After an unattended death in Bellevue, an independent biohazard cleanup company that the family or property owner hires directly does the cleanup, once the King County Medical Examiner’s Office1 and any police agency have finished at the home. Biohazard Network connects you with an independent local company; it does not clean or do any of the work. You hire the company yourself and decide what happens in the home.
If someone died alone at home and was not found right away, you are not expected to clean anything, and it is safer not to try.
What this cleanup involves
An unattended death is one where the person died with no one present and was found later. A biohazard is biological material, such as blood or other body fluids, that can carry germs harmful to people, including bloodborne pathogens, which are disease-causing germs carried in blood, such as hepatitis B. Household cleaning is not enough. Porous materials, meaning things that soak up liquid such as carpet, padding, mattresses and drywall, can hold contamination that wiping never reaches, and odor and health risks stay with them. Professional cleanup removes what cannot be made safe so the room can be used again.
What happens first
The medical examiner and the funeral home
A medical examiner is a public office that investigates certain deaths. King County uses a medical examiner system, and the King County Medical Examiner’s Office1 investigates sudden, violent, unexpected, and suspicious deaths that occur in King County. Its investigation at the home can include photographs, evidence collection and information from family, so leave the room as it is until investigators finish. Families are not charged for the investigation or examination.
Your next call is to a funeral home. While the examination is under way, the family chooses a funeral home or crematory, and the office asks families to select one within 3 days; personal effects collected in the investigation go there. To reach the King County Medical Examiner’s Office1, call 206-731-3232.
Scene release and what not to touch
Scene release means investigators have finished and the home may be entered and cleaned. Until then, do not move belongings, wash surfaces or throw anything away. Afterward, you still do not need to enter the affected room: close the door, keep children and pets out, and let the company you hire take it from there.
What to expect from the company you hire
The crew should wear protective equipment and set up containment, which means sealing off the work area, for example with plastic sheeting, so contamination does not spread. Next comes removal of affected porous materials and flooring, then disinfection, which means applying products that kill germs on the surfaces that remain. Odor remediation, meaning work that removes odor at its source rather than covering it, begins only after the source is removed.
Biomedical waste is Washington’s legal term for a specific list of waste types, including materials containing free-flowing blood. Ask too for photographs and a written record of what was removed, for your insurer.
Before you hire, ask how the company’s work follows OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard2, 29 CFR 1910.1030, and the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup, a standard from the IICRC, a non-profit organization for the inspection, cleaning and restoration industries. You can look the business up yourself with the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries3 (L&I) Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business3 tool, and the certifications guide explains what each one means.
How long it takes, and what makes it longer
No company can fairly name a time frame before seeing the home, so ask for a written plan listing each stage and what could change it. These things add time:
- How long before the person was found. More time can mean fluids reached farther into the home’s materials.
- Porous materials. Carpet, bedding or furniture that absorbed fluids has to be removed, not cleaned.
- Flooring and subfloor. The subfloor is the wood layer under the finished floor; if fluids reached it, sections may need to be cut out.
- Odor work. It starts after the source is gone, and the company should confirm the result before calling the job done.
- Rebuilding. Replacing flooring or drywall is a separate step, and the company that cleans may not be the one that rebuilds; this restoration guide explains the handoff.
Starting soon after release is better, because affected materials hold contamination and odor until they come out. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner4 says you can ask your agent or insurance company whether a loss is covered without filing a claim, and that homeowners may choose their own contractor for covered repairs. Before signing anything, know that it also warns a contractor’s assignment of benefit form could affect your rights.
Usually covered: Homeowner insurance protects your home and belongings from damage caused by specific risks, says the Insurance Commissioner’s page on how home insurance works5. For damage from those risks, dwelling coverage typically covers repairing or replacing your damaged home.
Usually not covered: Standard homeowner and renter policies exclude wear and tear: insurance covers sudden accidents, not ongoing issues, says the Insurance Commissioner’s smoke damage page, which lists what standard policies exclude.
Ask your insurer: “Without filing a claim yet, can you tell me if my policy covers cleanup and repairs after a death in my home, and what limits apply?” Source: Filing a homeowner insurance claim (Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner)4
If you are the landlord or property manager
When a tenant who was the sole occupant dies, RCW 59.18.595 sets out your duties. On learning of the death, you must promptly mail or personally deliver a written notice to people including any known personal representative, any known designated person, and the emergency contact on the rental application, so check your files for a written designation the tenant may have made.
You may enter and immediately dispose of perishable food, hazardous materials and garbage. The tenant’s other belongings follow the notice steps in the law, including a second written notice, with a date at least 45 days after mailing, before you sell or dispose of anything; even then, personal papers and personal photographs are excepted. Before the cleanup company removes any belongings, speak with the tenant representative and keep a written list.
Unattended death cleanup in Bellevue
Bellevue is an incorporated city, so permit and code questions go to its Development Services, which handles permits, inspects projects and investigates code violations; ask there if rebuilding needs a permit.
If you find needles or other sharps, meaning items like needles and lancets that can pierce skin, do not pick them up; Public Health – Seattle & King County has guidance on how to handle used or found sharps. See biohazard cleanup in Bellevue and King County for more.
Who to call first
In an emergency, call 911.These official offices may be part of the first steps. They are government pages, not ours.
- King County Medical Examiner (opens in a new tab)After a sudden or unexpected death, cleanup waits until this office is done.
- Public Health – Seattle & King County (opens in a new tab)For local health questions, such as a home that was used as a drug lab.
- Washington Crime Victims Compensation Program (L&I) (opens in a new tab)If a crime happened, it may help with some costs, such as funeral expenses. It doesn't pay for cleanup.
- Verify a contractor (L&I lookup) (opens in a new tab)Look up whether a company is a registered contractor before work starts.
- Washington State Department of Health (opens in a new tab)State health rules, such as for drug lab cleanup and hantavirus.