Facility Design, Equipment, and Pest Control
What the exam tests
Facility and pest questions test whether you can identify design faults that allow contamination and pest entry, and whether equipment is cleanable.
Design and equipment
Food premises should support a one-way flow: receiving, storage, preparation, cooking, cooling and service, with raw and ready-to-eat separated to prevent cross-flow. Handwash basins must be accessible, stocked and not used for food preparation or utensil washing. Floors should slope to drains; drains need traps and covers. Walls, ceilings and food-contact surfaces should be smooth, non-absorbent, corrosion-resistant and easy to clean. Lighting must be shielded over food. Ventilation should remove heat, steam, fumes and grease. Thermometers need calibration.
Pest control
Use integrated pest management: deny entry, deny food and water, and monitor. Seal gaps around doors and pipes, fit door sweeps and screens, keep doors closed, repair leaks, store waste in covered bins away from preparation, and keep ingredients in sealed containers. Check incoming deliveries and use sticky monitors, bait stations and fly units. Pesticides must be applied by trained personnel and never near food or food-contact surfaces. Keep pest control records and act on sightings.
Worked example
A back door is propped open for ventilation and has a 2 cm gap at the bottom. Staff report droppings. The likely pest is rodents. The corrective action is not just traps: fit a door sweep and self-closer, screen the opening, remove harbourage, secure waste, and monitor. Traps without exclusion will not solve the problem.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating pest control as spraying only.
- Using a handwash basin for filling mop buckets.
- Allowing wooden equipment in wet food-contact areas.
- Ignoring drains, gaps and standing water as pest routes.