IPM is a short abbreviation that stands for Integrated Pest Management. IPM is a common-sense process using a wide range of sound solutions for treating and controlling pests. These solutions contain three other simple steps, including inspection, identification, and treatment. For IPM, it is known as the most holistic approach to pest management since treatments are individually created based on each individual’s needs. Professional pest experts will be those people inspecting your home or garden carefully for signs of pests or areas vulnerable to future infestation. They are also well-trained to identify the species and any sorts of disease-related threats they pose to your home and garden. After having done inspection, those professional experts finally determine the most effective treatment option to target at your pest issue. One thing to remember is that IPM requires a co-operation between you and the licensed professional. When you are in a great partnership with a well-trained pest expert, we ensure that your garden and home will be under high protection against pest-related health issues and property threats.

Prevention

Prevention is a standard method that brings fast and effective acts to keep the pest out because prevention appears even before the pest is present. Besides, prevention is also famous for its long-lasting effect. If the pest is well-controlled, we can deter future infestation and its spread. Prevention is a control method that promotes not only environmental safety but also causes minimal risks to the environment. There is also a small percentage of risk to humans. Above all, we highly recommend this control method because of its environmentally friendly feature to either the environment or people.

Chemical Control Method

Chemical Control Method is a commonly used technique to contain the pest from spreading. One of the most common examples of this method is the use of pesticides. In the same way, chemical pesticides are highly effective and show immediate results within a short time. Besides being fast-acting, pesticides are also long-lasting, so we recommend not applying pesticides yearly to protect the environment. Mainly, this control method is only used in the absence of all the alternative methods. Using chemical pesticides or toxic substances requires consciousness and responsibility because pesticides are just like any medication. When deciding to use this method, farmers or homeowners should consider correct products, dosages, and recommendations from a qualified pest professional. Remember that chemical pesticides are only valid when being applied appropriately, following instructions on the label or package leaflet and using personal protective equipment(PPE) according to the laws of the country. By following this advice, the risk of using pesticides will be minimal to both humans and the environment.

Cultural Control Method

Like any other pest management method, cultural control brings some similar effects to the control of pests, but efficiency seems to be the least. The most prominent disadvantage of this control method is not killing the roots of those pests. Right after we finish the treatment, the pests have a tendency to come back and continue to develop again. Therefore, its long-lasting effectiveness is not sufficient. However, most professional pest experts consider cultural control methods to be the most environmentally safe to the environment as they cause no concerning issues and no longer require any toxic chemicals. Regarding personal safety, they are also as safe as farming practices. When applying these cultural control methods, we had better pay great attention to sanitation and crop rotation to make sure that pests are killed strictly.

Biological Control Method

When it comes to the pest control method, there is a wide range of choices, depending on the type of pest, the level of infestation and environmental conditions. Amongst those methods, the biological control method might be the most prominent one in terms of human and ecological safety. This control method uses many kinds of organisms, such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, and even predatory insects, to reduce the significant number of pests in your areas. Some typical instances of this method are releasing a predatory insect that eats other tiny pests or using parasitoids to prevent harmful pests from causing massive damage to your garden plants. The biological control method is safe and environmentally friendly to both humans and natural ecology. Besides its safety, organic methods are low in cost and do not use any kind of toxic substances. Despite having these advantages, biological control methods have their drawbacks. One of the most prominent disadvantages is that these methods are not always applicable. Biological control agents usually take loads of time to develop until they reach their maturities. Once they reach maturities, the rapid spread of pests already causes some severe consequences, and the level of infestation is at an alarming rate. Therefore, biological pest control methods are only suitable for some areas where the level of the pest is in control.

To find out more about the IPM method, please consult out team on (02) 8007 4666. You may also reach us via chat.

Yes, your deli, diner, or fine restaurant has delicious food, an impeccably trained staff, and an enticing ambiance. All that don’t matter because nothing can take away an appetite quicker than spotting a cockroach on the counter. 

A pest problem can ruin the dining experience for your guests, and consequently, can affect your future potential customers. It can also harm your business reputation in general.

The question now is, do all restaurants have pests? Let’s put it this way.

Restaurant properties have many of the things that pests love—food, moisture, frequently opened doors, foot traffic, and shipments coming in. Thus, they are a year-round threat to restaurants because it provides their food, shelter, and water that they seek endlessly.

It’s important to be aware of the pests that pose the greatest threat to any restaurant.

Three of the dirtiest pests and most common offenders are rodents, cockroaches, and flies.

Rodents

As a key player in the urban pest category, rodents such as rats and mice are one of the most common pests found infesting restaurants, cafes, commercial kitchens, and other food service businesses.

These adaptive creatures are attracted by strong, frequent food supplies and do not venture far from their nesting sites to feed. So, as you can guess, restaurants make the perfect place for them to inhabit. Rats and mice are capable of a rapid increase in population given an abundant food supply, due to the number of litters they are capable of producing and the time to maturity.

They are known to cause damage to both buildings’ fixtures and electrical equipment due to both their nesting, burrowing, and gnawing habits. They can also cause loss of stock through not only eating food items, but also damaging food containers and packaging. They have also been known to spread a range of diseases, such as Salmonellosis, which can contaminate food items and equipment through their urine and droppings.

Cockroaches

Cockroaches cause particular problems because of their size, giving them the ability to hide in small places, their varied diet, rapid reproduction, and the diseases they can carry.

Cockroaches are primarily nocturnal, sheltering in the daytime and coming out at night to find food and other sites for shelter. They shelter in dark places such as cracks, crevices, drains, sewers, inside equipment and furnishings, and hidden spaces that provide the right temperature and humidity. These places are also hard to reach using normal cleaning and sanitation methods.

They pose a risk to food safety as they are known to carry a large number of disease-causing bacteria, such as Salmonella and E. coli, which can easily contaminate both food items, packaging, machinery and cooking utensils through their urine, droppings, and saliva.

Flies

As I’m sure you’re aware, flies are another issue for restaurants. There a number of species of flies which are attracted to food odours generated by commercial kitchens such as fruit flies, drain flies, and house flies.

Different species of flies are attracted to different food products; however, they all pose the same risk to food safety and other legislations restaurants must adhere to.

They are known to transmit over 200 different pathogens which, as you’ve probably guessed, can lead to the contamination of food items, machinery, and cooking utensils, posing a risk to both staff and customer health.

Why do restaurants have pests? 

• Food storage and serving facilities, like restaurants can indicate signs of much bigger problems, as follows: 
• Bacteria and sanitation issues where the food is kept, cooked, or served.
• Poor hygiene among restaurant staff and potential food safety problems.
• Structural issues with the building, such as cracking or missing insulation that lets pests enter the space. 

Some practical restaurant pest control actions to keep in mind

There are practical restaurant pest control actions that your management and staff can take to drastically reduce the likelihood that pests will be attracted to your restaurant. Here are five of the many actions that you can easily implement: 

1. Close doors when not in use and install door sweeps on exterior doors.
2. Caulk and seal cracks, crevices, or other openings.
3. Regularly clean and service drains.
4. Install dishwasher splash guards to keep walls from becoming saturated with moisture.
5. Practice first in, first out rotation. Product stuffed onto the back of shelves that doesn’t move out for long periods of time is subject to unnoticed pest infestation. By using the oldest product first, staff members can ensure that pests don’t have a chance to gain a foothold.

Why is pest control important in any restaurant?

If you see any of these pests in your restaurant, it’s also a good idea to have a contracted restaurant pest control partner to help you stay one step ahead of pest activity with a customized plan. Many commercial pest control companies have extensive experience in delivering effective restaurant and food service businesses pest control. In addition to treating your pest problems, which will help you meet health code requirements in regard to restaurant pest control, trained professionals can also offer you and your staff tips for helping avoid and eliminate conditions that may attract pests. 

With this solution, customers would come back to your restaurant, not pests.

To get a FREE CONSULTATION with a professional pest exterminator, please call (02) 8007 4666.

You can also contact us through chat or by sending us an enquiry using our online form.

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If you’re renting or leasing an apartment, who is responsible for paying for pest control services? Should you or your landlord pay for pest control? Read this guide.

When a property is rented, one of the most overlooked aspects is home pest control. Thus, the following questions should be considered before renting a property: 

• Is the property pest-free? 
• Are there any structural issues that could encourage the entry of pests? 
• Does the rental contract include any details about pest inspections or treatments already conducted? 
• Who is responsible for keeping the property pest-free – the landlord or tenant?

Before going deep with the roles of both parties, here are the common pests that are most likely to affect a property.

Cockroaches, bed bugs, rodents, spiders, termites, silverfish, ants, fleas, ticks, and flies are some of the most common pests. 

Some areas tend to attract certain pests more depending on the location. For instance, in the South, termites are the most common pests found in homes.

Now, let’s understand the responsibilities of the landlord, as well as the tenant, when it comes to keeping a rental property free from pests.

What is the landlord responsible for? Is your landlord responsible for paying for pest control?

The landlords are legally required to maintain and offer a pest-free property, which makes the questions posted above highly relevant to this. 

It’s a landlord’s responsibility to provide a premise in a clean and habitable state, of course, free from pests. The exception occurs when the presence of the pest was caused by a tenant’s poor housekeeping or lack of cleanliness.

The tenants are more likely to sign the lease renewal and the cost of searching for new tenants is eliminated when the property is well-maintained.

Also, happy tenants mean positive reviews, which can help attract new tenants easily.

The specified responsibilities of the landlord include property inspection. If any pest infestations exist, it should be removed thoroughly by a professional home pest control service provider before a new tenant occupies the property. 

Consecutively, all structural issues in the property such as cracks, seals, or any openings in doors, windows, or torn screens should be addressed before the property is rented. Always remember that pests, such as mice can enter the home from holes as small as the size of a pencil. 

Lastly, the lease or contract should include a specific section related to the maintenance of the property, which has been carried out for preventing pests.

If a tenant reported an issue very soon after taking occupancy, then this would be a reasonable timeframe to place the responsibility in the hands of the landlord to affect treatment.

What is the tenant responsible for?

Tenants are partly responsible when it comes to pest control of a rental property. 

Generally, tenants are held responsible for a pest infestation, such as fleas, which are caused by pets, but for home pest control in general, here’s what you can do on your end. 

Before signing the rental contract, the property should be inspected with great care to see if there are any signs of pests. 

As a tenant, upon receiving the rental agreement, it should be reviewed thoroughly, and the landlord should be asked about pest control if nothing is mentioned in the contract. 

The property, once rented, should be kept clean and free from pests, as follows: 

• Regular cleanup should be done because clutter and carelessness can give way to pest infestations. 
• Food containers should be kept properly sealed when not in use.
• There should be no water stagnation around the property. 
• Always keep the garbage bins covered.
• Dispose of all garbage properly and follow the garbage disposal and collection rules of your new community.

Therefore, pest problems arising from poor housekeeping and uncleanliness, e.g., failure to dispose of rubbish, or caused by the tenant (fleas from pets, as mentioned above) are the responsibility of the tenant.

These are scenarios that the owner can inevitably argue, as this is part of the tenant’s responsibility on home pest control. 

Any structural damage or signs of pests should be immediately reported to the landlord and necessary action should be taken to terminate the pests. This can help avoid any expensive and time-consuming efforts in the long run. 

Going back to the question…

To answer the question of whether it is the landlord’s or tenant’s responsibility when it comes to keeping the property pest-free, both actually have a responsibility, and both should fulfill it.

The landlord is responsible for renting out a property that’s clean and pest-free, while the tenant is responsible for keeping the property pest-free once he/she moves in.

Regular inspection can help in the early identification of any signs of a pest infestation. This enables both parties to save a lot of time, money, and effort in the future.

Property management companies should seek the services of professional home pest control experts when required, as this is more likely to give effective results.

Do you need help?

For any enquiries, contact the Masters of Pest Control Sydney. We provide safe and effective pest control services throughout Sydney.

We organise warranties for our pest control services to protect Sydney homes and strata properties.

Call (02) 8007 4666 to consult our pest experts!