Yes. Rochester requires proactive rental inspections through its renewable Certificate of Occupancy. Under Rochester Municipal Code Section 90-16, no rental dwelling may be occupied unless a valid Certificate of Occupancy is in effect for the building, and every certificate is earned by passing a city property maintenance inspection. Most one- and two-family rentals renew every six years, buildings with three or more units renew every three years, and one- and two-family rentals inside the city's Lead Paint High-Risk Area are also on a three-year cycle. Owner-occupied one-family homes can be exempted.
The cycle: six years, three years, or three years for lead risk
The renewal clock depends on what the building is and where it sits. Under Rochester Municipal Code Sec. 90-16(H), a certificate for a non-owner-occupied one-family home, or a two-family home outside the Lead Paint High-Risk Area, remains valid for six years. A building with three or more dwelling units, or a mixed-use building with at least one dwelling unit, gets three years. And following amendments adopted in February and April 2026, a one- or two-family rental located inside the Lead Paint High-Risk Area is on a three-year cycle as well.
| Building | Certificate valid for | Published fee | Paid late |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-family rental | 6 years (3 in the lead high-risk area) | $150 | $300 |
| Two-family rental | 6 years (3 in the lead high-risk area) | $250 | $500 |
| 3-5 units or rooming house | 3 years | $350 | $700 |
| 6+ units | 3 years | $350 + $25/unit over 5 | Varies by unit count |
Fees are per building, not per parcel, per the City of Rochester's certificate of occupancy pages (cityofrochester.gov), and the city has announced that permit and certificate fees change effective July 1, 2026, so confirm the current amount when you apply. Owners must apply for renewal at least 90 days before the current certificate expires, and the certificate cannot be issued until the owner is registered in the city's Building Owner's Registry under Sec. 90-20. Owner-occupied one-family homes, and owner-occupied two-family homes outside the high-risk area, are exempt via an exemption request form.
Every inspection is also a lead inspection
This is what makes Rochester's system nationally known. Under Rochester Municipal Code Sec. 90-55, every Certificate of Occupancy inspection includes a visual assessment for deteriorated paint and bare soil hazards. Inside the Lead Paint High-Risk Area, passing the visual check is not enough: even when no interior deteriorated paint is found, the owner must have certified lead dust wipe samples taken and submit the results within 60 days, or be cited for a dust sample violation. Successful wipe results stay valid for three years unless deteriorated paint is later found.
The 2026 amendments raised the stakes again. The ordinance now covers structures built before 1980, and the certificate itself now doubles as the Lead Safety Certificate required by New York Public Health Law Sec. 1377, the state's new Lead Rental Registry. For pre-1980 buildings with two or more units inside the high-risk area, the code makes it a citable Lead Rental Registry violation to lack a valid Certificate of Occupancy as of October 1, 2026, and every three years after that.
Beyond lead, the city's inspection checklist covers fire protection, stairs and handrails, roofing and gutters, heat, electrical and plumbing systems, structural soundness, and space requirements, per the City of Rochester's inspection pages (cityofrochester.gov).
What 7,623 inspections revealed
Rochester's program is also one of the only ones in the country with peer-reviewed results. A study in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov), published in 2018, analyzed 7,623 single-family rental homes inspected under the Certificate of Occupancy program between 2009 and 2014, tracking 136 healthy-home violations from window and roof problems to missing smoke detectors.
The distribution matters for operators: most properties sail through, but a small tail of buildings carries most of the risk, and the study found that roughly 64 percent of the variation between areas was attributable to fixed housing-stock effects. In other words, the building's underlying condition, not inspector discretion, drives the result. Our rental inspection ordinance reference compares Rochester's cycle and fees against 22 other US jurisdictions.
What happens without a certificate
Renting without a valid certificate is not a paperwork lapse in Rochester. Under Sec. 90-16, the city may ticket the owner as a high-level violation carrying the penalties in Municipal Code Sec. 13A-11D(1)(c), order the occupants to vacate the building, or both. An existing certificate can also be declared null and void when serious code violations surface. The cheaper failure mode is just as real: pay the renewal fee after the due date and the city's published schedule doubles it.
The practical takeaway for anyone operating rentals in Rochester is that condition drives everything: the inspection outcome, the lead testing burden, and with the high-risk-area rules, the length of your renewal cycle. A dated photographic record of each unit's condition between inspections is the difference between fixing deteriorated paint on your schedule and fixing it on the city's.
Quick FAQ
Does Rochester NY require rental inspections?
Yes. Rochester runs one of the oldest proactive rental inspection systems in the country through its renewable Certificate of Occupancy. Under Rochester Municipal Code Section 90-16, no one may occupy a rental dwelling unless a valid Certificate of Occupancy is in effect for the building, and each certificate is earned by passing a city property maintenance inspection. Owner-occupied one-family homes, and owner-occupied two-family homes outside the Lead Paint High-Risk Area, can be exempted by filing an exemption request form.
How often does a Rochester rental need a new Certificate of Occupancy?
It depends on the building and its location. A non-owner-occupied one-family home, or a two-family home outside the Lead Paint High-Risk Area, gets a certificate valid for six years. A building with three or more units, or a mixed-use building with at least one dwelling unit, must renew every three years. A one- or two-family rental inside the Lead Paint High-Risk Area is also on a three-year cycle. Owners must apply for renewal at least 90 days before the current certificate expires.
What happens if you rent out a Rochester property without a Certificate of Occupancy?
Occupancy without a valid certificate is a ticketable offense under Rochester Municipal Code Section 90-16, treated as a high-level violation with penalties set by Section 13A-11D(1)(c). The city can also order occupants to vacate the building, and an existing certificate can be declared null and void if serious violations are found. Late renewal is expensive on its own: the city's published fee schedule doubles the certificate fee when it is paid after the due date.
Sources
Sources are named at the publisher level with their root domain, rather than linked or titled; every figure is verifiable at the named source.
- City of Rochester, Certificate of Occupancy program, inspection and fee pages, 2026cityofrochester.gov
- Rochester Municipal Code, Chapter 90 Property Code, Sec. 90-16 and Article III lead-based paint provisions, as amended through 2026ecode360.com
- Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, peer-reviewed analysis of Rochester's proactive inspection program, 2018pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov