Bed bug prevention:

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The Department of Commerce, Division of State Fire Marshal (SFM), is responsible for licensing hotels, motels and single room occupancies (SROs) in the state of Ohio. The SFM is charged with enforcing the section of the Ohio Revised Code that requires bedding, floors, and carpets of hotels, motels and SROs be kept sanitary. Specifically, R.C. 3731.13 provides that, “[n]o bedding which is infested with vermin or bedbugs shall be used on any bed in any hotel.”

 

The State Fire Marshal does not have legal authority to regulate bed bug issues in single-family or multi-family residences, schools, apartments, mercantile stores, etc. Persons with concerns about bed bugs in facilities other than hotels, motels, and SROs should contact their local health department for further assistance.

 

Persons with concerns about bed bugs in hotels, motels or SROs should immediately notify the facility operator and may notify the State Fire Marshal in one of the following ways:

• Postal mail: Code Enforcement Bureau
  8895 East Main Street
  Reynoldsburg, OH 43068

• Phone: 888-276-0303

• Email: websfm@com.state.oh.us