Fort Worth, TX Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Fort Worth adopted the 2021 International Fire Code as its Fire Code under City Code § 13-1, then amended dozens of its sections through § 13-2. One of those amendments, Section 308.1.4, targets the multifamily-balcony grilling hazard directly: charcoal and propane grills, and any other open-flame cooking device, 'shall not be stored, located or used on combustible balconies, decks, or within ten (10) feet (3048 mm) of combustible construction.' The rule applies citywide to apartments, condos, and any multi-unit combustible structure.

Three exceptions carve out the situations where the hazard drops away. One- and two-family dwellings are exempt outright, so a house can grill on a wood deck next to the siding. Buildings, balconies, and decks protected by an automatic sprinkler system are also exempt, since the sprinkler removes the fire-spread risk the 10-foot rule targets. Small LP-gas cooking devices, those with a container holding no more than 2-1/2 pounds water capacity (roughly a 1-pound LP-gas cylinder, the size used on a portable tabletop grill), fall outside the restriction regardless of location.

The same Chapter 13 amendment package separately regulates outdoor fireplaces and firepits (Section 307.4, also a 10-foot clearance) and portable outdoor fireplaces (Section 307.4.3, same 10-foot rule), so a resident weighing a firepit against a grill on a balcony is reading a parallel, not identical, standard. Enforcement runs through the fire code official under the Fire Code adopted at § 13-1.