The Boston City Council this week approved a revised rental inspection ordinance, which city officials say enhance current standards for rental housing in the city.

The ordinance will cover about 140,000, or more than 85 percent of Boston’s approximately 167,800 rental units, and require that Boston landlords can be easily identified and held accountable when they fail to provide safe and decent housing for tenants, according to a press release from Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s office.

Over the next five years, every unit covered under the ordinance will receive an approved inspection or be covered by an Inspectional Services-approved alternative compliance plan. The city will tackle inspections of units owned by landlords with a history of non-compliance in the first year.

"Landlords must be held responsible when it comes to providing safe and healthy housing for their tenants," Menino said in a statement. "This ordinance creates a proactive rental inspection process that allows the city to work with property owners to improve quality of life for residents."