Do commercial construction cleaners in Ottawa handle hazardous material cleanup?

A post-construction cleaning company is generally not the right hire for hazardous material cleanup. Hazardous material abatement is a specialized field with its own training and procedures, and it is separate from the general cleaning a post-construction crew does. Understanding this distinction matters for any commercial project owner in Ottawa.

Materials that can be a concern in commercial renovation include asbestos in older building materials, lead in old paint, mould exposed during demolition, and chemical residues in buildings that were used for industrial purposes. Suspected asbestos is a job for an abatement contractor, not a cleaning crew; have it tested before cleanup begins. Asbestos never goes in a regular bin — Ontario has its own sealed-container transport rules for it. For lead paint and mould, ask any company you are considering how they would handle it and whether they would bring in a specialist.

What a post-construction cleaning crew can handle is the cleanup after hazardous materials have been dealt with by the right specialist. Once the abatement work is finished and the specialist has confirmed the area is clear, the cleaning crew comes in for the standard deep clean. This includes HEPA vacuuming all surfaces to remove fine dust, wet-wiping walls and fixtures, scrubbing floors, cleaning windows, and in some cases running air scrubbers.

For commercial projects where hazardous materials are a concern, the order of work usually looks like this. First, suspect materials are tested. Second, an abatement contractor removes or deals with anything hazardous. Third, the post-construction cleaning crew does the final deep clean. Asking a cleaning crew to handle materials outside their training puts their workers at risk, so keep the steps separate.

Waste disposal matters too. The City's Trail Road landfill does not accept asbestos, hazardous waste, liquid waste or commercial garbage, so ask each company where the debris from your project will go. A well-run cleaning company should be able to explain how it sorts and disposes of waste. If your commercial project involves both hazardous abatement and post-construction cleaning, the Ottawa Construction Network directory at justynrookcontracting.com can help you find contractors for the cleaning phase of the process.

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Looking for experienced contractors? The Ottawa Construction Network connects homeowners with qualified professionals:

• Cleanstruction
• JC Carpentry
• Ottawa Caulking
• Geerts Roofing Inc
• Maid On Call Cleaning service