Taunton, MA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Taunton Code § 208-5, part of Chapter 208's demolition article, requires an exterminator to be employed within the 14 days immediately before a building's demolition begins. The exterminator's statement certifying that the building harbors no rodents must accompany the application for the demolition permit itself, which § 208-6 requires the Building Inspector to issue before anyone may start tearing a building down. The requirement exists because demolition disturbs whatever has been nesting inside a vacant or deteriorating structure, and without pre-clearance, rodents displaced by the wrecking process can migrate into occupied buildings and yards nearby.

This demolition-specific rodent check works alongside Taunton's broader property-maintenance rules in Chapter 350: § 350-4(B) separately requires that vegetation within 100 feet of any residence be kept under 12 inches high whenever it could become infested with rodents or vermin, and any property that violates that or any other § 350-4 standard can be declared a public nuisance under § 350-5. Together, the two chapters give the city two distinct levers against rodent harborage: an ongoing yard-maintenance standard enforced by the Building Commissioner, Board of Health and other officials under Chapter 350, and a one-time, permit-conditioned extermination certification under Chapter 208 that has to be satisfied before a structure can legally come down. Because § 208-5 doesn't list its own fine, a violation falls back to Chapter 1's general enforcement provisions.