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

Sec. 10-234(h)(3), 'Infestation,' places a direct extermination duty on the owner: grounds and structures must be kept free of rodent harborage and infestation by a generally accepted extermination method, and the owner is specifically responsible for extermination inside a structure before it is rented or leased to a new tenant. The same subsection requires every basement window used for ventilation, and any other basement opening that could let rodents in, to be fitted with a screen or other device that effectively blocks their entrance. A related property-maintenance rule in Sec.

10-234(h)(2)d targets the conditions that create rodent harborage in the first place: unmaintained dense weeds, grass, vines, or briars over 12 inches tall, growing within 100 feet of an abutting public street or within 50 feet of the primary residential structure, are prohibited once the housing administrator deems them a public nuisance. The ordinance defines that nuisance explicitly as conditions that serve as harborage for rodents, vermin, mosquitoes, and other pests and that endanger the health, safety, or welfare of Durham residents; once flagged, the growth has to be cut back to no more than six inches.

Sec. 10-234(h)(2)e also requires owners to keep a trash-receptacle storage site away from the curb so garbage doesn't scatter and attract rodents onto neighboring property.