Ian Wallace, Sector Managing Director – Industries, OCS UK & Ireland, explains why specialist, contamination-controlled cleaning must be treated as critical infrastructure as operators scale at speed.
Driven by a surge in demand for cloud services, AI workloads and edge computing, the UK data centre market is accelerating. It’s anticipated that the number of data centres in the UK is set to increase by almost a fifth, with a greater regional diversity and the majority due to be built in the next five years. Given the uptick in demand, the pressure on operators to deliver secure, sustainable and efficient environments has never been greater.
How FM-led cleaning protects critical infrastructure
While hard service-related requirements, such as energy use, uptime and compliance dominate the conversation, other facilities management (FM) services – particularly specialist cleaning – play an equally critical role in resilience and supporting these desired outcomes.
Specialist cleaning strategies prevent hardware damage, ensure optimal cooling, reduce contamination risk and maintain uptime and reliability, while reducing energy consumption; underpinning both operational continuity and regulatory compliance.
This is achieved through adherence to specialist and critical environment contamination control measures like using High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) vacuum cleaners and anti-static cleaning, ensuring airflow preservation in critical areas, and audit-ready processes that align with compliance standards.
What does cleaning look like in a live data hall environment?
Due to its critical nature all cleaning is governed through a clear and structured set of processes to ensure safety, compliance and operational continuity. These would typically include Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Emergency Operating Procedures (EOPs) and Local Operating Procedures (LOPs).
Examples would include using HEPA-filtered vacuums to remove microscopic dust from raised floors, cable trays and underfloor plenums without disturbing airflow. Anti-static wipes and Electrostatic Discharge (ESD)-safe tools are used on racks and equipment surfaces to prevent static discharge.
Cleaning is sequenced zone by zone and in accordance with industry standards such as ISO 14644–1 and ASHRAE TC 9.9; often during maintenance windows, with strict access controls and full risk assessment documentation for audit readiness and compliance. It is therefore important to make sure the FM provider is aware of your Change Advisory Board (CAB) and the requirement to adhere to the risks and compliance for clients’ requirements.
Global lessons from high-volume markets
In high-volume environments, consistency is key. Today, many cleaning teams already operate to ISO 14644-1 standards, using HEPA filtration, anti-static methods, and rigorous risk assessments to protect sensitive equipment. However, as demand grows, the challenge is scaling these best practices across every site without compromising security or compliance.
These lessons are applicable to the UK, where operators are scaling rapidly and facing increasing scrutiny from regulators, investors, and the public. As seen in high-volume markets, resilience isn’t just about technology – it’s about people, process, and precision. Cleaning teams must understand airflow dynamics, contamination risks, and the importance of zone-based servicing. And they must be equipped to deliver this with minimal disruption, compliance and traceability.
Cleaning as part of Total Facilities Management (TFM)
Cleaning is a critical component of resilience, but it doesn’t operate in isolation. In a data centre environment, every FM discipline plays a role in enhancing performance, protecting uptime and assuring compliance.
- Security teams manage access control and protect against physical breaches.
- Hard services teams maintain uptime of critical systems such as power, cooling, and fire protection systems to ensure operational continuity.
- Energy management and ESG initiatives reduce environmental impact and support net zero targets.
Together, these functions create a total facilities management (TFM) framework for resilience bringing cleaning, security, engineering, and sustainability under one coordinated strategy, ensuring that each activity supports the others.
For example, cleaning regimes that preserve airflow compliment energy efficiency goals, while strict contamination control aligns with ISO standards and audit requirements. Security protocols underpin safe access for cleaning teams, and hard services planning ensures maintenance windows are coordinated to minimise disruption.
Why integration matters
For operators scaling rapidly, this joined-up approach is essential. Cleaning teams can’t work effectively without collaboration with engineering teams to manage airflow systems or with security teams to maintain controlled access. Likewise, ESG commitments depend on sustainable cleaning products and waste management practices that align with broader environmental goals. By signposting these connections, operators can see how cleaning contributes to a bigger picture: safeguarding infrastructure, reducing risk and enabling sustainable growth.
Cleaning as infrastructure protection
In the race to build bigger, faster and more efficient data centres, it can be easy to overlook the fundamentals. But cleaning isn’t just about hygiene, it’s about infrastructure protection. And ensuring that environments are safe, compliant and optimised for performance.
Because in the end, the strength of a data centre isn’t just measured in megawatts. It’s measured in the systems, people and processes that keep it running.
