Commercial Exterior Cleaning for Schools & Educational Facilities

School work has a product question, a personnel question and a timing question, and the honest answer to the first one is more nuanced than most contractors admit.

• New York’s green cleaning requirement – Education Law 409-i requires school districts, charter schools, and private and parochial elementary and secondary schools to procure and use environmentally sensitive cleaning products following the guidelines issued through the state Office of General Services green cleaning program. The statute’s definition of facility reaches surrounding grounds and sites used for playgrounds and athletics.
• Who that duty binds – Section 409-i places the obligation on the school, not on the contractor, and the OGS product appendices focus on categories like vacuums, floor finishes and finish strippers rather than exterior washing detergents. So the accurate statement is that we match our product selection to your green cleaning policy and give you the documentation, not that state law certifies our chemicals.
• Product documentation – We supply safety data sheets and, where the surface and soil allow, use EPA Safer Choice certified products, which are evaluated ingredient by ingredient against the Safer Choice Standard. Safer Choice certifies a product rather than a company, so we tell you what we are bringing on site by name.
• Personnel clearance – State Education Department rules require fingerprint clearance for employees of contract service providers placed within a school for more than five days where the work involves direct contact with students, and the guidance expressly exempts trades workers with no direct student contact. We schedule exterior work outside student hours so the question stays straightforward, and we will meet a district’s clearance requirement where it goes further.
• Scheduling around the calendar – Work runs after hours, on weekends or during breaks, and Administrative Code 24-218’s prohibition on unreasonable noise governs work near occupied classrooms and neighboring homes.
• Playground and recreational surfaces – Poured-in-place rubber, synthetic turf and play surfacing are cleaned to the surfacing manufacturer’s guidance at low pressure, because these systems are damaged by the settings that are fine on concrete and the repair cost is significant.
• Wash water containment – Title 15 RCNY 19-02 permits nothing but stormwater or allowable runoff into a City storm sewer or catch basin. Drains inside the work zone are matted and bermed before water is turned on, and wash water is vacuumed back for legal disposal.
• Insurance and documentation – Certificates of insurance naming your entity are issued before the first visit. New York employers carry workers’ compensation under Workers’ Compensation Law sections 2 and 3 and disability and paid family leave coverage under section 202.

If your district has a green cleaning policy document or an approved product list, send it with the scope request. We would rather work inside your list than argue about ours.