Methodology
The SD-1 Deposition Documentation Protocol.
A five-stage sequence applied to every engagement. Its purpose is to produce a record that remains comparable over time, because a single occurrence establishes very little and a documented series establishes a great deal.
Protocol
Five stages, in order
The order matters. Stages three and four are frequently requested in reverse, and we decline to do so.
Intake & Scope
A written scope is agreed before any site attendance: the areas covered, the reporting recipient, the retention period for documentation, and the conditions under which the engagement ends. Scope is deliberately narrow. Work that falls outside it is declined rather than absorbed.
Site Assessment
Attendance on site to establish a documented baseline — affected substrates, their finish and porosity, the position of each deposition site relative to a fixed floor reference, and the condition of surrounding surfaces. Attendance is arranged with the client contact and conducted outside occupied hours wherever the facility permits.
Documentation & Pattern Analysis
Each occurrence is recorded to a consistent standard so that reports separated by weeks remain comparable. Records are then read against access schedules, custodial rotations, and building traffic to establish whether occurrences cluster in time, in place, or in neither. Where a pattern is present, it is stated with the confidence the evidence supports; where it is not, that is stated too.
Remediation
Surface restoration using EPA-registered disinfectants selected for the substrate, following OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1030 practices for potentially infectious material. Remediation is undertaken only once documentation is complete — cleaning first forecloses the analysis at step three, which is the most common way an engagement loses value before it has begun.
Post-Remediation Verification
The treated area is reinspected and the result recorded separately from the remediation itself, so the two are auditable independently. The client receives a dated verification record suitable for retention in facility files, and, where the engagement provides for it, a schedule for reassessment.
Before we attend
What preservation changes
What a documented series can establish depends almost entirely on what survives until the baseline is taken. Surface evidence degrades quickly, and the majority of it is lost to routine cleaning within hours of an occurrence.
Where a facility expects recurrence, the single most useful step is to leave an affected surface undisturbed and record the time it was found. A photograph taken by facilities staff at the point of discovery is frequently more informative than a professional assessment conducted two days later.
Custodial protocol review and technician training exist for this reason, and are frequently the first line engaged rather than the last.
Limits
What this protocol does not do
It is not directed at people. We do not install cameras, we do not review recordings, and we do not follow anyone. No stage of this protocol places an individual under scrutiny; every stage is directed at surfaces and at intervals.
It does not name individuals. Our reports set out documented occurrences, the surfaces affected, and the patterns present across them. Where a client draws a conclusion about a particular person, it does so from its own records and its own processes — not from a determination of ours, which we do not make and would not provide.
It does not establish intent, and it is not a forensic identification service in the evidentiary sense. A documented pattern narrows when and where occurrences happen. What follows from that is a matter for the client, and we recommend it be considered with counsel or the appropriate internal function.
It does not extend to interviews, statements, or participation in disciplinary or grievance proceedings.
Establish a baseline before the next occurrence.
If occurrences are ongoing, the useful moment is now rather than after the next one has been cleaned. Initial consultations are conducted under confidentiality.
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