Miami Beach, FL Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)

Sec. 110-43 sits in Chapter 110, Article II, Division 1 of the utilities code, alongside the city's general water-service rules. Subsection (a) requires every owner, agent or tenant to exercise due diligence to prevent waste of water at all times, to immediately stop any leak discovered on the premises, and to promptly notify the public works department of a leak discovered elsewhere so it can be stopped quickly. Subsection (b) gives the public works department authority to discontinue service and shut off the water supply, without advance notice, if an owner, agent or tenant persists in willful waste, neglects to promptly stop a leak, or makes extravagant and unnecessary use of the water supply.

Subsection (c) sets the path back to service: once water has been shut off for leaks or waste, the department will not restore it until the cause of the shutoff has been fully remedied, the owner, agent or tenant gives satisfactory assurance the condition will not recur, and the owner pays the turn-on fee set in Appendix A to the city cashier in the utility billing office. The duty applies broadly: Sec. 110-1 makes every owner fully responsible and liable to the city for anything done or omitted regarding water, sewer or stormwater service by any agent, tenant or other person who gains access to the premises, and Sec.

110-2 treats a tenant as the owner's agent for all such purposes. A general violation of the utilities chapter, including a failure to observe Sec. 110-43, is punishable under Sec. 110-3 as provided in Sec. 1-14 of the Code.