New Brunswick, NJ Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

New Brunswick Municipal Code § 15.08.020 amends the BOCA National Property Maintenance Code/2000, which § 15.08.010 adopts by reference as the housing and property maintenance code of the city. Under PM-308.4, all unoccupied or vacant buildings must meet minimum standards for safe and sanitary maintenance. Every foundation, exterior wall and exterior roof must be weather tight, watertight and rodent proof, kept in sound condition and good repair. Every yard must be graded to prevent the accumulation of stagnant water. When a vacant dwelling is found infested with rats, termites, roaches or other insects and vermin, the owner must undertake an expedient means of extermination, and an approved exterminator must certify it.

Occupied dwellings fall under PM-800.2. Every occupant of a single family dwelling is responsible for eliminating infestation in the dwelling on the premises. Every occupant of a dwelling is responsible for eliminating all conditions causing infestation that the occupant causes, and those conditions subject to the occupant's exclusive control. Under PM-800.0, an occupant who discovers a condition that violates the code must report it to the Division of Inspections. The Bureau of Housing Inspections, headed by the Chief Housing Official under PM-103.1, administers the code.

The nuisance side sits in Chapter 8.32. Section 8.32.050 amends the Public Health Nuisance Code to add 2.1(j), "The existence/infestation of rodents and vermin," as a defined nuisance. Under § 8.32.040, enforcing officials include police patrolmen and superior officers, the Coordinator of Inspection and staff, and the health officer. Under § 8.32.060, the Board of Health can sue to recover the cost of removing or abating a nuisance from the person who caused it or from an owner, tenant or occupant who fails to abate it after notice, and those costs can become a lien added to the property taxes at the same interest rate. Section 8.40.040(C)(2) adds that trash and recycling containers must be stored so they are not accessible to birds, rodents or other animals.