Burke County, NC Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Sec. 10-62, 'Control of insects, rodents and infestations,' opens with rodent control at subsection (a): every basement or cellar window used for ventilation, and every other opening to a basement that might let rodents in, must be supplied with screens or another approved device that effectively prevents their entrance. Subsection (b) allocates responsibility for extermination: an occupant of a single-unit dwelling is responsible for exterminating insects, rodents or other pests on the premises, and an occupant in a multi-unit dwelling is responsible only if their unit alone is infested, but if the infestation stems from the owner's failure to keep the dwelling rodentproof, or if two or more units are infested, the owner bears the responsibility.

Subsections (c) and (d) round out the vector-control scheme by requiring adequate rubbish storage and garbage disposal facilities, and door and window screens with self-closing devices to keep out mosquitoes, flies and other insects. The article's broader rodentproofing standards reinforce this: Sec. 10-57(g) requires roofs, exterior walls and doors and windows exposed to the weather to be maintained rodentproof, and Sec. 10-61(a) through (c) require exterior walls, floors, interior walls and ceilings to be substantially rodentproof and kept in sound repair. The building code administrator enforces all of these standards under Sec. 10-33.