04K — Rats or live rats present in facility's food/non-food areas
Rats carry disease and contaminate food and surfaces just by traveling through your space. The inspector kneels and runs a flashlight under every freestanding piece of equipment, around floor drains, behind shelving, and along baseboards looking for droppings, 3/4-inch greasy rub marks, gnaw holes (2 inches or bigger), and burrows by the dumpster. Droppings by themselves are enough to be cited — no live rat needed. A few droppings is 5-8 points; 3 or more live rats, more than 100 fresh droppings, or active harborage is Condition Level V (28 points), where the inspector calls the office to discuss closing you.
What the inspector looks for
Get on one knee with a flashlight and shine it under and behind the fryers, ranges, and reach-ins, and along the wall-to-floor line. You are looking for rat droppings — large dark capsules about 1/4 to 1/2 inch long (the size of a coffee bean or bigger). Even one fresh dropping is a violation.
Points & grade impact
Cited at 5 points — 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 by droppings/areas (I-IV); V = 28 for 3+ live rats, >100 droppings, or harborage (call office to discuss closure). NYC adds every cited violation’s points into one inspection score: 0–13 = A, 14–27 = B, 28+ = C.
| Condition level | Points |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | 5 |
| Level 2 | 6 |
| Level 3 | 7 |
| Level 4 | 8 |
| Level 5 | 28 |
How to fix it
Remove droppings and the food source; discard contaminated/exposed food; empty overflowing garbage; set monitoring inside tamper-resistant stations and call your licensed pest professional immediately.
How to prevent it
Follow NYC 'Clean / Starve / Seal' IPM: clean under and behind equipment, store food in sealed containers ≥6 in off the floor, manage garbage with heavy-duty bags and lidded cans, and seal openings (a rat fits through a quarter-sized hole).
- ✓Keep a current contract with a NYS DEC-licensed pest professional and keep the signed service log on site — the inspector will ask to see it.
- ✓Seal every gap a quarter could fit through (about 3/4 inch) with copper mesh and cement; put sweeps on every exterior door.
- ✓Store all food in sealed containers at least 6 inches off the floor, and dry-mop floors nightly so there is nothing to eat or drink.
- ✓Break down and remove cardboard daily — it is both nesting material and a hiding place; check incoming boxes for droppings before they come inside.
Reference: Health Code §81.23(a)
Will your kitchen get an A?
Run a free 5-minute self-audit across all 73 NYC violation codes and see your projected letter grade — before the inspector does.
Run a free self-audit