Why is a scheduled program better than one call?
A scheduled program covers the whole building and its routines, which a single call cannot do. The fact sheet for this site treats multi-unit and commercial scheduling as a different case from a single house, and the program is planned to fit how the building is used.
A building with a kitchen, a break room and a storage room has several areas with different needs, and a single visit looks at one moment in time. A program records each area, returns on a set schedule and keeps a log, so the manager can see what was found and what has been done. The log also helps a new technician, or a new manager, understand the building quickly.
The UGA Extension guidance on this site ties German cockroaches to sanitation problems, and a program can include the staff routines that reduce the conditions pests use. A technician explains those routines in plain terms, and the manager decides which ones the staff can carry out.
What should a business check before hiring a company?
Check that the company holds a Georgia license, that the technician carries the department's employee identification card, and that the plan and price are written down. The department's public license search covers companies, employees and operators, so the manager can confirm them before signing.
Georgia's Structural Pest Control Act provides for company licenses, certified operators and registered employees, and a certified operator must pass a general standards exam and an exam for each category. A manager does not need to know the exam details, but should ask the company which operator is responsible for the program and whether that person is certified in the relevant category.
For termite work, the state's rule requires a written contract for each job, so a manager should expect written paperwork for that part of the program. The homeowner or manager should keep copies of every plan, contract and log for the building.
What moves the price of a commercial program up or down?
The price depends on the size of the building, the number of units or areas, the access to each area, how often the program is scheduled, the sanitation conditions on site and whether any specialised work such as a termite contract is included. The price is explained and approved before work starts, and no figure is given on this page.
A building with a large kitchen, many storage rooms and frequent deliveries takes more time per visit than a single office, and the program is priced to match the work. A multi-unit building with shared walls takes more inspection time because every unit and common space is checked and recorded.
Schedule frequency is a major factor. A program that visits every few weeks is priced differently from one visited every few months, and the technician explains the trade-offs in plain terms. The price is confirmed on site, in writing, before any work starts.
What can staff do between visits?
Staff can keep food and waste stored properly, keep storage rooms tidy, report droppings and gnaw marks quickly and keep the routines the technician describes. Those steps support the program, and the technician explains which ones matter most for the building.
A simple reporting system helps. A staff member who notices droppings, a small hole with chewed edges or a line of ants should write down the place and the date, so the technician can check that area on the next visit. The notes are part of the log and make each visit more useful.
Staff should not handle droppings or dead animals with bare hands, and should not block a gap they have found until the technician has checked it. A technician explains the right steps for each situation during the walk-through.
How are rodents handled in a commercial building?
A rodent program starts with the signs, the entry points and the places rodents can hide. UGA Extension says the house mouse, the Norway rat and the roof rat all live in Georgia, and rats and mice usually hide by day and move at night.
A technician checks the building for droppings, gnawed edges and tracks, and maps the entry points around the doors, the loading dock and the utility penetrations. Gap sizes matter for exclusion, and University of California Extension guidance says to seal gaps larger than half an inch to keep rats out and larger than a quarter inch to keep mice out. That is California guidance, and the technician uses it as a starting point for the building.
Where animals are found inside the building, the technician plans the order of work so that animals are dealt with before openings are closed, since closing a route with an animal still inside can trap it in a wall or ceiling.