Harris County, TX Outdoor Cooking: BBQ & Propane Rules (2026)

Section 308.1.4.1, added to the International Fire Code by Harris County amendment, targets Group R-2 occupancies specifically: apartment buildings and multi-tenant housing. It prohibits storing or using charcoal burners, LP-gas cooking appliances, open flame cooking devices, gas or fuel fired heaters, or any other carbon-monoxide-producing device anywhere in those buildings, and extends the ban to the balcony, the patio, or within 10 feet of the building itself. There's no exception written into 308.1.4.1 for a small portable grill or a single-use charcoal chimney; the rule covers the equipment category, not a size threshold.

A companion amendment, Section 313.2, covers the same Group R buildings from a different angle: it bars storing or operating vehicles, portable generators, lawn-care equipment, and portable cooking appliances powered by flammable liquids, Class II combustible liquids, or compressed flammable gases within the living space, balconies, patios, or within 10 feet of the building, with one carve-out: storage inside an attached garage that otherwise complies with the code is allowed. Together the two sections mean a propane tank for a grill can't sit on a balcony, in a patio, or within 10 feet of an apartment building; the only place it can safely be kept under the code is inside a garage.

Harris County's fire officials designed the 10-foot buffer and the balcony/patio-specific language to address the carbon-monoxide and fire risk of cooking equipment concentrated in dense multi-tenant construction, and both sections were most recently amended by Ordinance 24-7311 on November 12, 2024.