Ames, IA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Sec. 13.411, Extermination, sits in the Minimum Property Maintenance Standards division of the Rental Housing Code and opens with a blanket infestation standard: all structures shall be kept free from insect and rodent infestation, and any structure where pests are found must be promptly exterminated using approved processes that will not injure human health, followed by precautions to prevent reinfestation. The section then splits responsibility by building type. For a single-family dwelling, the owner must exterminate the structure before renting or leasing it, and once it is occupied, the occupant is responsible for keeping the premises pest-free.

For a structure with two or more dwelling units, a multiple occupancy, or a rooming house, the owner is responsible for extermination in the shared or public areas and the exterior property, while each occupant is responsible for the unit they occupy; if an occupant's failure to prevent infestation in their own space causes the problem, that occupant bears the extermination duty instead of the owner. The Code also requires physical barriers that support this duty elsewhere in the same division: Sec. 13.407(5) requires foundation walls to be kept free of open cracks and breaks that let rodents in, and Sec.

13.407(16) requires basement hatchways to be maintained to keep out rodents. Compliance with Sec. 13.411 is checked at the periodic rental inspections required under Sec. 13.302 before a Letter of Compliance can be issued or renewed.