's exemption does not touch property rights.
The portable's exception
The one recognized exception is portability plus permission. A skid-mounted shed at or under 120 sq ft (a 10x12 at most) that can genuinely be moved within 24 hours may be allowed in a utility easement with the utility's written consent, which works as a recorded license: the owner acknowledges the removal right, and on notice the shed is moved and the corridor cleared. Consent is the difference between an arrangement and a violation — get it in writing from the easement holder, not the building department, and keep it with the deed papers. Without consent, the answer is no, even for a portable shed.
Risk and alternatives
Price the risk before accepting it: emergency removal and re-siting of a shed runs roughly $1,000-$3,000, at the owner's expense, on the utility's 30-day clock — and a shed damaged by excavation equipment is the owner's loss as well. The standard alternative costs nothing: relocate the shed so it sits 1 foot inside the easement line, fully on the buildable part of the lot, with no consent needed and no removal risk. If the yard's geometry truly forces the issue, the portable shed with written consent is the only defensible version of the plan.
The bottom line
Don't build permanent sheds in easements (removal at your expense on 30-day notice) — portable skid sheds ≤120 sq ft are movable within 24 hours only with written utility consent; otherwise relocate 1 ft inside the easement line.
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