Here in Austin, TX, the fire code prohibits grilling on apartment patios or balconies.

Many people ignore that ruling, or do their grilling covertly. Every now and then, the Fire department sends out folks to audit apartment complexes with advance warning, and the complexes in turn, give residences a heads up, so *poof* they disappear form the patios. :)

In NY the grill must be at least 10 feet away from the building itself, which rules out many balconies. It really depends how it is enforced. My building's coop board is very strict about it and prevented a friend from having a grill on his patio. I guess it just really depends on how on top of it the board/buiding's management is.

Here in Virginia, I was told it was against state fire code to grill within 15 feet of a building. (I don't know how that works for a home, but we live in an apartment) Almost everybody has a grill, however, and I'm sure people do it. We just pull ours out the minimum away from the building - it works just fine.

I'm also from VA and we are not allowed to grill on our balcony and there isn't even a place on the apartment complex property where grills are permitted. Sadly, if we want to grill we have to go to a nearby park. It's frustrating since the summer is all about grilling delicious meals but we make the best of it and pack up our cooler and have a picnic!

In Alberta, we're allowed to grill on balconies, as long as it is a propane grill, or better yet, a Natural Gas grill. No Hibachis allowed.

In the DC metro area, I've heard that a grill must be 30 feet from the building and used in specified areas. We have our own little charcoal grill and carry it down to the grilling area where our apartment has 2 gas grills. It's hassle so we don't do it often.

Matilda, I think the NY rule is that "Open Flame" must be more than 10 feet from the structure. I have an electric grill on my balcony in NY (which in my humble, but yet to be tested with the NYFD opinion, is legal). It's sub-par compared to a nice charcoal grill but I didn't want to bother to pay the money for a charcoal grill to get ratted out to the condo board.

When I first got the electric grill it made me bummed that it wasn't as great as charcoal but now I enjoy it. You only need to plug it in and it does a great job of getting a good grill flavor on most meat. The only thing you cant really do is sear a steak properly.

In my town, Tampere, Finland you may grill on balcony if you have electrical grill, but otherwise it's not allowed.

Chicago--No charcoal on balconies.

Individual buildings have their own policies about gas grills.

I guess I better be pretty discreet when I fire up my birthday present from the coolest wife in the world!!!!

Whoa! It's even back-ordered!

http://www.lacajachina.com/La_Caja_China_Roasting_Pig_Box_p/lcc-g100.htm

Its not allowed in NYC, and frankly i'm thankful. There are way too many pedestrians and way too many teeny tiny balconies where a small grill could easily get tipped over, spilling hot coals on people walking below. Freaks me out just to think about it.

And yes, it happens. A book recently fell out of a windowsill in my office in midtown last month and hit a pedestrian... from the 8th floor!!!

I live in NYC, and no one I know has a balcony (most of us are poor grad students). The closest thing we have is a fire escape, on which grilling is legally a no-no. It can be done, though, if you are quick about it and the wind is in your favor (since fire escapes are right next to windows... no one likes a smoke filled apartment).

I moved to an apartment in brooklyn recently. I have the Eva Solo charcoal grill on my (concrete) balcony and use it all the time. It doesn't exactly look like your standard grill (which may save me) and no one has ever complained. The balcony is only 3ft across so I am unsure if its legal...but I still do it anyway and see others in my neighborhood as well using them on rooftops, patios, balconies. Seems pretty common.

I learned my lesson on this one, almost melting the supports for my screened in porch. Most newer buildings are not made of materials that can withstand the high heat from a grill hence the fire codes. Now I stick to the back patio and pull the grill away from the wall before lighting up.

In NJ it's illegal to use any sort of barbecuing appliance on the balcony of a townhouse, apartment, or condo.

I have heard of people getting tickets/summonses for it.

I've been trying to find the actual law so that I can find out more specifics, as when we lived in a 2-floor townhouse back in the early 90s, we were able to grill with a propane grill on the ground floor (the rear cement patio opened onto a communal grass area, about 100x1000 feet). However, the fire marshal told us that we needed to pull the grill 25ft away from any dwelling area.

In Woburn (Boston suburb) it was not allowed. That's why we moved to a town house with a backyard in Medford!

Please, please don't grill on your balcony. Years ago, we were awakened in the middle of the night by the fire department, trying to put out our upstairs neighbors' burning balcony...it was also our porch roof! They had grilled for lunch, and thought the charcoal was out...not.
Common sense needs to be employed here, not just "The rules".

Charcoal on a fire escape is just plain wrong --don't do it!

NYC's rules are very strict -- technically you can't even have a gas grill in your back yard if it can only be accessed through the house -- not gas tanks are allowed to be carried through your home.

Our place in CT allows electric grills, per code -- but many of us have gas grills and the board just looks the other way.

I honestly don't know about the law, but here in Oklahoma City it's our insurance that doesn't want us letting tenants grill on their balconies.

My downstairs neighbour in Germany loved to grill on his balcony (with charcoal) and even though he warned me every time he did it, it still meant I had to close all my windows and couldn't sit on my own balcony because of the smoke. I think consideration for neighbours is important as well as safety aspects...

When I lived in an apartment here in Dallas, TX, I was told by the complex it was illegal use a grill of any kind only on upper level units. I had a ground floor unit so I was ok according to them. I didn't check out the regulations though so I don't know for sure. We did have fire department audits twice a year so if it was illegal to have one on any level, they never said anything to me about my grill. I never moved it just in case even though we were notified in advance they were coming.

Im not sure what the actual laws are, but almost every apartment I have had in Denver has had a balcony of some sort, and only allows camping size gas grills (that use the 1 lb propane tanks). My current condo is the same but they also site a fire code in the HOA manual so I am guessing there are laws, im just not sure the exact restrictions.

Our little camping grill is perfect for grilling for up to 6 people, im not sure I would want anything larger. In the few times we have more than that over, you can just grill in batches and keep a few back up tanks (the small ones run out fast!)

The rule is very much ignored in Chicago, but for all the years I've lived here, I've only heard about one balcony ever catching fire. Strangely enough though, it happened yesterday

@username26 - I don't know if this is city-wide, but at my condo, we're allowed electric grills - no propane or charcoal - on the balcony.

it's legal in NY to have an electric grill on a balcony or an area less than 10 feet from the building. our condo building in brooklyn has a communal one for the owners on the communal terrace. for a glorified george foreman grill, it's pretty ok: grill marks, smokiness, i don't have to heat my entire house to broil something in summer.

I know we can't have in the apartments I've lived in in the Orlando area, both third floor, screen-in concrete balconies. When I lived in Fairfax, VA, I was on the first floor and was allowed to have a grill but needed to take it either 10 or 15 feet away from the building to use it.

Regarding charcoal, several years ago on Long Island, my aunt and uncle's apartment building caught on fire thanks to a neighbor's bag of easy-light charcoal sitting on the patio in the summer sun. All of their belongings we ruined by water and smoke damage.

In Dallas when we were in an apartment we were told grilling was ok- any kind. When we were in Michigan, it was only electric grills on a balcony.
We had less trouble with those rules and more with goofy neighbors anti-grilling/plants/birdfeeders/etc. So happy to have my own porch now and no worries about that stuff!

I feel like, legality aside, most balconies I or my friends have had were built in a way that you'd have to be kind of a moron or an asshole to use most grills on (though I can see electric grills not being a problem, but at that point, why even leave the kitchen?). If there is a balcony above you that the greasy smoke will fly up to, or any way that potential spilled coals can get from your balcony to the sidewalk below, or the balcony is made of flammable material, then it's just a dumb idea. Also, most balconies don't have hoses, which I see as a good thing to have on hand if you're grilling, though admittedly keeping a fire extinguisher in reach would be even better and would be totally doable. At any rate, I am not sure why you couldn't move your party to a driveway, sidewalk, park, or beach instead if you really hate using grill pans that much.

I did live in one place with a concrete pseudo-balcony in a recessed area of the top floor (basically a concrete section of roof that jutted out under a strategically placed set of windows). That was definitely the perfect grilling balcony, since we also didn't have any neighbors for our smoke to invade, either. It was a rare gem, though.