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

4 of the city's amendments to the 2021 International Fire Code, adopted at Sec. 5 of the Code of Ordinances, prohibits open-flame cooking devices, charcoal grills, and other similar cooking devices from being located or used on combustible balconies or decks, or within 10 feet of combustible construction. This is the rule that governs apartment and condo balconies in Lewisville: multifamily residents generally cannot grill on a wood balcony or deck under this section. The city carved out two exceptions instead of adopting the model code's broader list, and deleted the third model exception entirely.

One- and two-family dwellings are exempt from the placement restriction, but their LP-gas containers are capped at a water capacity no greater than 50 pounds, meaning nominal 20-pound LP-gas cylinders, with an aggregate LP-gas capacity not to exceed 100 pounds, or five containers. Buildings, balconies, and decks protected by an approved automatic sprinkler system get the same placement exception, but their LP-gas cap is tighter: the same 50-pound water-capacity, 20-pound nominal cylinders, but only 40 pounds aggregate, or two containers total. Outside those two exceptions, combustible balconies and decks in multifamily buildings without sprinklers cannot host a grill or open-flame cooking device at all, and none of the setback relief applies within 10 feet of combustible construction generally.