Mobile, AL Landscaping Rules: Rainwater Harvesting (2026)

The rule sits in Part 2 of the Property Maintenance Code, Chapter 5, Section 505 Water System, which governs every plumbing fixture in the city, not just rainwater gear. Section 505.5 treats a rain barrel, cistern or gutter-fed conveyance system the same as any other plumbing component: it has to work safely or come out of service. If the system stops draining properly, grows algae, attracts mosquitoes or otherwise stops functioning in a safe and sanitary way, the owner has two choices under the code: repair it back to safe and sanitary condition, or abandon it under Section 505.5.1, which folds the shutoff into Section 1301.10 of the International Plumbing Code rather than leaving Mobile to write its own disconnection steps.

The Department of Municipal Enforcement, through its code official, administers the whole Property Maintenance Code, including Section 505.5 (Section 103.1). Inspectors have a right of entry under Section 105.3 to check a flagged system, and Section 105.5 lets the code official issue a notice of violation, a municipal offense ticket, a citation or a summons to force compliance. An owner who disagrees with an inspector's finding can take it to the Construction Board of Appeals under Section 108.1, the same board used for the city's building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing codes.

None of this requires a rainwater system in the first place. Mobile does not mandate rain barrels or cisterns; Section 505.5 only reaches homeowners and businesses who already have one. Once installed, letting it sit broken and unmaintained is itself the violation, and an improperly abandoned system is treated the same as any other code violation under Section 109.