Columbia, SC Code Violation Reporting: Common Violations (2026)

City Code Sec. 8-31 organizes the categories of conditions the city treats as public nuisances subject to code enforcement. Subsection (b), nuisances affecting public health, covers items like decayed food waste left out more than 24 hours, stagnant water breeding mosquitoes, noncompliant swimming pools under Sec. 5-1, animal-waste violations under Chapter 4, and structures violating the International Property Maintenance Code, including boarded-up structures deteriorating for 90 days or more. Subsection (c), nuisances offending public decency, peace and order, covers gambling devices, prostitution-related use, illegal liquor sales, controlled-substance activity, and properties generating an 'excessive public safety response,' defined to include deployment of five or more officers at once or more than six citations or search warrants in a 12-month period for alcohol, narcotics, gun-law violations, assaults, or violent crimes.

Subsection (d), nuisances affecting public welfare and safety, covers sightline obstructions at intersections, blocked fire hydrants, unauthorized overhead wires under 13½ feet, improperly stored explosives, dangerous hanging signs, and the abandoned-vehicle rule at (d)(7). Subsection (e), nuisances affecting public economy, covers graffiti-bearing structures, businesses operating without a valid license, properties out of compliance with licensing, landlord, or zoning laws, delinquent city liens or fees, and premises generating repeated false fire or security alarms. Reports go to the Columbia Police/Fire Communications Center for emergencies under Sec. 8-33, or to code enforcement officers, who can inspect premises with consent or after a reasonable effort to contact the owner.