Industries
Pressure washing for power generation facilities
Station walks, entries, docks and shop aprons washed clean of everyday grime.
Exterior washing for the buildings around the plant
A generating station is more than its turbines. Facility, operations, maintenance and EHS managers look after the buildings around the equipment: administrative offices, control buildings, plant warehouses and shops, substation control houses and utility service centers. Raincrest washes the outside of those buildings. That covers staff and visitor parking, entry walks, docks and shop aprons, exterior walls and the trash and recycling enclosures.
These sites gather a particular kind of grime. Fleet trucks track mud across lots, shop aprons collect drips and tire marks, and walls pick up dust and exhaust film. A scheduled wash keeps walkways from turning slick, makes the property look cared for when inspectors and visitors arrive and stops stains from setting in for good.
Everything runs on the host’s terms. The plant or utility controls access, escorts, orientation, lockout and tagout and which areas any outside crew may enter, and the wash plan is written to fit them.
What we wash at a power facility
The work is the hardscape and walls people and vehicles use every day, outside any area the host keeps closed.
| Area | What the crew washes |
|---|---|
| Staff and visitor parking | Stalls, drive aisles and oil spots, with a surface cleaner for an even finish |
| Office and control building entries | Entry walks, steps, door surrounds and lower walls |
| Warehouse and shop docks | Dock aprons, truck wells, bumpers and the walls around each door |
| Utility service center yards | Paved lots, walks and the approaches to shops and offices |
| Exterior walls | Tilt-up, metal panel and block walls, top down, at a pressure matched to the finish |
| Trash and recycling enclosures | Pads, walls and gates |
Lots follow our parking lot and garage washing method, docks follow our loading dock cleaning, and walls follow our building exterior washing.
The host shares its hazards before work starts
OSHA’s power generation standard, 29 CFR 1910.269, puts the first step on the host. It calls the employer that runs the installation the host employer and an outside firm the contract employer. Before work begins, the host tells the contract employer about the installation and its known hazards. The contract employer passes that on to its crew, tells the host about any unique hazards its own work brings and reports unexpected hazards within 2 working days, and the two coordinate their work rules.
For a wash crew, the unique hazards are water, hoses across walkways and high-pressure spray, and those go on the table at the walkthrough. Crews then complete the orientation the host requires, wear the PPE it specifies and work only in the areas it opens. At an attended substation, the standard has anyone who does not regularly work there report to the employee in charge before starting.
Spray stays away from energized equipment
Electrical areas belong to qualified workers. Under 1910.269, only qualified employees may work in areas with unguarded, uninsulated energized lines or parts at 50 volts or more. Rooms with electric supply equipment are enclosed or guarded, posted with warning signs and kept locked when no one is watching, and unqualified people stay out while the equipment is energized.
Raincrest crews are pressure washing technicians, so switchyards, electrical rooms and energized equipment stay off the wash route. Before the first visit, your team marks the yards, louvers, intakes, enclosures and electrical rooms that must stay dry, and the crew keeps spray and hoses away from all of them.
Wands, poles and overhead lines
Long wands near power lines need a clearance check before anyone sprays. California’s Title 8 bars any employer from requiring or permitting work near energized high-voltage overhead lines until the danger of contact is guarded against. Its general minimum clearance starts at 6 feet for lines from 600 to 50,000 volts and grows with the voltage (as of November 2026).
Before a wall or canopy is washed with an extension wand, the crew and the host’s contact walk the area and confirm where overhead lines run. In Reno and Sparks, Nevada OSHA runs the state plan and has adopted most federal OSHA standards by reference, and the host’s rules set the site procedures there too.
Locks, tags and posted spaces
A lock or tag marks the edge of the wash area. OSHA’s lockout/tagout rule says tags are warning devices that are never removed without authorization and never bypassed, and that workers outside the procedure must never try to restart locked-out or tagged-out equipment. Where an outside firm works on site, OSHA has each employer share its lockout procedures with the other.
Permit-required confined spaces are posted with danger signs, and the host tells contractors where they are and what precautions apply. The crew washes around tagged equipment, posted spaces and locked gates and leaves every lock, tag and sign exactly as it found them.
Escorts and visitor logs at secured perimeters
Some utility sites put parts of the property inside a physical security perimeter under NERC’s CIP-006 standard. That standard binds the registered utility entity, not its contractors. Visitors without authorized unescorted access are continuously escorted inside the perimeter, and the entity logs each visitor’s name, the escort’s name and the times of first entry and last exit, keeping the logs at least ninety days.
When a wash area sits inside such a perimeter, the utility’s plan decides. Crew names go to the host ahead of time, the crew signs the visitor log and works alongside its escort, and the schedule allows for escort hours.
Water use and storm drains
Rinse water is planned before a hose is connected. The crew reads the slope of each lot and apron, protects the storm drain inlets near the work and washes so water runs away from doors and equipment pads. Our guide to keeping wash water out of storm drains walks through which drains to point out at the walkthrough.
Shifts, outages and timing
The host sets the windows. Entries and lots are often washed overnight or early in the morning, docks between deliveries, and walls near equipment during a planned outage when the host opens those areas. Our guide to getting ready for an overnight or early-morning wash lists what to prepare.
Request a power facility washing quote
A walkthrough with your facilities and safety contacts covers the buildings, the dry zones, the access and escort rules and the dates that work, and ends in a written quote. Raincrest is insured and carries workers’ compensation, crews are background-checked, a supervisor inspects the finished areas and a certificate of insurance is sent before the first visit. Buildings with strict access, like those on our data center and semiconductor and electronics plant pages, follow the same planning. Request a quote to book the walkthrough.
A few useful answers
Common questions
Will your crew attend our site orientation?
Yes. Crews complete the orientation the host requires, wear the PPE it specifies and work only in the areas it opens.
How do you keep spray off electrical equipment?
Your team marks the yards, rooms, louvers and enclosures that stay dry, and the crew keeps every spray pattern and hose clear of them.
What does the crew do at a tagged or locked-out machine?
It washes around it and leaves the lock and tag in place. Lockout belongs to the host’s authorized employees.
Can a wash be timed to a planned outage?
Yes. Give us the outage window and the areas that open up, and the wash is scheduled to fit inside it.
Do you wash utility buildings near Reno?
Yes. Raincrest works in Reno and Sparks, where Nevada OSHA runs the state plan and the host’s rules set each site’s procedures.
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