Inspection, cleaning and maintenance are three separate services with separate qualifications, separate effort and separate documentation.
A hygiene inspection to VDI 6022 is the recurring assessment of ventilation systems: visual inspection of all components, measurement of air conditions and pressure relationships, microbiological samples where needed, and a written report. It is not a law but a private guideline; it becomes binding through contract, insurance or operator duties. And it is something other than cleaning.
In tender documents, inspection, cleaning and maintenance often stand in one line item. That leads to quotations that cannot be compared and to services that nobody actually performed. Separating them is the first step towards a robust order.
A ventilation system is an asset that works invisibly on every working day. If it fails or delivers air that is hygienically noticeable, the consequences are operational rather than technical.
It is often claimed that VDI 6022 is 'legally recognised' and that its intervals are 'statutory inspection intervals'. Both are wrong. What is correct is the following three-way distinction.
No regulation names a 'hygiene inspection to VDI 6022'. What is mandatory is something else — and that something else is very much to be taken seriously.
A private guideline can become hard in an individual case. These five routes are the reason.
The process follows the system, not a form. These steps belong in a quotation so that it is clear what is actually being inspected.
There is no statutory deadline. Two years for humidified systems and three years for dry systems are often quoted — that is orientation from the guideline, not a statutory requirement and not a promise.
What matters is humidification, mode of operation, use, earlier findings and contractual requirements. A humidified system in a building with many users needs different attention from a dry system in a warehouse.
The guideline distinguishes qualification levels for persons who plan, inspect or carry out hygiene-relevant work. How those levels are delimited in detail cannot be judged without the full text, which is subject to a fee — and we therefore do not claim it.
In practice this means for you: ask specifically in the quotation who carries out the inspection and what training that person has. That question is legitimate with any provider, and a provider who does not answer it has a problem — not you.
The effort follows the system and its condition, not the floor area of the building. These factors explain the difference between two quotations.
These terms often stand side by side in ventilation tenders, although they denote three different services. The explanations are deliberately in plain language.
Five things are regularly treated as the same in this subject, and they are not. The distinction determines what you actually have to do and what you should merely do.
This distinction follows the project's editorial standard. It sets out which statement carries which weight — and where a company cannot issue a certification.
Answered briefly, so the guide prepares a decision rather than merely informing.
No. VDI 6022 is a private guideline and not a law, and there is no statutory inspection deadline. What is mandatory is to operate workplaces and work equipment safely and free of hazards. The inspection is the recognised way to evidence that — but it is not the only conceivable one and not a legally prescribed method.
Persons with an appropriate qualification for hygiene-relevant work on ventilation systems; the guideline distinguishes qualification levels for planning, inspection and execution. Ask specifically in the quotation who carries out the inspection and what training that person has. The delimitation of the levels in detail cannot be judged without the full text, which is subject to a fee, and we therefore do not claim it.
The inspection establishes the condition and documents it; cleaning removes deposits, biofilms and accumulations. Both make sense, but they are two services with different qualifications, different effort and different documentation. If they are tendered as one line item, the resulting quotations are not comparable afterwards.
Two years for humidified systems and three years for dry systems are often quoted. That is orientation from the guideline and not a statutory deadline. What matters is humidification, mode of operation, use, earlier findings and contractual requirements. We therefore set the rhythm on a site-specific basis after the first assessment.
No. A service provider is not a certification body, and for this service there is no certificate to obtain. You receive an inspection report with findings, measured values, photographs and recommended actions. That is the documentation you can use towards tenants, authorities or experts — a certificate it would not be.
Humidification equipment and condensation surfaces can spread germs if they remain permanently moist and contaminated; that is why wetted components have to be assessed with particular care. Classic sources of legionella, however, are water-bearing systems of the drinking water installation, for which separate rules apply. Anyone who mixes the two ends up commissioning the wrong measure.
You receive a list of actions. Where there are hygiene-relevant deposits or standing water, cleaning or repair is to be arranged promptly. Where findings are safety-relevant — electrics, fire dampers, fall protection — continued use has to be weighed up until the matter is clarified. What is implemented when is decided by the operator, not by the service provider. The system does not have to be shut down for the inspection itself.
Inspection and cleaning are separate services. If cleaning is due after the assessment, these pages describe the respective scope.
We survey the system, inspect the accessible components and describe which findings follow from that.
Service, property and contact details – that is all we need.
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