Project case study

Family Law Firm

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Project Overview

Project title:

Family Law Firm

Project date:

2022

Project type:

Hoarding & Squalor Clean-up

Summary:

To restore and remediate a private home that had fallen into disrepair

The brief

CIRTS was engaged by a national law firm, acting on behalf of a client in a family law court case, to complete a scope of works and quote for the squalor and hoarding restoration and remediation of a 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom building.

The challenges

Hazardous/Infectious Building Conditions – Animal and human faeces, animal urine, rotten food, rodents, and insects were all present within the building.
Contamination/Decontamination – In order to protect our workers from potential contamination, stringent decontamination protocols needed to be implemented prior to the commencement of any and all restoration and remediation works.
Potential Need for Destructive Demolition Works – Due to the potential hazardous/infectious state of the building, there were concerns that the kitchen and bathrooms may need to be demolished. This causes specific challenges in maintaining the integrity of the workers PPE in such a hazardous environment.

The project

CIRTS squalor and hoarding team met the lawyers’ representatives on site that afternoon to develop an applicable protocol, scope of works and quote for a full house restoration. After the quote was approved our specialist squalor/hoarding team arrived on site to start the first step in the process of returning the building to its original state. This step was to implement all safety, decontamination, and incident reporting protocols.

CIRTS began the remediation process by removing and disposing of all unwanted household items and waste including the carpets and underlay as they were covered in animal faeces and urine. This was followed by the removal of all gross contamination (faeces, food) from all other surfaces within the building.

CIRTS then undertakes the cleaning process, starting with the most grossly contaminated areas first. Remediation/sanitation is achieved through the correct use of chemicals and is something the CIRTS squalor and hoarding team have developed through years of professional experience and knowledge.

Once CIRTS had hygienically cleaned all surfaces in the entire building an ozone generator is used to eliminate for any lingering odours and bacteria. The final step in the process is chemical deodorisation.

The outcome

The lawyers and their client were extremely happy with the result of the restoration and remediation works. The building was able to be certified as being habitable post remediation.

One particular achievement was that the demolition and replacement of the kitchen and bathrooms was not required as initially thought, due to the gross contamination. The thoroughness of the remediation clean meant the kitchen and bathrooms were returned to a sanitary state without the need for any destructive works.

Before

After

Before

After