Austin, TX Public Health Rules: Bed-Bug Rules (2026)

1 of the Austin Property Maintenance Code (City Code Chapter 25-12, Article 9) declares that structures must be kept free from insect, scorpion, bed bug, and rodent infestation. Once pests are found, the code requires immediate extermination "by approved processes that will not be injurious to human health," and afterward the owner or occupant must take proper precautions to eliminate harborage and prevent reinfestation. This applies citywide to rental and owner-occupied structures alike, since the Property Maintenance Code governs the condition of existing residential and nonresidential buildings under the Building and Standards Commission's jurisdiction (City Code Section 25-12-1).

4 splits liability by building type: for a structure with two or more dwelling units, a boarding house, or a nonresidential structure, the owner is responsible for pest elimination in public or shared areas and exterior property. If an occupant's own conduct causes an infestation in the space that occupant controls, both the occupant and the owner become responsible for elimination within that unit. 1: kept honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera) are exempt from the infestation provision and instead fall under City Code Chapter 3-6, the beekeeping ordinance.

Because Austin classifies infestation as a code violation rather than a private landlord-tenant dispute alone, the Building and Standards Commission, established under this same code chapter, can hear cases involving failure to remediate and order corrective action against the owner.