Concord, NC Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Sec. 14-62 folds rodent control into the same minimum housing standards article that governs screens, ventilation and sanitary maintenance. Subsection (b) requires every basement or cellar window used for ventilation, and any other basement opening, to carry screens or an equivalent approved device that keeps rodents out; subsection (a) separately requires insect screens on habitable-room windows unless the unit has central air. Once an infestation is found, subsection (c) puts the burden squarely on the owner, who is responsible for extermination of any insects, rodents or other pests in or on the premises, with 15 days from the enforcement officer's notice to get it done.

The rule reaches beyond the dwelling itself. Under the separate nuisance provisions of Sec. 30-161, any condition that is a breeding ground or harbor for mosquitoes, rats or other pests is a declared public nuisance citywide, and the enforcement officer must give the property owner five days' written notice, by first-class and registered mail, to correct it before the city abates the condition and bills the cost. Owners who rack up three notices of violation on the same property within a calendar year are treated as chronic violators, letting the city act on the next violation without further notice and add a civil penalty per occurrence under the fee schedule.