Lesson 3.2 · 5 min
Rooms and cleaning
Open in the coursewith narrated slides, a checklist to tick off and a quiz
At a glance
- Easy to clean. Furniture well kept and easy to clean, cables under plaster where possible, storage dry and dust-free.
- No carpets, plants or animals. Carpets only in rooms not used for dental work. In treatment and X-ray rooms no live plants and no animals other than assistance dogs.
- Up to two metres. Floors as seamless and liquid-tight as possible, walls easy to clean up to two metres. For existing practices, these building rules don't apply.
- A plan and initials. A cleaning and disinfection plan. With changing cleaning staff, each cleaning is signed off with the date.
- Listed, in original containers. Disinfectants listed by a recognised professional society, in the original container, with the opening date on it.
In detail
The whole practice
- Furniture well kept, so surfaces are easy to clean and to disinfect when needed § 7(1) HygV.
- Cables preferably under plaster or in closed ducts; loose cables laid so the floor can be cleaned and no one trips § 7(2) HygV.
- Storage for dental supplies dry, dust-free and temperature-controlled if needed; medicines and devices stored as the manufacturer says § 7(3) HygV.
- Carpets only in rooms not used for dental work: waiting room, reception, staff room § 7(4) HygV § 4 nos. 2, 3 HygV.
- Toilets with hand washing, a soap dispenser, paper towels and a bin; those used by staff also with hands-free taps, a hands-free soap dispenser and hand disinfectant § 7(5) HygV.
Rooms used for dental work
| Requirement | Paragraph |
|---|---|
| Room size suited to patient numbers, treatments and risk | § 8(1) |
| Floors as seamless and liquid-tight as possible, easy to clean | § 8(2) |
| Walls easy to clean and disinfect up to two metres from the floor | § 8(3) |
| At least one hands-free hand basin with soap and disinfectant dispensers and paper towels | § 8(4) |
| Enough single-use gloves, skin care, masks and safety glasses in stock | § 8(5) |
| Dental units with easy-to-clean surfaces, serviced as the manufacturer says, drinking water supply ensured | § 8(6) |
| No live plants | § 8(7) |
| No animals; assistance dogs must be let in | § 8(8) |
The building requirements for cables, floors and walls (§ 7(2), § 8(2) and (3)) don't apply to practices that already existed on 1 May 2025 § 24(2) HygV.
Cleaning
- Regular, thorough cleaning regardless of how dirty things are, with work instructions in the cleaning and disinfection plan on the Annex 1 template § 9(1) HygV.
- With changing cleaning staff, each cleaning is documented with the date and initialled by the person who did it § 9(2) HygV.
- Surfaces and handrails at risk of contamination are disinfected regularly and when needed, with products listed by a recognised professional society § 9(3) HygV.
- Soap and disinfectants in the original container, with the opening date written on it § 9(4) HygV.
- No medicines or medical devices directly on the floor of treatment rooms § 9(5) HygV.
Checklist
- There are no carpets, no plants and no animals other than assistance dogs in the treatment and X-ray rooms.
- We have a cleaning and disinfection plan on the Annex 1 template.
- Changing cleaning staff initial every cleaning with the date.
- Our disinfectants are listed by a recognised professional society.
- Every opened container has its opening date on it.
Quiz
Where are carpets still allowed under the HygV?
- Only in rooms not used for dental work, such as the waiting room
- Only in the treatment room under the chair
- Nowhere in the practice
- Everywhere, if they are cleaned weekly
Show the answer
The answer is A: Only in rooms not used for dental work, such as the waiting room. Carpets are only allowed in rooms not used for dental work (§ 7(4) ÖZÄK-HygV 2025), such as the waiting room, reception or staff room (§ 4 no. 3).
Sources
This lesson's statements rest on:
Not legal advice. What counts is the acts and regulations in the Federal Legal Information System and the Austrian Dental Chamber's regulations (read on 7 October 2026). The health minister's regulation with the criteria from 2028 (§ 9b(2) GQG) had not been issued on that day. Not covered are insurer contracts, billing, data protection in detail and the employer's duties under the Worker Protection Act in detail; there is a separate course on those at aschg.globalapps.top. Not an offer of the Austrian Dental Chamber, a regional dental chamber, the BIQG or the Chamber of Commerce.