Columbus, IN Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

Section 15.24.090 of the Columbus Municipal Code bars any person from occupying as owner-occupant, or letting to another, a dwelling or dwelling unit that does not meet its requirements. It applies to rentals in the City of Columbus, Indiana, and the chief code enforcement officer in the Department of Community Development enforces it. Every habitable room needs at least one window or skylight facing directly to the outdoors, with total window area, measured between stops, equal to seven percent of the room's floor area. Openable window area must equal at least forty-five percent of that minimum, unless another device affording adequate ventilation is approved by the chief code enforcement officer. Bathrooms and water closet compartments follow the same light and ventilation rules, but need no window where a ventilation system approved by the officer is installed. Every dwelling unit must have water heating facilities properly installed and kept in good and safe working order, and heating facilities that safely and adequately heat all habitable rooms, bathrooms and water closet compartments to a minimum of sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. Where a heating plant is shared by the building, § 15.24.090(G) requires heat to be supplied to reach the same sixty-eight degree minimum.

The rest of the section covers electrical service and openings. Each habitable room needs at least one floor or wall-type electric convenience outlet or one supplied ceiling-type light fixture, and bathrooms, laundry rooms and public halls need a supplied light. Doors to outdoor space need screens and a self-closing device, and basement openings that could admit rodents need a screen or other effective device.

Neighboring sections build out the standard. Section 15.24.080 requires a kitchen sink, a bathroom with water closet, lavatory basin and tub or shower, rubbish and garbage facilities, and safe egress. Section 15.24.100 requires foundations, floors, walls, ceilings, roofs, windows and doors to be reasonably weathertight, watertight and rodent-proof, bars shutting off required utilities except for temporary repairs, and requires a vacant unit to be clean, sanitary and fit for human occupancy before it is let. Section 15.24.110 sets one hundred square feet of floor space for the first occupant and seventy-five for each additional occupant, and a seven-foot ceiling over at least one-half of the floor area of a habitable room. No cellar can be a dwelling unit.