NYC agency · Public health
Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)
Cooling-tower / Legionella rules, rodent (rat) inspections, food-service permits and grades, and childcare.
What DOHMH regulates
The Health Department enforces public-health rules that run through buildings: cooling tower registration and Legionella testing (Local Law 77), rodent inspections and the “rat indexing” of blocks, food-service permits and letter grades for restaurants, and childcare and other permitted uses.
What owners deal with
- Cooling-tower registration, quarterly Legionella testing, and annual certification.
- Rodent violations from inspections — conditions conducive to rats (harborage, food, trash).
- Food-service establishment inspections and grades for buildings with restaurants.
How to look it up
Rodent inspection results and restaurant grades are on NYC Open Data and DOHMH portals. See our cooling tower guide.
Local Laws this agency enforces
Reviewed against current NYC agency guidance by the NYC Building Compliance editorial team. Found something out of date? Tell us. Informational only — not legal or engineering advice.
See your building’s open DOHMH violations right now.
Look up violations →Primary sources
NYC Building Compliance is an independent resource, not the City of New York. Rules and dollar amounts change — always confirm against the official pages above or a licensed professional before acting.