Lafayette, IN Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Section 302.4 of the Property Maintenance Code, adopted at Section 13.03.010, requires structures and exterior property throughout the City of Lafayette to be kept free from rodent harborage and infestation. Where rodents are found, the owner or occupant must have them promptly exterminated by an approved process that will not harm human health, and afterward must take precautions to eliminate the harborage conditions and prevent reinfestation, rather than treating a single extermination as the end of the obligation. Two related sections target the entry points rodents use most: Section 304.16 requires every basement hatchway to be maintained so it keeps out rodents, along with rain and surface drainage water, and Section 304.17 requires every openable basement window to carry rodent shields, storm windows, or other approved protection against rodent entry.

Section 304.5 backs this up structurally, requiring foundation walls to stay plumb and free of open cracks and breaks so rodents and other pests cannot get in that way either. Because rodent control sits inside the Property Maintenance Code, the Enforcement Authority defined at Section 13.05.010, the City Engineer or a designee, handles complaints the same way it handles any other sanitation violation: a written notice of violation under Section 104.2, followed by prosecution through Chapter 13.05 if the condition is not corrected.