Hamden, CT Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Rodent control in Hamden runs through several linked Housing Code provisions rather than one stand-alone ordinance. Section 152.53 requires every basement or cellar window used for ventilation, and every other opening into a basement that could let rodents in, to carry a screen or other device that will effectively prevent their entrance. That sits alongside § 152.56, which requires every foundation, floor, wall, ceiling and roof to be reasonably rodentproof and kept in good repair, and § 152.57, which extends the rodentproofing duty to every window, exterior door and basement hatchway.

Responsibility for actually exterminating an infestation is assigned by § 152.80: an occupant of a single-unit dwelling, or of a unit in a multi-unit building where only that unit is infested, must handle extermination himself. But the owner takes on that duty whenever the infestation results from a failure to keep the dwelling ratproof or reasonably insectproof, and whenever infestation exists in two or more units of the same building or in shared and public areas such as a basement or hallway. The Director of Health enforces these standards, can inspect the premises under § 152.05, and can approve alternative pest-elimination methods under the § 152.01 definition of extermination, which covers eliminating harborage, removing food sources, poisoning, spraying, fumigation and trapping.

A dwelling that fails to comply can be the subject of a written notice of violation under § 152.10, and continuing noncompliance is punished under § 152.199.