What to check in the cleaning chemicals used on your premises

Most conversations about cleaning chemicals start with a green-washing claim and end with a claim about “hospital-grade” strength. Neither tells you whether the product is registered for commercial use, whether it is being diluted correctly, or whether the person using it can read the label.

The paperwork is a better test than the marketing.

Registration, briefly

In Dubai, detergents and disinfectants used commercially are expected to be registered through Dubai Municipality’s Montaji system. At federal level, covered detergents fall under the UAE’s ECAS conformity scheme, established under Cabinet Resolution No. 96 of 2024, with the Emirates Quality Mark as a separate voluntary certification.

For a facilities manager, the practical version of this is: the product should be traceable to a supplier who can produce evidence, and the contractor should hold a current chemical inventory listing what is used where.

The safety data sheet is the real document

A safety data sheet — SDS — is what an inspector, a first aider or a risk assessor actually needs. Two things to check:

• It is the current version for the product as supplied. An SDS for a concentrate is not the SDS for the ready-to-use dilution on your shelf.
• It is in Arabic as well as English. An English-only SDS is one of the most frequently cited issues when cleaning products are checked, and it is easy to avoid by asking before the contract starts.

Alongside the SDS, look for GHS-compliant labelling on the containers actually in use. Decanting a concentrate into an unlabelled spray bottle is a recurring problem on site and an easy one to fix with pre-labelled bottles and a dilution station.

Dilution is where compliance quietly breaks

A product can be registered, correctly labelled and still be wrong on site because it was mixed by eye. Over-diluted disinfectant does not achieve its claim. Over-concentrated product leaves residue, damages finishes and increases exposure for the cleaner.

Ask how dilution is controlled. Good answers involve measured dosing, wall charts, dedicated bottles, and a supervisor who checks. Poor answers involve “the team knows”.

Contact time matters for the same reason. A disinfectant wiped off after three seconds has not been given the time the label states, and the surface has been cleaned but not disinfected.

Colour-coded equipment, not just colour-coded chemicals

Separate products for washrooms and food areas are half the story. The cloths and mops are the part that moves contamination around. A documented colour code, with equipment stored and laundered by zone, is more useful than an extra disinfectant.

Chemical storage on site

Where chemicals live matters during an inspection:

• Locked, ventilated storage away from food, heat and incompatible products.
• Containers upright and labelled; no drinking bottles repurposed.
• Spill kit available and stocked.
• An inventory accessible to anyone who needs it, including emergency services.

Questions worth asking a contractor

1. Can I see the current chemical list, mapped to the areas each product is used in?
2. Are the SDS sheets on site, in Arabic and English, for the products actually in use?
3. How is dilution measured, and what happens when a bottle is refilled?
4. What contact time is specified for the disinfectants, and how is it achieved on a nightly shift?
5. Are the products registered for commercial use in Dubai, and can the supplier evidence it?
6. Which products are used on stone, aluminium, powder-coated surfaces and glass — and which are excluded?

That list takes ten minutes and tells you more than any product brochure. The point is not to find the strongest chemical in the market; it is to have a documented, correctly diluted, correctly labelled set of products that the crew uses consistently and can explain.