Ordinances - Houses and Apartment Buildings
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Whether you rent or own your dwelling place, housing should be safe and healthy for you. Here are some of Rochester's regulations and standards.

Permits Required for Work on Residential Buildings (50.01-50.04) Residents are required to obtain permits from Building and Safety for remodeling work, including additions, decks, new windows and doors, garages, sheds, and fences over six feet tall.

Completion of Homes (106.4) A building permit expires after 180 days if no work is done during that period.

Identification of Houses, Buildings, and Apartments (34.28, 74.03) Every house and building must have address numbers that can be easily read from the street. The numbers must be on the front of the building, be as close to the main entrance as practicable, be at least 4 inches tall and contrast with the color of the building. Easily visible numbers and/or letters are also required on the entrance door to every apartment and rooming unit in any dwelling.

Sign Restrictions (63.22) There are specific rules regarding the number of signs, construction criteria, placement, size, and location. If you have a question regarding a sign, call Rochester/Olmsted Planning Department.

However, any sign which advertises either the sale or rental of the building upon which the sign is located that is 24 square feet in area, four feet tall in height, or less, is exempt from the Rochester Sign Regulations.

Advertsing signs of any type are not permitted in the street boulevard.

Minimum Housing Standards (34.01-34.15) All residential dwellings must have: Properly functioning kitchen sink, bathroom sink, toilet, bathtub or shower, running hot and cold water, adequate and safely funtioning heat and electricity, adequate number of windows and proper ventilation, garbage storage containers, and a safe way to exit the building.

Rental Property (38.01-38.153) All rental property within the City of Rochester must be registered with Building and Safety. All rental property must be fit for human occupancy, and must be clean and safe. Any owner of rental property may request that the Rochester Police Department conduct a criminal history/background investigation of prospective tenant.

Disorderly Use (38.152) Landlords are responsible for taking appropriate action against tenants or tenant's guests who are disorderly on the property. Disorderly use of the property ranges from loud music, overcrowding, unlawful sale of alcoholic beverages, gambling, and disorderly conduct, to indecent conduct, prostitution, participating in a disorderly house, drug offenses, and weapon offenses. Three violations of this ordinance can result in loss of the landlords rental certificate.

Public Health or Safety Hazards (35.23, 35.24) A person who creates, maintains, or allows to continue a property condition that poses a risk to public health or safety must fix the condition within 5 days of notification. If the owner or occupant does not do so within 5 days, authorized city personnel may enter the property and do so, then bill the property owner.

Every occupant will keep the area which he or she controls clean and sanitary.

Exterior Storage (63.242.1) In most residential areas, materials, machinery, and equipment must be stored within a building or be fully screened so as to not be visible from adjoining properties, except for the following when kept in good order: laundry drying and minor recreational equipment, construction and land scaping materials and equipment currently used on the premises, agricultural materials and equipment if intended for use on the property, off street parking of passenger vehicles and pick ip trucks, and storage of firewood.