A Quick Guide To Hiring Sweeping Services
Whether you are a property manager, a municipality or a construction manager, power sweeping is a best practice that will benefit your property.
There are many factors that go into hiring sweeping services. Below are some helpful details about the various types of power sweeping including Parking Lots, Street/Highway, Construction/Milling and Community (HOA).
Once you are ready to start the sweeping contractor selection process you can find NAPSA sweeping companies in your area.
Jump to a Section:
Parking Lots
Street / Highway
Construction / Milling
Community
How to Hire Parking Lot Sweeping Services
As a building owner or manager you’ll be trusting a contractor employee to operate several tools and pieces of equipment throughout your property and sometimes around your tenants and their patrons.
- Be sure your contractor is properly licensed and carries the appropriate insurance policies with appropriate coverage.
- You’ll want to ensure your contractor is using the right equipment for your job site, and that it’s properly functioning. Ask about the types of sweepers and the models your contractor will be using.
- Do they have backup equipment if a truck breaks down or will your property miss out on being serviced?
- Ask you contractor to verify they hire legally, pay appropriate wages, and properly train employees. Would you want an untrained operator for your site?
A good sweeping contractor will adhere to the NAPSA sweeping standard approved by ANSI. Make sure the contractor you select has been trained on the standard and is a Certified Sweeping Company.
Why Should You Keep Your Parking Area Clean?
Whether retail, office, or industrial, parking lot sweeping is a Best Management Practice to apply for many reasons. Obviously it’s important for aesthetics; building owners and managers want their properties to look great by having trash and debris removed frequently. Parking lot sweeping has additional benefits to consider:
- Sweeping extends the life of an asphalt or concrete parking surface by reducing the abrasive
materials that can accumulate over time, such as sand or gravel. - Sweeping reduces the amount of material that is tracked indoors by foot traffic, impacting
indoor cleaning costs and flooring lifespan. - Sweeping serves to reduce the possibility of potential slip & fall hazards
- Sweeping reduces the amount of pollutants that are washed into storm drains by rain
How to Hire Street Sweeping Services
Sweeping would seem to be a basic operation that is a as simple as driving a truck across pavement. In reality, different purposes for sweeping will require different equipment and there are multiple types of equipment. Several factors are considered when determining which type of sweeper is best use for a particular job. Some of these include:
- Type and amount of debris and weather conditions
- Frequency of sweeping
- Lighter debris loads are best for a large air sweeper
- Heavy loads of gravel, dirt or other heavy debris are best for broom sweepers
- City and highway sweeping can use either a broom or air sweeper
Street and highway sweeping is a proven Best Management Practice (BMP) for helping to reduce pollution from storm water runoff.
As a municipality or agency, having a regular scheduled street and highway sweeping program will help with health and safety as well as environmental concerns and mandates. Performing regularly scheduled sweeping can prohibit accumulation of debris on the roadways which will potentially contribute to accidents and has been proven to increase pollution in stormwater. The sand and dust removed from the roadways can help to reduce health issues caused from dust particulates. From a longevity and fiduciary perspective, sand, dirt and trash act as abrasives to the pavement and can shorten the life of the pavement causing budgets to be accessed for paving improvements and repairs.
Street and highway sweeping improves your sense of community. From an aesthetics point of view, more litter on the roadways will encourage litter to be tossed from vehicles. Unsightly debris discourages community pride and ultimately hinders growth. With communities struggling to bring in new business and residents, the simple act of regular sweeping will improve appearance and encourage growth and pride.
Contact your local NAPSA member for more information on sweeping and learn how your community can benefit from this valuable service.
How to Hire Construction Sweeping Services
When hiring a professional to perform your construction/milling sweeping, knowing your parameters is the key starting point. This is critical in order to get the right equipment and operator on the job.
The scope of work topic points include:
- What is the material and density of the debris?
- Is the material compacted or loose?
- The volume of material?
- What is the measure of performance?
- What are the time frame and time constraints?
- What happens to the sweepings; can they be dumped on-site or is the debris to be removed?
- If dumping on-site, is the debris to be dumped on the ground or deposited into a truck or bin?
- What are the logistics of the job-site?
Knowing the answer to the questions above will allow you specify the correct equipment. The types of equipment for sweeping construction and milling falls into two main categories with several sub-categories.
The first group of sweepers are mechanical broom sweepers. These units have gutter brooms that wind-row the material in front of a main pickup broom that flings the material onto a mechanical conveyance device. This device is either a belt conveyor or a flight and squeegee system. The material is conveyed up and deposited into the debris hopper. Broom sweepers are designed for heavy bulk debris such as millings or compacted track-out on construction sites. Broom sweepers are either mounted onto a commercial chassis or designed as a purpose built unit. Those that are mounted on a chassis offer the flexibility of mobility that a purpose built unit may not. Purpose built units may offer an extra degree of maneuverability. Most broom sweepers are built with a high dump feature that allows for depositing the debris into a dump truck.
The second major category of sweepers suitable for construction and milling cleanup are air conveyance generally known as vacuum sweepers. Vacuum sweepers come in two varieties. The first type is classified as a true vacuum. This sweeper utilizes both a gutter broom and a center broom to windrow the material to the air conveyance suction nozzle. The debris is then drawn up into the debris hopper.
Most true vacuum sweepers are chassis mounted and dump onto the ground. The second type of air conveyance sweeper is a regenerative air unit. These make use of gutter brooms to window the material to a pickup hood that utilizes an air swirling action to lift the debris and air conveying it to the debris hopper. Most regenerative air sweepers are also chassis mounted and deposit the debris onto the ground. Some regenerative air sweepers do offer a high dump feature. Vacuum sweepers are designed to pick-up finer materials than their broom sweeper counterparts.
This page is intended to serve as a primer to assist you in finding the right equipment and operator for you heavy duty sweeping jobs.
Many people associate NAPSA and its members strictly with parking lot sweeping and parking lot maintenance. But the truth is, most NAPSA contractor members are full-fledged, full service sweeping contractors. They, particularly those that have earned the certified sweeping company designation provide the operators and proper sweeping equipment needed for the challenging task of construction and milling sweeping. The bottom line is knowing what you want in a sweeping job and clearly defining it is the path to achieving your goal. Consulting with and utilizing your local NAPSA contractor is the best way to accomplish the high quality results that you require.
How to Hire Community Sweeping Services
As a management professional for communities, choosing the areas to focus your resource dollars on can mean the difference between safe and sanitary conditions or dilapidation. The use of professional power sweeping in your communities will not only keep them looking great, it is a vital maintenance and safety component.
Power Sweeping Increases Property Value
The real estate industry will tell you that it is all about location, location, location when selling a home. This means your individual community also. A well maintained community not only offers that pristine appearance but tells prospective homeowners that the residents of the community care and take pride in their space. A well maintained community reflects directly upon the management professional.
Power Sweeping Decreases The Amount of Dirt and Debris
From the street to the door, walking through dirt and debris will find its way into homes clogging furnace filters and making a costly mess of pools and furniture. Storms blow it in and feet carry it in but a cleaner street will result in cleaner homes and happier tenants and community dwellers.
Power Sweeping Increases The Life of Your Asphalt and Concrete
Sand, dirt and trash are abrasive. Having abrasive material on asphalt and concrete reduces the life span of these areas. Removing these pollutants from the area allows for a cleaner environment as well as keeps dirt and debris out of the sewers therefore, preventing storm water runoff.
Power Sweeping Increases Safety As Well As Aesthetics
Removing debris reduces slip and fall accidents. A safe environment means lower insurance rates for your community. Removing trash from the road and keeping your community clean encourages people to throw their trash onto a sparkling clean property.