North Charleston, SC Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Article V of Chapter 9 of the North Charleston Code of Ordinances, titled Rat Control in Business Buildings, opens its operative rules with Section 9-107. All business buildings in the city shall be ratproofed, freed of rats and maintained in a ratproof and rat-free condition, and the health officer directs and supervises that work. The duty is continuous: a building that was sealed last year but has a new gap this year is out of compliance.

Section 9-106 defines a business building as any structure, public or private, adapted for transacting business, rendering professional service, amusement, display, sale or storage of goods, or work or labor. The list includes hotels, office buildings, public buildings, stores, theaters, markets, restaurants, grain elevators, abattoirs, warehouses, workshops and factories, plus all outhouses, sheds, barns and other structures on premises used for business. Ratproofing means closing every opening in exterior walls, ground or first floors, basements, roofs and foundations that rats can reach from the ground, by climbing or by burrowing, with material impervious to rat gnawing.

Section 9-108 sets the enforcement steps. The health officer serves a written notice or order naming the business building, and the owner must take immediate measures for ratproofing it. The notice sets the completion date, and that date can never be less than fifteen days out. The health officer can grant a written extension. If the work is not done by the noticed date or the extended date, the owner is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Who counts as the owner matters. Under Section 9-106 the owner is the actual owner, the building's agent, or whoever collects the rent. If a lease makes the lessee responsible for maintenance and repairs, the lessee is treated as the owner. For a vacant building, the owner or custodian carries the responsibilities of an occupant.

The neighboring sections add teeth. Under Section 9-110, if suitable measures are not started within three days after an infestation notice under Section 9-109, the health officer is authorized and directed to free the building of rats, and Section 9-111 lets the city levy a monthly charge for labor, materials and equipment. Section 9-113 allows unannounced inspections and requires periodic inspections of rat-stopped buildings at intervals of not more than forty-five days.