Cobb County, GA Building Safety: Door Locking Hardware (2026)

Cobb County Code § 134-132, in the property maintenance division of the zoning chapter, sets three linked requirements for every exterior door on a building in the unincorporated county: the door must fit reasonably well within its frame so rain and wind cannot substantially enter the building; the door jambs, stops, headers and moldings must stay securely attached to the structure without splitting or deterioration; and the door must be provided with proper hardware maintained in proper working condition. That last clause is the operative locking-hardware rule: a door with a broken, missing, or nonfunctional lockset or latch fails the standard even if the door itself is intact.

The section sits alongside sister provisions covering the rest of a building's exterior shell: § 134-130 requires stairways, decks, porches and balconies to stay structurally sound; § 134-131 requires windows to keep intact glass panes and securely fastened screens; § 134-133 covers gutters and shutters; and § 134-134 requires exterior surfaces, including door and window frames, to be kept free of rot, holes and peeling paint. Adopted by the ordinance of July 24, 2007, § 134-132 applies only inside unincorporated Cobb, since Code § 1-2(a) limits the county Code to unincorporated territory except where otherwise specified; Marietta, Smyrna, Kennesaw, Acworth, Powder Springs and Austell enforce their own property maintenance codes inside city limits.

The county's code enforcement division, created under §§ 2-101 through 2-103, holds citation authority over chapter 134 zoning violations, which the property maintenance division sits within. Enforcement typically begins after a complaint or a code enforcement officer's own inspection identifies a door that won't latch, lock, or seal, and proceeds through the notice-and-reinspection process set out in § 2-102.