Lower Merion, PA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Article VIII of the Health Code, §§ 90-32 through 90-36, puts rodent and pest control on every property owner and occupant. Section 90-33 bars the accumulation of water, garbage, building material, brush or woodpiles that could give rodents, insects or other pest life shelter or food. Section 90-34 adds specific feeding rules: wild birds may only be fed from properly shielded containers that keep feed off the ground and away from rodents, and anyone feeding domesticated fowl or animals outdoors must use a container that prevents scattering, with uneaten food cleared before it attracts pests; garbage must be wrapped and kept in watertight, tight-lidded containers.

Under § 90-35, the Board of Health can order continuous eradication measures, by trap, bait or fumigation, whenever a building, lot or premises shows an infestation, and no building may be demolished until the applicant certifies to the Building and Planning Department that the structure and premises are free of rodents or other pests; the Board can likewise order the draining or filling of any swamp, pond or other stagnant-water site that could breed insects. Section 90-36 lets the Board require rodentproofing, sealing every opening a rodent could gnaw through in walls, floors, roofs, foundations and sidewalk gratings, whenever conditions on a lot provide harborage for rats; the person in control must keep that rodentproofing in repair, may not damage it, and must get Director of Building and Planning approval before remodeling for rodentproofing purposes.