In the catering and food trade sector, pest prevention is a regulatory obligation as well as a health necessity. In Bromont, on the South Shore, our team conducted a prevention program for an independent delicatessen, established in a single-storey commercial building built in the 1980s, in the Plaines district of Bromont, not far from the city of Varennes. The owner had experienced occasional rodent problems the previous year and wanted to have a strong preventative system in place to protect his inventory, reputation and compliance with hygiene standards. The Nova Extermination team in Bromont responded to this request with an integrated approach, relying on our pest prevention service recognized in the commercial sector.
Comprehensive Pest Risk Audit
The audit began with a comprehensive inspection of the premises: sales room, back room, cold room, goods reception area, waste room, and the exterior of the building. Our technician documented potential entry points, sources of attraction, and pest-friendly shelter areas. The result of the audit highlighted several shortcomings: worn loading dock door seals allowing passage of several centimetres, unprotected drainage pipes in the backyard, cracks in the cinder block wall of the waste room, gaps between the plumbing pipes and the floor of the cold room, as well as pallets stored directly on the floor. An action program was established, prioritizing immediate risks and planning structural interventions over several weeks to minimize the impact on day-to-day business operations.
Sealing and Physical Exclusion Interventions
The work included the complete replacement of the door bottom seals of the loading docks with high-strength industrial rubber seals. Cracks and openings in the waste room were filled with fibre-reinforced polymer mortar, which is resistant to nibbling attempts. The plumbing passages in the walk-in cooler were sealed with compacted steel wool and two-component sealant. The drainage pipes in the backyard were equipped with anti-rodent galvanized cast iron grates. To ensure the consistency of all the measurements, a smoke test was carried out on the drainage network in order to detect unexpected connections with the outside. This test located a faulty fitting that was repaired immediately, eliminating a potential pathway for pests.
Installation of monitoring stations and the IPM program
In a food context, the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program is the unavoidable standard. Electronically detected rodent monitoring stations were installed in the waste room, the back room and the inner perimeter of the building. Sticky traps for crawling insects have been placed under the shelves of the storeroom and near the cold room. A bi-monthly inspection schedule has been established, with a written report submitted at each visit, constituting the sanitary register required by sanitation inspectors. The management was also supported in the implementation of procedures for receiving goods, waste management and storage (raised pallets, stock rotation, hermetic sealing of bulk containers). For more examples of our work in commercial contexts, check out this prevention achievement and this commercial caulking file.
Results and added value of the preventive programme
The Bromont food store passed its annual safety inspection without any observations related to pests, a first in several years. Having a rigorous preventative program in place not only eliminated the risk of infestation, but also increased the owner’s confidence in the management of their establishment. A structured, documented and regularly updated prevention program is the most reliable tool for maintaining regulatory compliance in the food sector. Nova Extermination, an expert in pest control for businesses on the South Shore, supports operators over the long term to guarantee permanent results that comply with the requirements of the health authorities.