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

020 establishes the Property Maintenance Code to protect public health, safety, and welfare in all existing residential and nonresidential premises by setting minimum standards for light, ventilation, space, heating, sanitation, protection from the elements, life safety, and fire safety, and by fixing responsibility on owners, operators, and occupants. Where the PMC conflicts with the county building codes, the building codes control, but where the building codes are silent, the PMC governs. 190(A) requires every dwelling unit to contain its own bathtub or shower, lavatory, water closet, and kitchen sink, maintained in sanitary, safe working condition, with the lavatory placed in the same room as the water closet or close to its door.

190(B). 220(D) requires water heating facilities to deliver hot or tempered water of at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit at every required sink, lavatory, bathtub, shower, and laundry facility, and bars a gas water heater from a bathroom, toilet room, bedroom, or other normally closed occupied room unless it has adequate combustion air. 230 requires every fixture to connect to a public sewer or an approved private sewage system, kept free of obstructions and leaks, and the tenant may not obstruct the plumbing or drainage system. 180(B), and no owner-occupant may occupy, or permit another to occupy, a structure that does not comply.