Seattle, WA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing chapter
- SMC Ch. 10.34
- Enforcing agency
- Public Health–Seattle & King County
- Max penalty
- $300 fine or 90 days jail
- Core duty
- keep buildings rodentproof and rodent-free
- Covered buildings
- storerooms, warehouses, docks, residences
Summary
Seattle Municipal Code Chapter 10.34 makes it unlawful for a building owner or occupant to leave storerooms, warehouses, docks, or residences unprotected against rats, mice, and other rodents. The Director of Public Health–Seattle & King County can inspect any building and order the owner to apply approved eradication measures. Non-compliance is punishable in Seattle Municipal Court.
It shall be unlawful for the owner or occupant to fail to reconstruct or repair all storerooms, grain elevators, warehouses, docks, and slaughterhouses, and other buildings, including residences, by the use of screens, nets, cement or other materials approved by the Director of Public Health as to sufficiency, for the purpose of preventing rats, mice, or other rodents from gaining entrance thereto... Such buildings shall at all times be kept free from such rodents; and the Director of Public Health, or his representative, may at any reasonable hours inspect such buildings for the purpose of ascertaining the presence of such rodents; and if found to be present, the owner or occupant of the premises shall apply such reasonable measures for their eradication as shall be approved by the Director.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Municipal Code: Supplement 44 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
020 requires owners to reconstruct or repair storerooms, grain elevators, warehouses, docks, slaughterhouses and "other buildings, including residences" with screens, nets, cement, or other Director-approved materials to keep rodents from entering. The duty extends to anyone storing food, goods, wares, or merchandise inside such a building, who must also keep those items protected from rodent contact. Buildings must be kept free of rodents at all times, and the Director of Public Health may inspect at reasonable hours; if rodents are found, the owner or occupant must apply Director-approved eradication measures and keep applying them.
030 goes further, requiring that ALL premises and places, not just the enumerated building types, stay free from rats, mice, and other rodents, with the owner or occupant obligated to take reasonable preventive and remedial measures the Director prescribes. 010, is preventing the spread of infectious disease, the ordinance text still references preventing "Bubonic Plague," reflecting its 1945 origin (Ord. 74182). Enforcement authority sits with the Director of Public Health–Seattle & King County, not the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections.
Violations & Fines
Violating Chapter 10.34 is punishable under SMC 10.34.040 by a fine of not more than $300, imprisonment in the City Jail for not more than 90 days, or both. A Director's inspection finding active rodent presence triggers an order for approved eradication measures; refusing to apply or continue those measures is itself a separate violation of SMC 10.34.020.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who enforces Seattle's rodent control ordinance?
What buildings does the rodentproofing duty cover?
What happens if I ignore a rodent inspection order?
Does the ordinance cover all properties, not just the listed building types?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Seattle
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Rodent Control in Nearby Cities
How other cities in King County handle rodent control.