Gulfport, FL Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Section 23-61 of the Gulfport Code of Ordinances, part of the city's minimum housing standards, addresses insect and rodent control in every dwelling unit. Every basement or cellar window used or intended for ventilation, and any other opening into a basement that could let rodents enter, must be fitted with screens or another approved device that effectively keeps rodents out. The same section requires screens and a self-closing device on every door opening directly from a dwelling unit to the outdoors, and screens on any window or ventilation opening, to keep out mosquitoes, flies and other insects.

Responsibility for extermination tracks occupancy: the sole occupant of a single-unit dwelling must exterminate any insects, rodents or other pests on the premises, and in a multi-unit dwelling, an occupant is responsible when only that occupant's unit is infested. That responsibility shifts to the owner in two situations: when the infestation is caused by the owner's failure to keep the dwelling rat-proof or reasonably insect-proof, or when two or more units, or the shared or public areas of a multi-unit dwelling, are infested. Section 23-62 works alongside this rule by requiring adequate rubbish storage and garbage disposal facilities with containers capped at 20 gallons each, and Section 23-63(3) makes occupants responsible for disposing of garbage and organic waste that could feed rodents in a clean, sanitary manner using those facilities.