Adding a treated-surface routine to a cleaning contract
How to map the edges of a building once, put them in the cleaning schedule, coordinate with the pest control contractor, and report the cycle to the client.
Draft wording, pending regulatory approval.
01
Where it applies
In most buildings the pest control contractor owns inspection, monitoring and treatment, and the cleaning contractor owns the hygiene that makes their job possible. A treated-surface routine sits between the two: the cleaning team applies it to mapped edges on a cycle, and the pest control contractor knows where it is.
Where it goes: the edges of a building rather than its surfaces. Skirting and floor-wall junctions, door thresholds and frames, window sills, riser and service cupboards, bin rooms and chute surrounds, kitchenette and tea point edges, plant rooms, loading bays and lift lobbies at floor level.
Not on desks, worktops, hand contact points or anything in daily use, and not on or around the pest control contractor's bait stations and monitors. Catering areas follow the food production and catering guide.
Do not present it as a replacement for the pest control contract; it sits alongside it.
02
Preparation
Map the edges once per building with the pest control contractor's site plan in hand, and keep a clear margin around their bait and monitoring points. Write the zones into the cleaning schedule with a frequency.
Decide who applies it and confirm they have been trained on the label and the safety data sheet. Schedule out of hours. Clean the edges, let them dry, ventilate, and wear the protective equipment the safety data sheet specifies. Report proofing defects and pest signs you find to the client and the contractor rather than treating over them.
03
Application
A thin, even layer along the mapped edges, following the same route in the same order each time. When the route is fixed, a gap in the record is visible.
Tested surfaces you will meet here: ceramic tiles, laminate, carpet, glass, unpainted cement and galvanised iron. Painted walls, vinyl and stone floors are outside the tested list: spot test and record it.
Overlap passes slightly. Do not saturate, and do not treat an edge you are about to mop.
04
Drying and re-entry
Zones are released when treated surfaces are dry. Never treat an edge and wet clean it on the same shift; the clean will lift the coating.
05
Reapplication
Reapply at the interval on the label. Sooner on edges that are wet cleaned frequently and on thresholds with heavy foot traffic.
Put it in the schedule as a cycle with a due date, not as a reactive task, and review the zone list with the pest control contractor's report at least once a year.
06
Records to keep
Building, floor, zone, date, product and batch number, operative, and the release time.
Hold it in the CAFM or work order system rather than on paper, so the monthly client report is generated rather than assembled, and send the pest control contractor the zone list and dates. Safety data sheet and label in the site chemical file.
Do not say
What not to claim to the end customer
To the client, this is a preventive routine applied to surfaces on a cycle. Do not promise an outcome, do not describe a building as insect free, and do not put a result in a service level agreement that depends on things you do not control.
Do not describe the product as non-toxic or harmless.
Use biocides safely. Always read the label and product information before use.