Two years ago, ISS launched its ‘Hygiene Inspections for Ventilation Systems’ service in the East region; we now provide this service to customers throughout German-speaking Switzerland. Imran Hadzic takes us along to the scene.
It is Monday morning at 8 a.m. in Zurich Altstetten when Imran Hadzic, project manager for hygiene inspections, enters a client’s building complex with his equipment. He will spend three days here conducting hygiene inspections on all ventilation systems. “With this device, I measure the levels of mold and germs in the outside air, the indoor air, and the supply air that is blown into the room by the ventilation system,” he explains.
“This is how we verify whether the system is meeting its protection goal. That means the air flowing into the building through the system is no worse than the outdoor air. Then I open up the systems to check their technical condition and cleanliness.” Using so-called contact swab samples, which are sent to a certified laboratory for analysis, he examines the surfaces in ventilation systems for microbiological contamination.
According to guidelines from the Swiss Association of Heating and Refrigeration Engineers, ventilation systems with humidifiers must be inspected every two years, and those without humidifiers every three years. But a guideline is not a law. “Awareness has certainly increased with the COVID-19 pandemic, but we still have to convince some customers of the importance of this service,” explains Bruno Wolf, Head of Technical Services for the Eastern Region.
But Bruno is happy to do this persuasion work because poor air quality affects the well-being, productivity, and health of building occupants. In addition, the service offers a good opportunity to increase ISS’s in-house capacity, as Bruno explains: “Instead of contracting external partners as we have done in the past, we’ve decided to have Imran - and later other employees - complete the necessary training.” An important prerequisite for this is that the hygiene inspection team be structurally separate from the ISS service technician team: “Because only then can the hygiene inspection team serve as a true oversight body.”
Before Imran came to Zurich today, he carefully reviewed the technical plans for the ventilation systems: “Every system is designed differently - the better I prepare, the more efficiently I can work on-site,” he explains. At the end of the inspection, Imran compiles all the analysis results - including photos, lab values, a list of defects, and an action plan - into a report for the client.
In 2024, ISS inspected a total of 271 systems at 23 clients’ sites across 29 buildings.
“Our team in the East Area now consists of three people, and a team has also been established in the North/South Area. This is because we have clients whose buildings are spread throughout German-speaking Switzerland. And because our goal is clear: to grow our service and attract more clients.”
Bruno Wolf, Head of Technical Services, East Region
Imran Hadzic
Project Manager for Hygiene Inspections, has been with ISS since 2022.
A certified ventilation systems technician (EFZ), he has earned his A-certificate as a hygiene inspector through various training and continuing education programs in the HVAC field.