Cincinnati, OH Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

7 of Chapter 1117, the Housing Code, under the heading General Maintenance and Repair: every owner, person in control or operator must exterminate any insects, rodents, or other pests on the premises, a blanket obligation that isn't limited to a single triggering complaint. Chapter 1117's definitions section, § 1117-03, gives the duty teeth by defining "extermination" as the control and elimination of rodents and other pests by eliminating harborage places, removing food sources, or by poisoning, spraying, fumigating or trapping, methods "accepted by the health department", and defining "infestation" as the presence of rodents or other pests in numbers sufficient to endanger the health of occupants or the well-being of the community.

5, targets the most common rodent entry point in older Cincinnati housing stock: once rodent infestation is evident, every basement or cellar window used for ventilation, and every other basement opening that could let rodents in, must be fitted with a screen or other device that effectively blocks their entrance. Together the two sections put the burden on whoever controls the building, owner, operator, or a person in control, rather than on the tenant, and the duty applies whether the pest problem originated inside the unit or came in through an unscreened basement opening. Chapter 1117 was ordained by Ord. No. 7 was last amended by Ord. No. 283-2022, effective September 14, 2022.