Lee County, NC Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Section 6-124(a) states that premises, buildings and structures shall, by generally accepted methods of extermination, be maintained free of vermin and rodent harborage and infestation. The Minimum Housing Code backs that general duty with structural detail: Sec. 6-123(a)(6) requires crawl-space underpinning material to be substantially weather and rodent proof, Sec. 6-123(b)(2) requires flooring free of holes or excessive cracks that would permit air or rodents to penetrate rooms, Sec. 6-123(c)(1) and (3) require exterior walls and doors to be rodent-proof with no holes or cracks, and Sec.

6-123(e)(3) requires ceilings to be substantially rodent-proof. Responsibility splits by cause: under Sec. 6-126(c), an occupant must exterminate pests when their own unit alone is infested and the owner has supplied a reasonably insect- and rodent-proof building, while Sec. 6-127(b) shifts the duty to the owner whenever the owner's own failure to maintain a rodent-proof structure caused the infestation, or whenever two or more units, or shared and public areas, are infested. Occupants are separately barred, under Sec. 6-126(f), from storing junk, auto parts or rubbish on the premises that would harbor rodents or other pests.