Bristol Township, PA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Chapter 120 of the Bristol Township Code puts rodent control on whoever controls the infested space. Every occupant of a dwelling unit is responsible for exterminating insects, rodents or other pests in the unit or in the yard. In a two-family or multifamily dwelling the occupant is responsible only when his own unit is the only one infested. The duty shifts to the owner or operator when infestation is caused by failure to maintain the dwelling in a rodentproof or substantially insectproof condition. Owners and operators are also responsible whenever infestation exists in two or more dwelling units in any dwelling, or in the shared or public areas of any two-family or multifamily dwelling, and the owner or operator of a rooming house answers for pests in the yard.

Prevention is built into the maintenance standards of § 120-7: foundations, exterior walls and roofs must be rodentproof, interior floors, walls and ceilings must be substantially rodentproof, and windows, exterior doors and basement or cellar doors and hatchways must be weathertight, watertight and rodentproof. Under § 120-10G a contract between owner, operator and occupant does not relieve any party of direct responsibility. Sanitation duties support the same goal: §§ 120-10A and 120-10B require occupants to keep units and yards clean and to dispose of rubbish, ashes, garbage and organic waste in approved storage facilities, and the multifamily owner or operator is responsible for common storage facilities.

Chapter 134 separately declares a nuisance any privy, vault, cesspool, dump or pit not securely protected from flies or rats (§ 134-2B), filthy, littered or trash-covered yards, vacant lots and premises (§ 134-2C), and any accumulation of stagnant water (§ 134-2K).