The Neighborhood Improvement Services Department works to preserve and improve quality of life conditions for Durham residents, and to encourage active participation in neighborhood redevelopment and public policy and decision making dialogue. 

The department is responsible for enforcement of quality of life ordinances and state statutes including the City’s minimum housing code, nonresidential code, and weedy lot and abandoned and junk vehicle ordinances and the State of North Carolina’s unsafe building statute.

The department’s rapid responders, known as the impact team, remediate noncompliant housing properties; abate public nuisances, such as litter, graffiti, illegal dumping, and abandoned shopping carts; and conduct neighborhood service projects. The department’s Community Engagement staff provides outreach and education to Durham residents and community organizations.