Newark, NJ Public Health Rules: Bed-Bug Rules (2026)

City Code § 15:4-11(c)(1) mandates that the owner, lessee, tenant or other occupant of every privately owned building cover mattresses in plastic before disposal, specifically to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and the breeding of insects and bed bugs. This sits inside the broader receptacle and bulky-waste storage rules of § 15:4-11: subsection (c) separately bars storing bulky household waste, including mattresses, furniture and appliances, in residential zones except in a fully enclosed structure or on designated bulky-item collection days, so an uncovered, infested mattress cannot simply sit at the curb between the regular schedule.

Newark also addresses bed bugs directly in its hotel code: § 9:1-1 defines a 'Service Disruption' to include any bed bug, lice or vermin infestation in hotel rooms verified by a licensed exterminator or governmental agency that has not yet been remedied, and § 9:1-3 requires hotels to give guests written notice of that disruption and a full refund for any affected stay, with no cancellation penalty allowed. Both provisions run through the Department of Public Works and, for hotels, through Municipal Court enforcement, and both were written into the code as amendments layered onto the City's core sanitation and hotel-hospitality chapters.