Sector · Nightclubs and casinos

Full room, closed doors and the heat of the crowd: what is looked at in the ducts of a nightclub or a casino

In a nightclub or a casino the air works for many people at once, and for a good part of the day the room is empty.

By Limpieza de Ductos PanamáReviewed October 21, 20263 min readShare

Short answer

Duct cleaning in a nightclub or a casino is the camera inspection and cleaning of the air conditioning ducts serving rooms, corridors and service areas, coordinated with the person in charge of the venue. Access and hours are agreed, and whatever could not be reviewed is noted in the report.

What sets nightclubs and casinos apart

Many people in little spaceThese rooms hold more people per square meter than almost any other place. That is why the camera looks first at the returns and grilles of the main room.

Upside-down hoursMany venues open at night and rest during the day. The hours with an empty room are the natural window to work, always agreed with the person in charge.

Access that is agreedCeilings with sound, lighting and cameras cannot always be opened. The person in charge is asked for access to each area, and whatever is not authorized is marked as not reviewed.

Facts that help decide in nightclubs and casinos

In Panama: In Panama, Executive Decree 230 of 2008, which regulates Law 13 of 2008, extends the ban on tobacco use in closed places open to the public to nightclubs and dance venues, bars and taverns, and casinos, bingo halls and other gambling venues. It exempts naturally ventilated spaces. (MINSA, Executive Decree 230 of May 6, 2008 (Official Gazette 26033))
In Panama: The INEC Business and Establishment Directory (reference year 2022) counts 79 companies in the gambling and betting class, with 3,126 people employed, and 2,805 companies in activities linked to beverage service. (INEC, Business and Establishment Directory 2022, table 12)
Technical fact: The EPA and NIOSH guide reproduces an ASHRAE 62-1989 table with estimated occupancy per 1,000 square feet: 100 people in ballrooms and discos, against 7 in an office. It is an old table, but it shows how much heavier the load is on the air of these rooms. (EPA and NIOSH, Building Air Quality, appendix B (figure B-2))

Types of place within nightclubs and casinos

Type of place	What changes in the work plan
Nightclubs	The returns of the main room and the ceiling units are looked at first
Casinos	The main ducts feeding the gaming rooms, with the access the person in charge authorizes
Bars	The hours with the fewest customers are agreed and the returns around the bar are checked
Casino hotels	Before inspecting, the casino system is kept apart from the guest room system
Party venues	The work is scheduled during the week, when the hall is hardly used, and how it stands after the weekend is checked
Event halls	The event calendar sets the date when entry is possible
Social clubs	Ballroom, restaurant and gym on different systems, and one plan for each

How the work is organized in nightclubs and casinos

Agree on access with the person in charge. It is defined which areas are opened, at what hours and who accompanies, without going into the details of the operation.
Look at the main room and its support areas. The camera runs through the returns, branches and ceiling units of the room and the corridors around it.
Hand over the report with what was not reviewed. Each area gets its photos and its note, and the zones that were not authorized appear as not reviewed.

An example of what the report brings

An illustrative example of what a nightclub report brings: a photo of a main room return with built-up dust, a photo of a ceiling unit with a dry pan, and a line marking as not reviewed the booth area the person in charge did not authorize to open.

What you are left with at the end

A calendar tied to the opening hours of the venue
Photos of the returns and branches of the main room
The list of areas that were not opened by decision of the person in charge
A report the person in charge can share with the technical team

Reference sources

EPA: Should You Have the Air Ducts in Your Home Cleaned? (guide written for homes)
EPA: Building Air Quality, a Guide for Building Owners and Facility Managers (guide for building managers)
ANSI/ASHRAE/ACCA Standard 180: inspección y mantenimiento de sistemas HVAC comerciales (industry reference)
Technical references of this site, with all 45 sources

On this site

All sectorsWhat changes in each type of place
Camera inspectionThe real condition before deciding
Service areasWhere work is done

Climatiza and Radar Panamá

Commercial, industrial and residential HVAC services (in Spanish)Climatiza
Refrigeration and air conditioning equipment monitoring (in Spanish)Climatiza
Air conditioning maintenance contract for businessesRadar Panamá
Air conditioning electricity use of a businessRadar Panamá

Frequently asked questions

Is the work done with the venue open?

The hours without customers are preferred, agreed with the person in charge. If the venue hardly ever closes, the work is split by sections and whatever cannot be stopped is left for another date.

Are gaming and security areas reviewed?

Only the ones the person in charge authorizes. Restricted areas are noted in the report as not reviewed, without describing how they work.

Does anything change if the casino is inside a hotel?

Yes. First it is identified which system serves the casino and which one the guest rooms, and the work is coordinated with the hotel management.

Does the smoking ban change what is in the ducts?

In Panama tobacco use is banned in closed places such as nightclubs and casinos, except in naturally ventilated spaces. Even so, dust, moisture and years of use leave residue, and only the camera shows the real condition.

How often does it make sense to check the ducts in nightclubs and casinos?

There is no fixed frequency. It makes sense to look when the main room has odors or moisture on the grilles, after a remodeling, or when the technical manager asks for it.

What does the report include for nightclubs and casinos?

It brings photographs of the inside of the ducts. It clearly marks the areas the person in charge did not authorize, without describing their operation.

Keep exploring

All sectorsThe 31 sectors and 119 types of place.Open →Hotels and hostelsA hotel has rooms, corridors and ballrooms on different systems, and all of them run while guests are in the building.Open →Restaurants and coffee shopsThe dining room air and the kitchen air live in the same building, and sometimes share returns.Open →

Related toolDuct inspection plannerEstimate the level of attention your system needs based on use and warning signs.Open planner →

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Tell us what type of place it is and which area it is in. A camera inspection shows the inside of the ducts before anything is decided.