Why the Work Happens Out of Hours
Chemical treatment needs the area clear while it is applied and until it dries. On a working floor that means either sending people away during the day or coming in once they have left. Coming in afterwards is simpler for everyone: no desks to relocate, no one asking what the technician is doing, and nothing to explain to visitors.
Why bedbugs turn up in offices at all, and why the office is rarely where they breed, is set out on the London commercial bedbug treatment page for the full explanation. If one has just been found and you are working out what to do today, start with the Bank page and come back here when a treatment is being arranged.
What Gets Treated on an Office Floor
We work from the places people sit for longest and where bags and coats are put down. On a typical floor that means:
- Upholstered desk chairs: the seams, the underside of the seat and the joint where the seat meets the mechanism.
- Meeting room chairs, particularly fabric ones that stay in the same room all week.
- Sofas, cushions and banquettes in breakout areas, reception and quiet rooms.
- Desk pedestals and the underside edges of desks where bags are pushed.
- The carpet edge along walls and partitions near those areas.
- Coat stands and hooks, and any rail where coats hang together.
Coats are a subject of their own, and our guide to coats and cloakrooms covers them. Changing rooms, gym lockers and showers at work are dealt with on the Liverpool Street page. If a room on the floor is used for sleeping, such as a rest room with a sofa bed, we tell you whether that room needs heat instead.
Preparing the Floor on the Day
Most of the preparation falls on the staff who use the floor, so it helps to send it round early in the day, in plain terms.
- Clear the desks of personal items and put them in drawers or take them home.
- Take home any cardigans, blankets or cushions kept at the desk, sealed in a bag, and wash them hot.
- Clear the floor under desks: shoes, bags, boxes and anything that stops us reaching the carpet edge.
- Leave chairs and sofas where they are. Moving them to another floor moves the problem there.
- Tell building security and the building manager that a contractor will be working late, and give them our names.
Your Floor, the Landlord and the Other Tenants
Many City offices share a building with other businesses and common parts run by the landlord. If bedbugs are on your floor only, the treatment is usually your business to arrange. If they have been seen in shared areas such as the reception or a lift lobby, report it to the building manager in writing. Who pays for what depends on the lease, and we are pest controllers, not legal advisers.
Where the landlord or managing agent needs to see what was done, the written report we leave after the visit covers the areas treated and what we found in each.
What Staff Come Back To
By morning, the treated surfaces are dry and the floor can be used as normal. Staff should not wipe down or shampoo the chairs and sofas that were treated, because that removes the residue that is still working. Where eggs may be present, a follow-up visit is booked about 10 to 14 days later, again out of hours.
If anyone sees something after the treatment, ask them to catch it on clear tape or in a sealed bag and tell one named person rather than the whole office. For staff worried about carrying bedbugs home, our guide to bringing bedbugs home from the office is a calm place to point them.
How Office Work Is Priced
Office treatments are quoted on the rooms and areas involved, and start from £220. If you are not certain there is anything to treat, an inspection starts from £120. Ring 0800 955 1018 for the figure before anything is booked. The City of London bedbug control page covers homes and hotels as well.
← Bedbug Control City of London · Commercial Bedbug Treatment London, in full
Commercial Bedbug Treatment City of London — Questions
Can you treat our office in the evening?
Yes. Office work is normally done in the evening or at the weekend, so the floor is empty and the treated surfaces are dry before people come back.
Do staff need to stay away the next day?
No. Once the surfaces are dry the floor can be used as normal. We tell you on the day if any area needs to stay closed for longer.
Do we need to throw away office chairs or sofas?
Usually not. They can be treated where they are, and carrying them out through the building risks spreading bedbugs on the way.
Will one visit be enough for an office?
Often a follow-up is booked about 10 to 14 days later, because chemical treatment does not reliably kill eggs. We tell you after the first visit whether it is needed.
Who should pay when bedbugs are in shared areas of the building?
That depends on the lease, and we are not legal advisers. Report it to the building manager in writing and share our report with them.
How much does an office treatment cost?
It is quoted on the rooms and areas involved. Treatments start from £220 and inspections from £120.
Bedbug Treatments in City of London
Every service has its own page for City of London: heat, chemical, hotels, commercial premises and inspections.
Commercial Advice
The guides that go into commercial bedbug treatment in more depth.
Bedbugs in the Workplace
The source is almost always somebody's home. Handling that without humiliating anyone is the real job.
Read more →
HMOs and Serviced Apartments
Getting into every unit at once is the hard half of block work. How it is actually scheduled.
Read more →
Student Accommodation and Halls
The academic calendar is a pest calendar. Build the inspection programme around it.
Read more →
Bedbug Treatment for Care Homes
Treating around a resident who cannot easily move, and why heat is often the wrong answer.
Read more →
Can Bedbugs Spread Through an Office?
What an office 'infestation' turns out to be when somebody actually investigates it.
Read more →Bedbug Control Across City of London
Each area page is written around one situation we deal with.
Tell Us About the Property
Tell us the floor, the areas affected and when the office is empty, and we will ring with a price.