Labor Day came and went, and Houston's heat didn't notice. Somebody still has to enforce the city's new cooling ordinance, and that somebody is a building code inspector dispatched through 311. The same 311 system a council investigation found closing cases after voicemails, with longer response times for Spanish-speaking callers.
Here's what the inspector walks into. The compliance standard moves with the temperature: equipment must hold a room 20°F below outdoor temp or at 80°F, whichever is warmer. So at 109 outside, 89 inside passes. Nobody has specified where to place the thermometer, how long to wait for a reading, or which weather station counts as "outdoor temperature."
An estimated 20,400 Houston rental households lack AC. Landlords have 120 days to comply, which runs out mid-December, when nobody's thinking about cooling. Come next June, we'll find out what this inspector's clipboard is actually worth.
Passed: August 19, 2026; two council members voted no
What qualifies: Window units, portable units, any refrigerated-air equipment. Central HVAC not required.
Enforcement path: Tenant calls 311 → inspector dispatched → landlord given chance to fix → administrative citation if not
Response time: City says 7–10 business days, without specifying whether that means arrival or completed inspection
Not covered: Electricity cost to run the mandated equipment. The tenant's power bill is the tenant's problem.
Comparators: Dallas, Austin, and Denton have similar requirements; none reported significant rent increases
