Tucson, AZ Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

City Code § 16-11(h) requires that the interior of all buildings and structures be kept free from infestation of insects, rodents and other noxious pests where such infestation threatens the health, safety or welfare of a person. City Code § 16-13(e) mirrors that duty for the outside of the property, requiring that all premises be kept free from infestation of insects, rodents and other noxious pests under the same health-safety-welfare standard. The two sections work together: § 16-11 covers the building interior alongside plumbing, kitchen sink and sanitary-facility maintenance duties, while § 16-13 covers exterior premises alongside vegetation, refuse, compost, and hazardous-excavation rules.

A rodent infestation severe enough to make a dwelling uninhabitable is independently listed as one of the sixteen nuisance conditions in § 16-14(c)(10), meaning a bad enough infestation can escalate the property into full nuisance-abatement territory including repair, rehabilitation or demolition orders rather than a simple pest-control directive. Enforcement runs through the same notice-of-violation and inspection framework as the rest of Chapter 16: a code official can inspect on a complaint, issue a notice under § 16-45 describing the infestation and the corrective action required (extermination is expressly listed as an acceptable corrective action), and reinspect afterward, potentially billing a fee if the problem persists past the compliance deadline.