New Orleans, LA Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- City Code § 26-117
- Who owes the duty
- Owner, agent, or occupant
- Enforcing agency
- Department of Health
- Cure period
- 15 days after mailed notice
- Related sections
- § 26-116 maintenance, § 26-118 S&WB rules
Summary
New Orleans requires every owner, agent or occupant to promptly repair broken or leaking plumbing -- from toilets to sewer pipes -- under City Code § 26-117. The Department of Health enforces the duty, and must mail a 15-day notice before filing any charge for noncompliance.
Sec. 26-117. - Repairs required. Whenever any of the following is broken or leaks so as to allow the escape of water, fluids or odors or the free flow of the fluids or odors through them is wholly or in part obstructed, every owner, agent or occupant shall repair or replace, as may be necessary, the defective or broken plumbing or fixtures and stop such leak or escapes within the period fixed in section 26-119: (1)Any water closet, tank, sink, bathtub, washstand, urinal, laundry tub, surgeon's or dentist's sink or cuspidor or other plumbing fixtures;(2)Any sewer, soil, water, waste, vent or other pipe or conduit; or(3)Any drain, trap, sewer or other plumbing. Sec. 26-119 provides: No affidavit shall be filed against any person, whether owner, agent or occupant, charged with the duty of complying with the provisions of this article until 15 days shall have elapsed after a communication shall have been deposited in the United States mail...
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 116 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
Article III of Chapter 26, the city's plumbing article, puts the repair duty on whoever controls the property. Section 26-117 lists exactly what triggers it: any water closet, tank, sink, bathtub, washstand, urinal, laundry tub, or dentist's or surgeon's sink; any sewer, soil, water, waste, vent or other pipe or conduit; or any drain, trap, sewer or other plumbing that is 'broken or leaks so as to allow the escape of water, fluids or odors' or is wholly or partly obstructed. Whoever is the owner, agent or occupant must repair or replace the defective fixture or pipe and stop the leak or escape.
That duty connects to § 26-116's broader maintenance standard, which requires every person connected to the sewer or water system to keep fixtures and plumbing in good sanitary condition and free of leaks or escaping odors, and to § 26-118, which folds in the Sewerage and Water Board's own installation and repair rules. Enforcement is not immediate: § 26-113 gives the Department of Health authority to enforce the plumbing article and to enter premises for inspection, but § 26-119 bars filing an affidavit against an owner, agent or occupant until 15 days have passed after the department mails a notice describing the violation and the property's location to the person's address or the premises itself.
Violations & Fines
A violation of § 26-117 becomes chargeable only after the Department of Health's mailed notice and the 15-day cure window in § 26-119 expire without repair; the department may then file an affidavit and prosecute under the plumbing article's general penalty provisions, with the property's own conditions -- continued leaking, odor escape or obstruction -- serving as the evidence of noncompliance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is responsible for fixing a leaking pipe in New Orleans?
How much notice does New Orleans have to give before citing a plumbing violation?
Which fixtures count under New Orleans's plumbing repair duty?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in New Orleans
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