Brockton, MA Outdoor Cooking: BBQ & Propane Rules (2026)

Section 7-313, the general regulations section of Article XII (Permits for Open Fires), sets Brockton's placement rule for propane grills: propane grills shall not be used inside a building, on decks or porches above the first floor. That flat prohibition applies citywide regardless of whether a resident owns or rents, and it sits alongside a parallel restriction in the same section barring charcoal grills or fires from being used inside a building, on decks or porches, with a required 30-foot setback from any combustible structure.

Unlike the chimenea and fire-pit rules in the same article, ordinary propane grill use does not require a Class I or Class V permit: Section 7-319 confirms that charcoal, propane or natural gas barbeque fires shall not require a permit, reserving the Class V permit only for barbecues run on other fuels. Still, every open-fire device in Brockton, propane grills included, is subject to Section 7-313's blanket ban on maintaining any fire in such manner as to be a smoke nuisance, and the requirement that fires stay under an adult's personal supervision until fully extinguished.

Because propane grills on upper-floor decks or balconies sit closer to combustible siding, roof overhangs and neighboring units, the first-floor limit functions as Brockton's practical safety line for triple-deckers and other multi-family buildings common throughout the city, where a grill fire on a second- or third-floor porch could spread rapidly between units.