Hanging laundry on a balcony in Muscat could get you slapped with a hefty fine or locked up in jail for up to six months, the municipality has announced.
The decision has been made to "maintain the aesthetic urban façade of Muscat," Muscat Municipality said in a statement.
The rules are as follows:
1. Municipal laws do not permit the hanging of laundry on balconies except after installing elements to cover it.
2. The clothes on balconies should be covered by one of the following elements: ' Masharabiya ' or wooden mesh. The perforation of the mesh should be no more than 1.50 cm x 1.50 cm wide, and the concrete openwork should have a depth of at least 10 cm, and perforations no more than 7 sq cm.
3. Any multi-story residential building with more than three residential units must provide a balcony for each unit to dry clothes, depending on the architectural conditions of the unit and be covered with one of the covering materials or elements.
4. Using a metal mesh as a covering element for openings in buildings (balconies or windows) is prohibited.
It also said that hanging laundry on the balconies of buildings is considered a violation according to Article No. 14 of Muscat Municipality law, for which the penalty will either be a fine between OMR50 and OMR5,000, or imprisonment for a period of 24 hours up to 6 months.