Warner Robins, GA Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing standard
- Standard Housing Code, adopted by reference
- Enforcement office
- City building inspection department
- Appeals body
- Mayor and council under Sec. 6-252
- Deleted provision
- Section 106 of the model code
- Backstop process
- Article X unsafe-buildings abatement
Summary
Warner Robins doesn't write its own minimum-housing code from scratch. Sec. 6-251 adopts the Standard Housing Code by reference as the city's basic habitability standard for every dwelling, with the mayor and council serving as the appeals board under the local amendments in Sec. 6-252.
A certain document, one (1) copy of which is on file in the office of the city clerk, being marked and designated as the [latest edition of the] Standard Housing Code, is hereby adopted as the housing code of the city to provide the basic minimum housing standards deemed essential for safe and healthful living; all of the regulations, provisions, penalties, conditions and terms of such housing code are hereby referred to, adopted and made a part of this article as if set forth verbatim herein with additions, insertions, deletions and changes as prescribed in section 6-252 of this article.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 69).
Full Breakdown
Article VIII of the building chapter is short but does real work. Sec. 6-251 adopts the Standard Housing Code, keeping a copy on file with the city clerk, as the source of the basic minimum housing standards deemed essential for safe and healthful living, and folds every regulation, provision, penalty and condition of that model code into city law as if set forth verbatim. Sec. 6-252 then makes three local edits: wherever the Standard Housing Code refers to a "Housing Board of Adjustments and Appeals," Warner Robins substitutes the mayor and council; Section 106 of the model code is deleted outright; and the term "building official" is defined to mean the city's building inspection department for enforcement purposes.
Because the adoption is complete rather than selective, rental housing in the city has to meet the Standard Housing Code's provisions on structural soundness, sanitation, light and ventilation, and occupancy limits, and the housing code sits alongside the separate unsafe-buildings process in Article X, Secs. 6-341 through 6-349, which the city uses when a rental unit deteriorates into a dwelling unfit for human habitation. A tenant or inspector who documents defects, disrepair, lack of sanitary facilities or overcrowding can trigger either a housing-code violation under Article VIII or, for the worst cases, the in rem nuisance process under Article X, which can end in a court-ordered repair or demolition.
Violations & Fines
Because Sec. 6-251 imports the model housing code's own penalty provisions wholesale, a violation is enforced the same way as any other Code offense, through the building inspection department acting as the "building official," with the mayor and council standing in as the appeals board under Sec. 6-252. Landlords who don't correct cited defects risk the harsher process under Article X's unsafe-buildings provisions, including a placarded condemnation of the unit.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
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