A well-maintained office building can quickly become vulnerable to pests if adequate preventive measures are not in place. In Brossard, on the South Shore, our team carried out a pest prevention program for a three-storey office building, located in the Solar commercial district, near the municipality of Saint-Lambert. The property manager had received several reports from tenants about the presence of cockroaches in the kitchenettes and rodent tracks in the basement archive room. Our team in Brossard conducted a complete assessment of the situation before proposing a customized prevention program, based on our pest prevention service adapted to commercial buildings on the South Shore.
Risk assessment and structural inspection
The inspection covered all the common areas and technical rooms: basement, archive room, electrical room, waste rooms, kitchenettes on the three floors, corridors and plumbing spaces. The outer shell was also carefully checked: seals of the façade windows, bottom of the building access doors, ventilation ducts on the roof, cable ducts and technical ducts. The diagnosis highlighted several major deficiencies: spaces under the basement access doors, faulty joints around the plumbing ducts in the technical ducts, damaged ventilation grilles on the rear façade, and a humidity problem in the archive room favouring the presence of pests. A smoke test on the drainage system confirmed the tightness of the plumbing connections and ruled out sewer access.
Prevention and sealing work
The interventions were organized outside office hours to minimize the impact on tenants. The basement doors have been fitted with new door bottom seals and self-closing springs. The plumbing passages in the technical ducts were sealed with steel wool and moisture-resistant two-component sealant. The façade ventilation grilles have been replaced by anti-intrusion stainless steel models. The port of entry closure program was documented with technical data sheets for each intervention, constituting a compliance file accessible to the manager. The archive room has undergone an additional dehumidifier treatment to eliminate conditions conducive to pests and mould.
Deployment of the monitoring program
Monitoring stations for rodents and insects have been installed in high-risk areas: basement, archive room, kitchenettes and waste room. This discreet equipment allows for early detection without disrupting the working environment. A waste management plan for kitchenettes was recommended: closed bags, daily emptying, weekly cleaning of spaces under furniture and around appliances. Bi-monthly inspection visits verify the integrity of the measures in place and adjust the program according to the seasons and new activities in the building. Consult this prevention achievement for other cases in commercial settings on the South Shore.
Program Outcomes and Value
Since the implementation of the preventive program, no parasitic incidents have been reported in the Brossard office building. Tenants have returned to a healthy, professional and reassuring work environment, which has helped to reduce complaints and stabilize occupancy. The manager has a documented record of all interventions, facilitating long-term preventive management and communications with authorities in the event of a compliance inspection. A structured prevention program in a commercial building is also a concrete value argument for attracting and retaining quality tenants in a competitive market. The combination of a rigorous inspection, long-term sealing work and regular follow-up is the winning formula for any property manager concerned about the sustainability of his or her asset. Nova Extermination, a specialist in integrated pest management on the South Shore, puts its expertise at the service of commercial property managers for compliant and sustainable work environments.