(1) The term “business buildings” shall mean any structure, whether public or private, that is adapted for occupancy for transaction of business, for rendering of professional service, for amusement, for the display, sale or storage of goods, wares, or merchandise, or for the performance of work or labor, including hotels, apartment buildings, tenement houses, rooming houses, office buildings, public buildings, stores, theaters, markets, restaurants, grain elevators, abattoirs, warehouses, workshops, factories, and all outhouses, sheds, barns, and other structures on premises used for business purposes.

(2) The term “ratproofing” as used herein applies to a form of construction to prevent the ingress of rats into business buildings from the exterior or from one business building or establishment to another. It consists essentially of treatment with material, impervious to rat gnawing, all actual or potential openings in exterior walls, ground or first floors, basements, roof and foundations, that may be reached by rats from the ground by climbing or by burrowing.

(3) The term “rat harborage” shall mean any condition which provides shelter or protection for rats, thus favoring their multiplication and continued existence in, under, or outside of any structure.

(4) The term “rat eradication” shall mean the elimination or extermination of rats within buildings by any or all of the accepted measures, such as: poisoning, fumigation, trapping, clubbing, etc.

(5) The term “Health Officer” as used herein means the city health officer, or any duly authorized representative.

(6) The term “owner” shall mean the actual owner, agent, or custodian of the business building, whether individual, partnership, or corporation. The lessee shall be construed as the “owner” for the purpose of this Chapter when business buildings agreements hold the lessee responsible for maintenance and repairs.

(7) The term “occupant” as used herein shall mean the individual, partnership, or corporation that uses or occupies any business building or part or fraction thereof, whether the actual owner or tenant. In the case of vacant business buildings or vacant portions thereof, the owner, agent, or custodian shall have the responsibility as occupant. (Ord. A-143 §1, 1949).