Tustin, CA Outdoor Cooking: BBQ & Propane Rules (2026)

Tustin's Fire Code amendments adopt Chapter 3, General Requirements, of the 2025 California Fire Code in its entirety except for three sections the City chose not to enact: Section 308.1.4, open-flame cooking devices, Section 311.5 and Section 318, under City Code § 8104(d). Section 308.1.4 is the state model provision that restricts propane and charcoal cooking devices on balconies of multi-family buildings, so its exclusion means Tustin has not layered a local balcony-cooking ban or clearance rule on top of the state code. Separately, when the City added its own local rules for outdoor fireplaces, fire pits and fire rings at Group R occupancies, Section 307.6 at City Code § 8104(i), it expressly carved out barbeques, grills, and other portable devices intended solely for cooking from those requirements, meaning the placement, gas-line and clearance rules that apply to fire pits, chimineas and similar devices do not reach ordinary grills.

The same cooking-device exception appears again in the parallel Residential Code amendment to Section R1001.14 at City Code § 8103(j). In practice, a homeowner or renter grilling on a balcony, patio or in a yard in Tustin is not subject to the city's fire-pit setback, spark-arrester or wildfire-area burning rules that apply to open flames burning wood or solid fuel; general fire and life-safety duties, and any homeowners' association or lease terms, still apply.