Bowie, MD Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

City Code § 5-7B(5), part of the Housing and Property Maintenance Code, requires every exterior property area in the City of Bowie to be kept free from rodent infestation. Once rodents are found, the owner or operator must have them promptly exterminated by acceptable processes that will not injure human health, and afterward take proper precautions to prevent reinfestation. The Code spells out what those precautions must include: construction designed to keep rodents, vermin and other pests from entering the building by blocking off or stopping up every passage that could give them entry, closing openings in exterior walls with materials rodents and other pests cannot get through, and whatever interior rat stoppage, harborage removal and cleanup work is necessary to reduce or eliminate breeding places.

The obligation connects to several related structural standards in the same article: § 5-7C(1) requires foundations, exterior walls and roofs to be kept in a condition that excludes rodents, § 5-7C(14)(a) requires corrosion-resistant, rodent-proof screens on operable basement windows, and § 5-7C(12) requires basement hatchways to be built and maintained to keep rodents out. Firewood storage is separately regulated under § 5-7B(9), which requires wood to be stacked evenly and elevated off the ground specifically so it will not shelter rodents. The City Manager or a designee enforces these standards through the same inspection process used for rental licensing and general property maintenance complaints.