Dubuque, IA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Section 309 of the International Property Maintenance Code, adopted into Dubuque's own code at section 14-1J-2, sets the baseline rule: structures must be kept free from infestation of insects, rodents, or other pests, and once pests are found, they must be promptly treated by approved processes that will not injure human health, followed by precautions against reinfestation. Who pays for that treatment depends on occupancy. In a one-family dwelling or single-tenant nonresidential building, the occupant is responsible for elimination on the premises, unless the infestation stems from a defect in the structure itself, in which case the duty shifts to the owner.

In a building with two or more dwelling units, a rooming house, or a nonresidential multi-tenant structure, the owner carries the responsibility; that flips back onto the occupant, alongside the owner, if the infestation traces to one tenant's failure to keep their own space free of pests. The code also front-loads responsibility for rental turnover: before a unit is rented or leased, the owner must have already eliminated any pest problem inside it, and once a tenant is in place, that occupant must cooperate with the owner's or the owner's agent's reasonable elimination efforts.

Because every Dubuque rental unit carries a rental license under section 14-1J-3, an unaddressed rodent or insect problem found during a licensing inspection becomes grounds for a notice of violation on the same file used for license renewal and priority-category review, tying the pest standard directly to the City's Housing and Community Development/Building Services Department inspection cycle.