Air duct cleaning in offices

What does Dutch law say about ventilation ducts in an office?

Article 6.2 of the Working Conditions Decree (Arbobesluit) is the basis for every workplace in the Netherlands. It has several paragraphs that are directly relevant to offices:

For the building itself, the Building Works Living Environment Decree (Bbl) applies: almost every existing building must have a ventilation provision that prevents damage to health (art. 3.67 onwards). For new builds, capacity is determined with NEN 1087. Performance requirements for ventilation in non residential buildings are set out in NEN-EN 16798-3; the 2017 version has been withdrawn and replaced by the 2025 edition. None of these rules contains a fixed cleaning frequency.

Which benchmark do you use for clean office ductwork?

EN 15780:2025 is the European standard for the cleanliness of ventilation systems. It provides cleanliness classes and describes how to assess the need for cleaning (visually and with measurements), how to choose a method and how to verify the result. Informative annex A contains tables with inspection intervals per class in months.

According to trade publications, specific limit values for dust come from the standard; the text of the standard itself was not consulted for this. An overview:

Want to know how these standards relate to each other? Read VDI 6022 ventilation hygiene.

Why clean ducts in a commercial building save money

According to the World Green Building Council, better indoor air quality can increase productivity by 8 to 11 percent. For an office with many people per square metre, that is a strong argument to put to management or the building owner.

Contamination also has technical consequences. Dirty filters create more resistance. In a laboratory study of an MVHR unit, heavily soiled filters delivered 37 percent less supply air; power consumption fell slightly, from 71 to 66 watts, precisely because less air was passing through. The main effect is therefore under ventilation: less fresh air than the design promises, without anyone noticing straight away. According to the EPA, much of the dust sticks to the duct wall, so the dirt stays in the ducts after a filter change.

In practice this means that a filter change on its own is not the end of the story. Combine it with an occasional look inside the ducts, so you know whether the airflow your design promises still reaches the desks.

Cleaning office ductwork outside working hours: a schedule

Offices are empty in the evening and at weekends, and that is the moment to work. A schedule per floor:

1. Survey the air handling units, main ducts, branches and valves on each floor.
2. Inspect with a camera through existing access doors or valve openings.
3. Schedule an evening or part of a weekend per floor, so staff start Monday in a clean environment.
4. Protect workstations with dust sheets and close off valves with foam caps.
5. Clean under continuous negative pressure, with HEPA filtration if you exhaust indoors.
6. Record with before and after photos in the maintenance file.

If access doors are missing, have them fitted. Eurovent recommends openings no more than 10 metres apart or after no more than two bends of 45 degrees or more, and for ducts above 500 mm an access door of at least 500 by 400 mm.

Commercial building duct cleaning: dry or wet, brush or compressed air?

According to Eurovent, dry methods are usually sufficient for supply ducts and general extract. Only commercial kitchen extract calls for a wet method. In offices you therefore mostly work with rotating brushes or compressed air, combined with extraction.

Treat the staff restaurant as a commercial kitchen; see cooker hood duct cleaning. A full explanation of the steps can be found in how to clean air ducts.

Which equipment suits office ventilation duct cleaning?

Most office buildings have round or rectangular ducts in the mid range. Danduct Clean DC4 for cleaning contractors is made for those ducts: diameters from 100 to 600 mm, a reach of up to 30 metres, adjustable speed and an automatic left and right system.

For short branches to meeting rooms or toilets, PD4 duct cleaner for cleaning contractors is more practical, and for ducts with many bends the compressed air nozzle with camera. To prevent dust spreading you also need duct sealing and extraction for cleaning contractors. You can see all machines side by side under air duct cleaning tools for cleaning contractors.

A useful approach for a facilities team is to match each tool to a part of the building: the brushing machine for the main runs, the compact cleaner for the short branches and the camera nozzle for the awkward sections. That keeps every evening session focused on one type of work.

What does air duct cleaning cost in an office building?

There is no fixed price. One large cleaning contractor, for example, does not use a price per m² or per building: the price depends on the building type, the number and length of ducts, the contamination and the accessibility. In April 2026, a Dutch provider quoted €150 to €350 per unit for smaller commercial buildings and €450 to €950 for a camera inspection.

Fictional calculation: an office with four small units and a camera inspection comes out, within those ranges, between 4 x 150 + 450 = €1,050 and 4 x 350 + 950 = €2,350. For larger buildings with central air handling this is not a usable estimate; there it is a custom price after inspection. If you clean yourself, the investment in equipment is priced on quotation by Lamers.

For more background, see air duct cleaning prices. Other building types can be found via ductwork cleaning per industry, and for school buildings with similar systems there is a guide on fresh air in classrooms.