After an unattended death in Renton, an independent biohazard cleanup company hired by the family or property owner does the cleaning, once police and the King County Medical Examiner’s Office1 have finished at the home. Your first steps are to let those offices work and to choose a funeral home. Biohazard Network can connect you with an independent local company that you hire directly; we do not do the work.
If someone you love or a tenant died alone and was not found right away, this page explains what comes next, one step at a time. You are not expected to clean the home yourself, and you should not try.
What this cleanup involves
An unattended death is one where a person died alone and time passed before anyone found them. The cleanup deals with a biohazard, meaning biological material that can carry disease. Body fluids can soak into porous materials, which are things like carpet, drywall, mattresses and wood that absorb liquid, and they can carry bloodborne pathogens, germs in blood and some other body fluids that can cause illness.
Household cleaning reaches only the surface. Professional cleanup removes what cannot be made safe and treats the rest, which protects whoever enters next and the home’s future.
What happens first
Police and the medical examiner control the home until they release it. Nothing should be cleaned before this scene release, which means they have finished and say others may go in.
King County uses a medical examiner system: a county office investigates sudden, violent, unexpected, and suspicious deaths that occur in King County. State law gives a county’s medical examiner or coroner authority over a person found dead, or one who died suddenly without medical care in the 36 hours before death. You can reach the King County Medical Examiner’s Office1 death investigation line, available 24/7, at 206-731-3232, ext. 5.
Investigators may take photographs and ask family members questions; answer what you can. While the examination goes on, choose a funeral home or crematory to receive the person, because the office asks families to choose within 3 days. Personal effects collected go to that funeral home, so ask there about them. Families are not charged for the investigation or examination.
Until a company arrives:
- Keep the affected room closed, and keep children and pets out.
- Do not wipe, scrub or spray anything there.
- Do not throw items away; an insurer may want to see them.
What to expect from the company you hire
The crew should wear protective equipment such as gloves, suits and respirators. Ask how it will set up containment, which means sealing off the work area so contamination does not spread. Affected porous materials are removed, and hard surfaces are cleaned and then disinfected, meaning treated with products that kill germs. Odor work comes after the source is gone; see odor remediation in Renton.
Washington defines biomedical waste by a fixed list in state law, which includes discarded human blood and materials containing free-flowing blood.
Ask for photos, a written scope of work and an itemized invoice for your insurer. If discretion, insurance billing or payment terms matter to you, ask about each one.
Before hiring, ask a company how its work follows OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard2, 29 CFR 1910.1030, and the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup, an IICRC standard (the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification is a non-profit organization for the cleaning and restoration industries). You can also look the business up in the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries3 (L&I) tool, Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business3, and our certifications guide explains what to look for.
How long it takes, and what makes it longer
No one can give a fair estimate before a company has seen the home. These things add time:
- How long before the person was found. More time can mean contamination has spread farther.
- Porous materials. Carpet, mattresses and upholstered furniture may need removal rather than cleaning.
- Flooring and subfloor. If fluids passed through the floor covering, the subfloor, the structural layer beneath it, may have to come out.
- Odor work. It starts only after the source is removed and may take more than one round.
- Rebuilding. Repairs are a separate stage, and before any repair or demolition project the owner must have a good faith asbestos inspection of materials the work could disturb.
- Insurance. Your insurer has 30 days from the date you file a claim to inspect the damage.
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 works4. 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)5
Ask for a written plan listing each stage. The page on how biohazard cleanup fits with restoration explains what comes after.
If you are the landlord or property manager
When a tenant who lived alone dies, RCW 59.18.595 sets out what the landlord does. On learning of the death, you may enter and right away dispose of perishable food, hazardous materials and garbage; leave the affected area itself to the cleanup company. Then promptly mail or hand-deliver written notice to any known personal representative, any known designated person, and the emergency contact on the rental application, among others.
The notice must say the tenancy ends 15 days after it is mailed or delivered, or on the date rent is paid through, whichever is later, so plan the cleanup around that date. If the family needs longer, a tenant representative can arrange to prepay rent for no more than 60 days from the date of death. Before selling or disposing of what remains, you must send a second notice naming a date at least 45 days after mailing, and personal papers and personal photographs cannot be sold or disposed of this way. Ask the cleanup company to keep contaminated materials separate from belongings the family may claim.
Unattended death cleanup in Renton
Renton is an incorporated city, so permit and code compliance questions go to the city’s Community and Economic Development (CED) department, which leads land use planning and regulation and services for the development process. If rebuilding follows the cleanup, ask the company whether the repairs need a city permit.
Whether the home is in the Renton Highlands, east of the city center, or nearer Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park on the southeast shore of Lake Washington, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office1 is the death investigation office. Only two transportation facilities cross Lake Washington: the I-90 and SR 520 floating bridges. Ask any company where its crew is based and what route it would take to your home.
Public Health – Seattle & King County runs a Biomedical waste program with guidance for businesses that generate biomedical waste; its main number is 206-296-4600.
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.