"How often should you be here?" is the question every quality manager asks a pest control company, and the honest answer is not a number. It is a method. A monthly visit is generous for a dry ambient store and negligent for a high-care ready-to-eat line, and the same building can need both. Set the frequency by copying the last contract or by matching a competitor's quote, and you will either overpay for visits a low-risk area does not need, or carry a finding in the area that needed more.
This article explains why frequency is a risk decision, what BRCGS actually requires, the regimes that typically fall out of a proper assessment, how season changes the picture, and what auditors look for. It is written for food and beverage manufacturers deciding what to put in a service level agreement. A blank risk assessment to work through your own zones is on our free checklists and forms page.
Key takeaways
- BRCGS clause 4.14.2 requires inspection frequency to be set by a documented risk assessment, so there is no single correct interval, only the one your assessment justifies per area.
- Typical outcomes: ambient and low-risk storage monthly, general production and warehousing fortnightly, high-care and high-history areas weekly, with seasonal escalation.
- Routine frequency and callout response are different commitments; both belong in the SLA, and auditors check that actual records meet what the contract promises.
Frequency is set by risk, not habit
The controlling requirement in the standard most South African food exporters work to is unambiguous. BRCGS Food Safety clause 4.14.2 requires that the scope and frequency of the pest control programme, including inspections, be determined by risk assessment and documented. FSSC 22000, through ISO/TS 22002-1 clause 12, makes the same demand in different words: the programme must be based on the risks the site actually presents. Neither standard hands you a number, and that is deliberate. A cold, dry, enclosed store of canned product and a warm, open, ready-to-eat packing hall face completely different pressures, and a single blanket frequency cannot be right for both.
So the correct frequency is the one your risk assessment justifies, zone by zone. The inputs that drive it are consistent: the product type and its exposure, the process (open or enclosed), the fabric and age of the building, proximity to external pressure such as fields, water or neighbouring food premises, the site's own pest history, and the consequence if something gets through.
Typical regimes that fall out of an assessment
While every site is assessed on its own, the same patterns recur often enough to be worth stating as a starting point, to be adjusted up or down by the assessment.
| Area / risk zone | Typical routine frequency | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ambient / packaged / low-risk storage | Monthly | Enclosed product, lower consequence, stable conditions |
| General production and warehousing | Fortnightly | Active movement, mixed materials, moderate exposure |
| High-care / high-risk / ready-to-eat | Weekly | Exposed product, severe consequence, strict controls |
| Raw material intake and waste areas | Weekly to fortnightly | Primary entry and attractant points regardless of zone |
| External perimeter and grounds | Monthly, with rodent stations checked each visit | First line of defence; drives what reaches the building |
Notice that intake, waste and the external perimeter often warrant a higher frequency than the storage they sit next to, because they are where pressure enters. Frequency follows the risk, not the room's floor area.
High-care versus ambient: the consequence gap
The widest gap in any site is between high-care and ambient, and it is driven by consequence rather than by how likely a pest is to appear. In a high-care or high-risk area handling exposed or ready-to-eat product, a single pest incident can compromise product that goes straight to a consumer with no further kill step, so the area is inspected weekly, monitored more tightly, and its devices are subject to stricter access and breakage controls (no toxic bait or glued catch surfaces where they could contaminate). An ambient store of sealed, packaged product carries a lower consequence and is usually monthly. Both frequencies can be correct in the same building at the same time, and an auditor expects to see them both justified in the assessment.
Seasonal escalation
A risk assessment is not a once-a-year document, and frequency should flex with the season. South African conditions bring predictable pressure: rodents push indoors as autumn cools and food outside runs short; flies and stored-product insects surge through the warm, humid months; and specific commodities draw specific pests at harvest and intake peaks. A programme set only for average conditions is under-resourced exactly when it matters. Good practice is to build the escalation into the SLA in advance, for example lifting a fortnightly area to weekly through the high-fly summer months, so the extra visits are planned and priced rather than scrambled as emergency callouts. Trending, covered in our guide to the complete evidence pack, is what tells you when a season is turning before it becomes an infestation.
Callout response is a separate commitment
Routine frequency and callout response are two different promises, and both belong in the service level agreement. Routine frequency is the planned inspection interval. Callout response is how fast the company attends when you report a problem between routine visits. They must not be confused: a strong monthly routine is no comfort if an active infestation reported on day two waits three weeks for the next scheduled visit.
The response time should match the risk. A common commitment for food manufacturers is attendance within 24 to 48 hours of a report, with a faster response for an active infestation in production or high-care. Whatever the number, it must be written into the SLA and then met, because auditors check the agreed response against actual callout records. An undefined or routinely missed response time is a finding in its own right, independent of how good the routine service is.
What auditors expect
An auditor assessing frequency is not looking for a particular number; they are looking for a defensible chain. They want a documented risk assessment that sets a frequency per area, an SLA that reflects it, service records that prove the frequency was actually delivered, trending that would flag the need to escalate, and a callout commitment that is defined and met. If a site can show that chain, the frequency is accepted whatever it is. If the frequency is a round number with no assessment behind it, or the records show missed visits against the promised interval, the frequency itself becomes the finding. Our food safety audit tips go further into how auditors test that chain, and our Regulation R638 guide covers the South African legal backdrop for food premises.
Set your own frequency
The practical next step is to walk your site by zone, score each area for product exposure, process, fabric, external pressure and history, and let the frequency fall out of that rather than out of a quote. Download our free risk assessment and checklists to work through it, or ask us to run the assessment and build the frequencies into a compliant SLA as part of your food and beverage pest programme.
Frequently asked questions
How often should a food factory have pest control?
There is no single legal number. BRCGS clause 4.14.2 requires frequency to be set by a documented risk assessment. In practice ambient storage is often monthly, general production fortnightly, and high-care or high-history areas weekly, with seasonal escalation.
What is the difference in frequency between high-care and ambient areas?
High-care handles exposed or ready-to-eat product where a miss has severe consequences, so it is usually weekly with tighter controls. Ambient storage of packaged product is lower consequence and usually monthly. The gap reflects consequence and history, not floor area.
How quickly should a pest control company respond to a callout?
Response time should be defined in the SLA separately from routine frequency, commonly 24 to 48 hours, and faster for an active infestation in production. Auditors check the agreed response against actual records, so an undefined or unmet commitment is a finding.
